Read part 1 here.
My political beliefs. As regular readers of this blog know, I was an early supporter of Sen. Sam Brownback's presidential bid and now support Gov. Mike Huckabee. I was drawn to Brownback because I agreed with people who had dubbed him a "Wilberforce Republican," after the 19th-century British parliamentarian who helped abolish slavery in the British West Indies. His was compassionate conservatism, and truly, IMO. I still feel that Huckabee is a similar candidate, though he's taken to hard immigration stances in order to appease the conservative base, I feel. Too bad. But the simple fact that these two great candidates were in the running gave me hope that there was a different type of conservatism possible: one that didn't care solely about cutting taxes for the rich, drilling in the Alaskan artic, bombing Iran, deporting brown-skinned people, or making sure American cars are the most fuel inefficient in the world.
Take immigration, for example. In the Old Testament, we see God was often angry with the Israelites because they mistreated and took advantage of foreigners who lived in Israel. He reminded them that they were also foreigners, exploited and forced to do work that no one else wanted to do in Egypt. Unfortunately, America has an extensive history of xenophobia, immigrant exploitation, and anti-immigrant legislation. Today is no exception. Christians should support safe, legal, and fair laws that allow immigrants to live and work in our country, and not have to run and hide in the shadows. I thought President Bush's immigration plan, which was shot down last year by Congress, was a good start. Sure, go ahead and secure the borders, but don't forget to amend the laws as well! As Christians, are we really considering Jesus' words, "Whatever you did for the least of these brothers, you did for me," when we turn a cold shoulder to those who are simply seeking a better life? And whatever happened to “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free"?
On the environment, it's clear from Genesis that God put humans in charge of His creation. We are stewards of the Earth and the wildlife. Good stewards take care of the things they’ve been charged with. Therefore, I think Christians should support government policies that protect the environment and encourage sustainable business practices. What's so good about consumerism and keeping our capital gains profits while the number of poor in America continues to grow? Isn't it a concern that the gap between rich and poor in America continues to widen and that inflation-adjusted median wages have been stagnant so long?
Don't get me wrong; I'm still committed to prolife and traditional marriage stances. But I've thought enough about the other issues to realize that God is not a Republican or a Democrat.
2 comments:
How about the poll that shows that Jesus would vote for Obama? ;-)
I agree with both of your main points. Ever since I became a Christian, I've been frustrated that Christians aren't at the forefront of the environmentalist movement -- but maybe that's because there are a lot of kooks in that movement, like PETA, ELF, etc. And I think immigration is one of the glories of America; the problem of course is not with immigration per se, but illegal immigration. I also approved of Bush's immigration plan, not because I liked it, but because I thought it the lesser evil. Maybe I'll write about that on my blog at some point.
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