Evie and I share the same view, the general public sees the Church, particularly the conservative element of the Church in a far more negative light than it has in recent memory. Those outside the evangelical Church view evangelicals as narrow minded, shallow thinkers and not as having answers for societal problems. To sum it up, the Church and Christians, particularly the evangelical wing, are viewed as irrelevant.
The general public tends to view the failed policies of the current President as being the same as evangelical Christians. The blame does not rest with President Bush but the much of the more prominent evangelical leadership who worked at electing the current administration and advocating particular policies. The Church as an upright corporate citizen should speak out on issues, but speaking out on issues does not mean supporting a particular party and candidate.
People of faith need to be engaged in politics. We need people in all political parties. There are diverse opinions and positions within the Church. We are not a monolith. Our faith needs to shape the positions we take and our voting. The Church and its leaders should speak to issues and policies without being tied to a party or candidate. It needs to help its member wrestle with issues. That said, the Church should not say to its members that this position or that position is the Christian position. It is appropriate for Christians to vote against and even work against an evangelical candidate.
When the Church ties itself closely with a party or candidate it is putting politics ahead of the gospel and justice. When the Church aligns itself with a candidate, it will become reluctant to speak out against the administration when it does something wrong. The moment the Church does so it mutes itself, it becomes tied to any injustices and failed policies of the administration and thereby brings harm to the body of Christ.
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This is slightly off-track, but related. I'll make the connection at the end of the comment. I just read that a new $27 million Creation Museum has opened in Petersburg, KY (not far from Cincinnati). The owners/operators teach their visitors that dinosaurs were on Noah's Ark and that God created the earth in 6 24-hour days, about 6,000 years ago. Guess what: many people think this represents the mainstream Christian view, rather than the view of a relatively small fringe element of the Church. Great. The museum owners just struck another blow for making Christianity look foolish and irrelevant to 21st century society.
Okay, how does this connect to your post? First politics and science are both fields in which many issues are, and always will be, contentious. Those who try to give the definitive "Christian" answer to political or scientific questions are setting up themselves - and, more significantly, Christianity in general - for lots of needless grief and controversy. They end up majoring in the minors and losing sight of the big picture. More importantly, they cannot win those arguments. Therefore, there is nothing to gain and lots to lose by engaging in them.
Second, those who try to use the Bible as manual for political or scientific platforms are distorting its purpose. Having said that, one could make a solid argument that sound political concepts are expounded throughout the Bible. The same cannot sensibly be said regarding science. As for the political argument, yes, the Bible lays out general principles regarding economic and social justice. It does not, however, prescribe specific solutions to specific social, economic and political issues that arise in different guises in varied cultures. To believe that one political party or candidate has all of the answers to these dilemmas, simply because we agree with their faith doctrines, is foolhardy. As you noted in your post, it's a dangerous game, politically, to be viewed as an ally of a particular regime. We're watching the painful consequences of such alliances as they are playing out now in American politics.
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