On the Politics of Christianity

For some time now, I have been concerned about the unscrupulous use of Christianity within politics. This has really taken hold during the Bush presidency as he used his faith (among other things) in order to secure his election and re-election. Other politicians have used religion before, but Christianity has never been a major part of an election campaign as it was during Bush’s re-election. He was successfully able to secure the religious vote, encouraging religious leaders to support him as a candidate over another, based on a perception of faith.

There is little question that the fundamentalist religious right elected President Bush. They claim as much proudly, believing that God’s will was done. (The ability to know God’s will is a blog for another day.) This utilization and exploitation of faith has opened a new pavement of golden hypocrisy. Bush established the campaign technique and now we are seeing other politicians, understanding the voting power of the fundamentalists, who are standing in the pulpit, in order to be seen.

Christianity and politics are two issues that should be mutually exclusive on the campaign trail. That is not to say that politicians cannot be Christians (or any other faith for that matter.) I am saying that the use of religion on the campaign trail is not sound policy; it is a matter of attracting attention in order to gain favor.

I have maintained for many years that there is no such thing as a Christian politician. I don’t necessarily mean that literally, but more as a matter of practicality. I am not convinced that a person can climb to such heights as being a member of Congress and still maintain his or her integrity. Morality has to be sold in order to play in the field of the lords.

I do not make a practice of judging the faithfulness of Christians. It is not up to me to decide who is a real Christian and who is not. I do not doubt President Bush is a practicing Christian who has a daily walk with God.

Unlike many conservative fundamentalists who claim that Hillary Clinton is an atheist or as Tucker Carlson stated on his show last night (March 22, 2005) that Hillary Clinton is a non-practicing Methodist, disguised as an atheist. I do not make a habit out of judging the faithfulness of Christians. I do not doubt that Hillary Clinton is a practicing Christian who has a daily walk with God, despite the avid attempts at labeling her a lesbian (or my personal favorite from Rush Limbaugh) a “feminazi”.

“And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.” -- Matthew 6:5

I do, however, object sharply to President Bush’s use of Christianity and his manipulation of the fundamentalists in order to gain an election. I also object to Hillary Clinton’s recent use of a pulpit to talk about the ills of the conservatives. Shame on the pastors who used their pulpits to convince their members to vote for President Bush, and shame on Hillary for using it to talk about the Republican Party. We are living in a time where politicians are putting on the armor of Christ in order to gain favor with the public. That will serve only to confuse the masses. We should not analyze or evaluate our politicians by their presence at church on Sunday. We should criticize them, not on their faith, but on their vote on particular issues. Once again, we should not listen to what politicians state, but by what they do.