What would Jesus vote? President Bush has credited God with his re-election – is he right? Is Jesus a gun-toting libertarian? A tree-hugging Green Party guy? With his words in the Gospel, was Jesus describing a red state or a blue state?
Democrats have long been squeamish about religion, choosing instead to shy away from any concrete discussion of ethics and morality in favor of the appealing non-offensiveness of secularism. But in order to regain political favor, they need to start talking about God and how liberal policies can and do fit in with a Christian viewpoint. Republicans do not have a monopoly on Jesus; at the very least, liberals need to remind the country that the Christian conservatives are not representing the love and compassion that Jesus preached as its represented in the Gospels.
The current administration is viewed as Christian, but its policies are anything but. In the sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Jesus blessed various groups: the peacemakers, the poor, the meek. I wouldn’t classify the administration as any of those things. In addition, our foreign policy is hardly “turn the other cheek” – more “slap them because they might be thinking about slapping you.”
Jesus also said that one’s treatment of the poor is equivalent to one’s treatment of God; cuts to programs that aid the poor and reduction of minimum wage (both big republican issues) is hardly godly treatment. Democrats need to mention that while conservative politics emphasize the individual, a liberal paradigm is concerned with creating a caring, compassionate society. Welfare, Medicare and public education are all designed to ease the burdens on the poor – something that definitely interested Jesus.
It’s important to address abortion, since so many Christians are single-issue voters. While Jesus asked his followers to speak for those who can’t, it’s important to remember that promoting a culture of life is about more than just abortion.
A culture of life avoids war until it is unavoidable. A culture of life regards every life as sacred, even the lives of non-Americans.
Furthermore, a culture of life does not summarily execute its poor, its mentally deficient or its children. Jesus himself was an unfair victim of capital punishment; it seems strange that those who call themselves his followers would staunchly support such a practice.
While the Republicans may be in line with the Church on one issue, they are not promoting a culture of love, understanding and compassion. Nor are Democrats – in reality, if you were to codify Jesus’ beliefs into a political philosophy, he would be far to the left of either party. Regardless, if Republicans are so fond of him, they need to examine their own behavior before demonizing others’.
And here’s a fun fact: Jesus never mentioned homosexuality. The only place it’s mentioned is in the Old Testament, and if we Christians are following that, we need to put down our bacon cheeseburgers too.
The thrust of Jesus’ message was adopting a meek and humble lifestyle so that others may have enough. He repeatedly railed against excess and wealth. Maybe we need to spend less time thinking about cutting taxes for the wealthy and spend more time thinking about creating a society in which everyone’s needs are met.
Right now, the Republicans are picking and twisting messages in the Gospel, and the Democrats are too afraid of offending someone to say anything. The blue states need to get over this – and they might, when they realize that Christianity supports so many of their beliefs.
Kelly Brown is a communications junior from Lake Oswego, Ore.
