I have never understood how the Church and the Republican Party became synonymous. The Religious Right was nothing new, but it seemed like the culture wars reached a new high during the 2000 election. I often felt alone when I tried to explain why I believe that single issue voting does not make you a better follower of Jesus. The blurred lines between pop-Christianity and the Bush administration, as well as the enormous flag greeting us every morning, the imminent wars produced a new message: Being a good Christian meant supporting your country in war.
This began to churn something inside me. I could see why understand dismantling Afghanistan, but chasing WMDs in Iraq was harder. It seemed that whenever such concerns being voiced, it resulted in one’s patriotism, and likewise their faith, being called into question.
My graduate studies in theology began in the midst of the 2004 election. There were wars of two fronts. About the time John Kerry was being demonized for his participation in anti-war protests, I was taking an ethics class.
We read Reinhold Neibuhr, the father of modern Just War theory. Then we read Stanley Hauerwas’ The Peaceable Kingdom. For the first time I encountered a way of being the church, in the midst of a war torn world, that seemed completely in line with the way of Jesus.
This wasn’t about individual morality or proper ecclesiological structure. It was a vision that
the church existed to stand with, and alongside the lost world,
as an inviting example
of what the universe would look like when the Kingdom of God was complete.
This was a different way to answer the questions that had flared up since bin Ladin had interrupted our lives. What if, instead of railing against the prevailing culture, we lived lives that showed how it was lacking? We could respond to abortion by setting an example in adoption. We could respond to marriage and sexuality discussions by working on our own marriages and standing in contrast to the American divorce epidemic. We could respond to violence by addressing the root issues of hatred and inequity.
This question begged a much bigger one:
Could the Church be involved in politics at all?
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