The Juxtaposition of Faith and Politics

[Soph0571]

One might suggest that looking at the unwillingness of those on the far right to effectively tackle immigration reform, the isolationist and xenophobic stance taken and the hate filled rhetoric and use of dog whistles by those who support Trump in the US, or Brexit in the UK, that there is a fundamental failure on the part of those on the far right to live up to Christ’s commandment to love thy neighbour as thyself, or they are not seeking to follow the example of the Good Samaritan, in helping foreigners down on their luck.

Is it possible for you to be a Christian and vote for a far-right candidate? If Christians find themselves voting for these people, fundamentally they are on very shaky doctrinal ground. The very fact that the far right has racist policies rules them out from a seat at the table of mainstream Christianity. Now we know that the far right will claim Christianity for themselves. They wear it on their sleeves while advocating hate for other; they will claim their dissenters are demonic in their policy and practice. If one examines parties that self-identify as Christian, they are overwhelmingly parties of division. LGBT rights, the rights of immigrants, woman’s rights, policies on people of colour, all have their rights diminished in the name of the far right God.

The far-right exploit policies areas that divide society. By exploiting division in society, they are pushing us back to a time when acceptance was a dirty word. Surely however Christ’s teaching is about love and acceptance to name but a couple of his attributes.

This chap says it better than me: (Abridged)

Force your religious beliefs and practices on others. One of the strengths of the faith Jesus taught was in its meekness. The faith he taught valued free will over compulsion – because that's how love works.

Advocate for war. There's a reason why he was called the Prince of Peace. Sure, you can quote, “I did not come to bring peace, but a sword,” and even two or three other verses, but they don't hold a candle to the more than fifty-some verses where Jesus speaks about peace and peace-making.

Favour the rich over the poor.. Favouring the rich over the poor is a slap in the face of Jesus, his life, and his teachings.

Cut funding that hurts the least of these. Hurting the poor? Well, that's just … just ... um, something a whole lot worse than despicable. Despicabler? Über-despicable? When Jesus said, “Whatever you do to the least of these, you do it to me,” he meant it. When you cut funding and it hurts people, according to Jesus, you are hurting him.

Let people go hungry. Spiritually, Gandhi said, “There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.” Politically, hunger causes problems with education, production, and civil behavior that are all necessary for a successful nation. More importantly for Christians, Jesus said when we feed the hungry, we are feeding him

Withhold healthcare from people. When people who were sick needed care, Jesus gave it to them. If we are following Jesus, we will imitate him as closely as possible. No, the government can't repeat the miracles he did but I've seen modern medicine do things that are about as close to a miracle as I expect to get.

Limit the rights of a select group of people. Jesus loves everybody – but he loves me best. Kind of sits the wrong way with you, doesn't it? Well, it should and with good reason. If you spend any time reading the Bible you know that we all were made in God's image. Exactly which part of us is in God's image is less clear, but what is clear is that we were equally made in the image of God. Any law that doesn't treat people equally is as good as thumbing your nose at God. Even worse? Doing it in the name of God or based on religious beliefs

Turn away immigrants.. As Exodus says, we know how it feels to be foreigners in a foreign land. If you don't think being foreigners in a foreign land is still our story, ask the Native Americans. At best, turning away immigrants makes us hypocrites; at worst, it makes us betrayers of our ancestors and our God.

Devalue education. We learn in Proverbs that wisdom is something in which God delights daily.

Support capital punishment — execution. Jesus died by execution. He was an innocent man. Every year, innocent people die by execution in our nation. It's time to be a shining city on a hill. It's time to express the fullness of love, to express the value of life. It's time to stop the government-sanctioned killing.

[link:https://www.patheos.com/blogs/thegodarticle/2016/05/10-things-you-cant-vote-for-while-following-jesus/

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 says: Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.

In comparison the far right is neither patient or kind, the far right is arrogant and rude. The far right insist that only its way is the RIGHT way. The far right is resentful and mean to anyone who challenges them and their belief system. The far right only bears the burden of those who are exactly like them. That is some juxtaposition, right there.

Just saying.......