The Religious Right (A Critique)

This past week, while I’ve been reading Jesus for President, the Religious Right received the shock they feared most: a landslide victory for Barack Obama. The Republican party was punched in the chin like Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out, watching their stranglehold on American politics smashed like a shattered glass jaw. Instantly, cries echoed from Christians that abortion would live to see another day, America would pull out of Iraq, and socialism would engulf America’s economic system.

The funny thing is, I really didn’t see the Republican Party (spearheaded by a McCain-Palin ticket) bringing about what they sought, either. We’ve seen the Republican’s pack the government (see George W. Bush term one). A Republican House, Senate, Court, and Presidency have all happened. Its not like McCain was a staunch supporter of killing all abortion (he actually supported it in some cases). Its not like war is bringing the literal Kingdom of God to the Islamic world (when did Jesus say they’d know we’re Christians by our bunker busters?).

Perhaps its time for Christians to re-examine what it is we’ve spent the last several decades attempting to do. God and country as one. Perhaps the pledge of allegiance could be paraphrased with what Christians have sought:

I pledge allegiance
To the flag
Of God’s United States of America.
And to His republic,
That stands entirely under God,
One nation, as His Kingdom,
Not dividing itself from Him,
With freedom to only worship Jesus,
And justice brought against those who don’t.

Along the way, it hasn’t been a very good PR move. Consider the methods:

• Picket signs at courthouses
• Abortion clinics blown to rubble
• Gossipping about leadership to belittle them as people
• Proclaiming “enemies” as “anti-christs”
• Standing by while 100,000 people are blown up a world away in their hospitals, schools, and homes of Iraq
• Praying for the assassination of people who “oppose God’s way”

Its no wonder that the rest of society know more about what Chrisitans are against than what we are for. We spend more time protesting than helping. We are pro-life in hospitals, but pro-death in Afghanistan. We burn every ounce of prophetic capitol we have with phone calls to Senators proclaiming troubling times for America if immigrants cross the border without completing a tiresome paperwork process.

Andrew Peterson seemed to have the same problem when penning his song “Come, Lord Jesus”

Tonight in the line of the merchandise store 
While they were packing up my bags 
I saw the pictures of the prophets of the picket signs 
Screaming, “God hates fags” 

But what of this Scripturally?

Jesus never sided with any political system. He had ample opportunity and plenty of movements to join:
- The Essenes – A hippie/monastic group that created an alternative community outside culture
- The Pharisees – An popular order of individuals who sought to bring cultural change through a movement of piety and strict religious observance to bring about a coming of the Messiah to rescue them from the world
- The Herodians – Those directly involved in government, who supported the system
- Sadducees – Strict adherants to Torah, anti-Pharisees

There were many other movements, all who would have loved to have gotten this popular Nazerene prophet named Jesus to endorse their policies. They even asked him questions to corner Him into siding with their point-of-view. Anything to sway His voters (followers) their way.

He didn’t.

Jesus preached a different Kingdom than the world system. A radical way of viewing earth. The Roman Empire had what they called “The Gospel,” which traveled throughout the world bringing peace by forcing other governments to surrender militarily to their system of government and rule (not unlike present times).  Jesus brought a different message of good news – this Gospel (the Beatitudes) would be proclaimed across the Earth.

• The poor are now powerful
• Those who have been crying can find comfort
• The weakest and least of society are now at the top of the heap
• Those who have wanted God’s real justice will be satisfied
• Those who forgive and give others what they don’t deserve are given the same
• Those who have the right motives  will see God
• Those who come with real peace are the offspring of God
• Those who bring this alternative Gospel will be beaten for it, but gain even more

This message was offensive. It was against the grain. Empire can’t sustain people who proclaim its ills. Who see its ability to crush the poor in decades of debt with no way out. Who gasp at the sight of other Christians desiring the death of other humans.

Babylon is alive. The harlot thrives with a lavish lifestyle of gold, pearls, corporate buyouts, $700 billion bailouts, trillion dollar campaigns, and anti-christ sayings.

Country first?
No. Kingdom first.

Yes we can?
No. That tower was built in Genesis 11 in a city called Babel.

Christians can be Americans. They can also be children of Taliban fighters. People crossing borders. (I’m not sure that the Canaanites thought of Israel as “legal immigrants”). Christians can be Australians. Christians can be Iraqi mothers, with their only child on his deathbed thanks to “collateral damage.” Christians can be homosexuals, not yet reformed in their lifestyles.

But these are all secondary allegiances. I pledge allegiance to the Kingdom of God. The longest running nation on Earth. Sure its morphed over time. We are real. We read Scripture and disect its meaning. We are controversial. We are liberal. We are conservative. We are His.

This election will not bring the end of the world. If Christians handle it correctly, this can still be an era long desired. Christianity hasn’t changed, but we must.