Granted, the Seattle Times article is about young evangelicals. But the current phenomenon of political confliction crosses lotsa boundaries. It’s not just young evangelicals that are rethinking their 
views. Count me in the mix. Nevertheless, it’s a bit puzzling. While the Times is clear to point out the scant defection of young Republicans to the Democratic Party (5%), it’s “the other 10 percent [who] are wandering the political wilderness, somewhere between ‘independent’ and ‘unaffiliated’ ” that interest me.
Shane Claiborne, a Philadelphia Christian activist and author of Jesus for President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals, calls them “political misfits.”
“It’s not about liberal or conservative, or Democrats or Republicans,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a new evangelical left. … There’s a new evangelical stuck-in-the-middle.”
I may not fit this youthful demographic, but I can dig the sentiment. I’ve said it before — I don’t like McCain. But unlike the kids in question, I’ve never contemplated switching parties. Call me hamstrung, narrow-minded, or politically constipated. But the basic tenets of the Democratic Party do not align with Christian values.
Of course, this isn’t to suggest that every Republican politician or position does. Neither party perfectly represents a Christian worldview! And after all, that’s what this particular dilemma is about. However, Conservative values, in their essence, mesh for more easily with biblical principles than do Liberal ones. Deal with it.
I can’t help but wonder whether the young evangelicals that are referenced in this article are really evangelicals.
Go ahead, call me a nerd, a legalist, a judge. But these are the types of Christians the media love to highlight — the wishy-washy ones. People who are so easily swayed from fundamental Christian convictions like the sacredness of human life, moral absolutes, family values, personal autonomy, and the defense of those liberties, probably never really believed them to begin with. Okay, so I might be a “Stuck-in-the-Middle Evangelical.” Either way, I’m not voting for a man who supports abortion rights.
Tags: faith and politics, Barack Obama, politics, John McCain
So you’re saying that someone can’t be a Democrat and a real Christian? You’re such a Republican homer, Mike!
Me? A “Republican homer”? I said, “Neither party perfectly represents a Christian worldview!” That includes the GOP. While social compassion is typically associated with the Democratic platform, there’s a reason why the Party’s constituency consists of feminists, gays, atheists, abortionists, socialists, relativists, Hollywood elites, limousine liberals, (am I missing anyone? oh!) and ACLU attorneys. Of course, Christians can be Democrats. It’s just they’ve got to concede certain biblical values to do so.
Couldn’t agree more, Mike.
Interesting. I’m a registered independent (mostly because I work for the state government in a public role and felt I’d best serve the public by not aligning myself either way). But I’ve always felt that you judge candidates individually, leaving party aside. Yes, I think the argument that the values typically associated with the Republican Party has merit. But I think in this day and age, we need to look past party lines and simply try to find good people.
Here in Delaware, I voted against the Republican candidate for State Representative because he champions embryonic stem cell research, aggressively so. I voted for one Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate because he is a hard-working moderate who shows up for all of the votes, champions family values, supported the partial-birth abortion ban and voted to confirm Judges Roberts and Alito. And yet, I’d never vote in a million years for the other Democratic Senator, because he stands for just about everything I disagree with. I think it’s most important for Christians to think for themselves, considering each candidate equally and with respect to Godly principles instead of just mindlessly flipping the switch for one party or the other. Ideally, it’d be nice to find candidates who do so as well.
Thanks, Mark. Great comment. I must admit, I’ve been tempted to sit this election out just because I’m so unhappy with all three candidates. You’re right, “mindlessly flipping the switch for one party” is wrong. My concern is that there are less and less politicians I’d flip any switch for.
I hear ya, man. I’m very, very disillusioned with politicians in general. Which makes it even more important for us as Christians to seek out the good, decent public servants from either party and vote them into office. They’re out there…just extremely hard to find right now.
By the way, my one sentence above should read “the values typically associated with the Republican party are more closely aligned with a Christian worldview”. Guess my brain got ahead of my typing fingers there.
If you could combine the best of the typical Dem mindset with the best of the typical Rep mindset, you might actually have something worth voting for. I’m all for dismantling the political parties. Seriously. Of course, that’s my idealism shining through.