Why I’m No Longer a Republican

I’m in a serious grudge match with my own political convictions. And I am so tired.

Like many believers, I’ve come to see biblical faith as more aligned with the Republican Party than the Democratic Party. And for good reason — traditional values, limited government, belief in natural law, liberty over equality, a pro-life plank. These not only represent my personal beliefs, but I think align with certain Scriptural norms.  However, lately I’ve noticed that when describing my own political views, I am careful to identify myself as a Conservative, rather than a Republican. The distinction is intentional.

You see, I’m beginning to feel that politics is a drag on my faith. A necessary evil, yes. But the Person and work of Christ is independent of any political attachments. Besides, Jesus and Rush Limbaugh are way, way, different.

One of the reasons why this is such a difficult position for me to take is because of the current religious trend toward political liberalism.  I recently left these comments on a “recovering fundamentalist’s” site, in a discussion about politics:

Is it just me, or are most postmodern Christians politically liberal? It makes all their talk about “fair-mindedness” and “non-partisanship” seem disingenuous. I can understand (and sympathize with) someone re-thinking their “fundamentalist upbringing” and contemporary “fundamentalist sub-culture.” But when that journey consistently leads one into “political liberalism,” I am very, very suspicious.

Of course, the opposite point could be made. When one’s journey consistently leads them into “political conservatism,” shouldn’t that also be suspect?

Either way, the pomo = liberal equation just eats at me.  For instance, Christianity Today, in an article entitled A Better Storyteller, noted that Don Miller, author of the bestseller Blue Like Jazz, provides links on his website to Greenpeace and MoveOn.org. (For the record, I could find neither link on Miller’s current site.) Nevertheless, the fact that a professing Christian author would, at one time, endorse such radical, far Left groups, absolutely baffles me. Seriously. Sadly, this identification with political liberals seems consistent with the Emerging Church and its postmodern proponents. And this really bums me out.

Still, I can’t let that soften several facts. One, Jesus was apolitical — He simply did not endorse, get sucked into, or encourage political involvement. And He had plenty of chances. Of course, this does not mean we shouldn’t be involved politically, but that politics did not seem very important to Christ or the accomplishment of His mission on earth. Remember, His kingdom “was not of this world” (Jn. 18:36).

Two, the excesses, missteps, moral and social failures of the Religious Right should be fair warning of its fallibilities. In Time magazine’s recent Q & A with Chuck Colson, a man who was front and center in the identification of Evangelicals with politics, said this:

We made a big mistake in the ’80s by politicizing the Gospel. We ought to be engaged in politics, we ought to be good citizens, we ought to care about justice. But we have to be careful not to get into partisan alignment. We [thought] that we could solve the deteriorating moral state of our culture by electing good guys. That’s nonsense. Now people are kind of realizing it was a mistake. A lot of people are going back and saying, “Let’s just take care of the church and tend to our knitting.”

Both positions are wrong. There’s an intelligent way to engage the culture in every area, including politics. But you can’t fix politics or culture unless you fix the church. What we’re seeing in society today is a direct consequence of the church failing to be the church.

Hearing Colson distance himself from partisan politics (“it was a mistake”) and even later in the article explicitly embrace the Enemy (“Democrats do a lot of very good things that we should be supporting”), should be a gut check to religious Republicans. Especially those who perceive politics as a legitimate arm for the advancement of the Kingdom of God.

But it’s Colson’s point about the Church that most resonates with me (and, I think, Scripture) — “you can’t fix politics or culture unless you fix the church.” In other words, changing the world starts with Christians, not the House and the Senate.

No, I’m not going pomo. I still believe that the unborn are sacred, government should stay small, morality is not progressive, and the poor will always be with us (Mk. 14:7). I will still vote, watch C-Span, and blog about about politics. And until further notice, I will remain a registered Republican. But as far as labels go, let’s just say I’m a Conservative.