God is Not a Republican...Or a Democrat

Many people in our wards and branches are starting to realize that within our church communities, when it comes to recognizing and appreciating a diversity of social-political views, we're not doing very well, to put it mildly.
Just as it has in many recent election years, in a letter read in church gatherings on Sunday, March 19th 2006, the First Presidency urged political participation without endorsing any candidate or party, but this year it also said, "Principles compatible with the gospel may be found in the platforms of all major political parties."

Channel 5, KSL-TV in Salt Lake City, features an online article and a video clip with a number of reactions about the news item you may find interesting.

The media immediately zoomed in on this news item, and mostly focused on the familiar perception that one cannot be a good member of the church and a Democrat at the same time, a popular political slogan among the religious right throughout the Mormon Belt. The statement of the First Presidency may be seen as an encouraging development towards political diversity in our communities and in the church, and MESJ would like to add that, contrary to popular belief, there are other political parties out there besides Republicans and Democrats, with platforms that present "principles compatible with the gospel", like the Libertarian, Green, and Constitution parties, as well as a host of other smaller parties.

Author Jim Wallis, editor-in-chief of Sojourners Magazine, in 2005 wrote his best-seller: 'God's Politics, a New Vision for Faith and Politics in America', with the subtitle: 'Why the Right Gets it Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It.' Here are some excerpts from his book:

"Abraham Lincoln had it right. Our task should not be to invoke religion and the name of God by claiming God’s blessing and endorsement for all our national policies and practices - saying, in effect, that God is on our side. Rather, as Lincoln put it, we should worry earnestly whether we are on God’s side.

Those are the two ways that religion has been brought into public life in American history. The first way - God on our side - leads inevitably to triumphalism, self-righteousness, bad theology, and, often, dangerous foreign policy. The second way - asking if we are on God’s side - leads to much healthier things, namely penitence and even repentance, humility, reflection, and accountability. We need much more of all those, because they are often the missing values of politics.

Martin Luther King Jr. did it best. With his Bible in one hand and the Constitution in the other, King persuaded, not just pronounced. He reminded us all of God’s purposes for justice, for peace, and for the "beloved community" where those who have been left out and left behind get a front-row seat. And he brought religion into public life in a way that was always welcoming, inclusive, and inviting to all who cared about moral, spiritual, or religious values. Nobody felt left out of the conversation.

The values of politics are of primary concern. Of course, God is not partisan. God is not a Republican or a Democrat. When either party tries to politicize God or co-opt religious communities to further political agendas, it makes a terrible mistake. The best contribution of religion is precisely not to be ideologically predictable nor loyally partisan. Both parties, and the nation, must let the prophetic voice of religion be heard. Faith must be free to challenge both the Right and the Left from a consistent moral ground.

"God’s politics" are therefore never partisan nor ideological. But God’s politics challenge everything about our politics. God’s politics remind us of the people our politics always neglect - the poor, the vulnerable, the left behind. God’s politics challenge narrow national, ethnic, economic, or cultural self-interest, reminding us of a much wider world and the creative human diversity of all those made in the image of the creator. God’s politics remind us of the creation itself, a rich environment in which we are to be good stewards, not mere users, consumers, and exploiters. And God’s politics plead with us to resolve, as much as possible, the inevitable conflicts among us without the terrible destruction of war. God’s politics always remind us of the ancient prophetic prescription to "choose life, so that you and your children may live," and challenge all the selective moralities that would choose one set of lives and issues over another. This challenges both the Right and the Left, offering a new vision for faith and politics in America and a new conversation of personal faith and political hope.

People concerned about social change and hungry for spiritual values can actually combine those two quests. Too often politics and spirituality have been separated, polarized, and even put into competition with one another. We have been buffeted by private spiritualities that have no connection to public life and a secular politics showing disdain for religion or even spiritual concerns. That leaves spirituality without social consequences and a politics with no soul. Political discourse that is disconnected from moral values quickly degenerates. How might we change our public life with the values that many of us hold most dear? How can we connect a genuinely "prophetic" spirituality to the urgent need for social justice? This is the connection the world is waiting for."

- From: God's Politics - by Jim Wallis -

The First Presidency statement: "Principles compatible with the gospel may be found in the platforms of all major political parties.", perhaps can be seen as a gentle reminder from our church leaders that even though it may be possible to be a good member of the church as a Republican or as a Democrat, the simple fact remains that in the worldwide Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the majority of her members are neither...

April 2006 - Robert Poort