Thursday, May 08, 2008

Re:How do I reconcile my membership in the Democratic party and my Christian faith? (part three)

What I am really saying here is that injecting the Bible into governance may not be the best idea. So I will finally answer your question as a Lutheran. The main function of government is to keep civil order, because its very hard to preach the gospel in the midst of a war (see for example the decimation of the Christian population in Iraq since the war). The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not a political agenda.
More than simply keeping order a government should look out for the good of all its citizens. It should not play favorites or be beholden to a narrow ideological viewpoint. Demonizing of its citizens should be avoided and a diversity of ideas should be considered. And frankly having spent nearly 8 years now under the Bush Administration I genuinely believe American can be governed better. I think the Democrats will get us out of Iraq sooner than the Republicans will. I think some form of Universal Healthcare will in the long run help the country, as giving people the resources to prevent sickness and disease is better than being forced to pay for their emergency room trip and more expensive treatments that emergency treatment will incur. Further the American economy tends to do better under a Democratic Administration. I could go on, but you get the idea, there are plenty of good reasons for a Christian to be a Democrat.
I would like to add a caveat to all of this. I am not saying that Republicans can not be Christians or Christians be Republican. Republicans at their best want small government, support traditional values, are non-interventionalist, and are skeptical. Not bad things.

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