Here We Go Again
“…major shifts are rarely achieved by majority rule, which prefers the status quo.” ~Camille Paglia
“I hear on conservative talk radio the constant assertion that America is the destined leader of the world, that America is blessed by God and the best place on earth, where everyone wants to live. Therefore anything we do is automatically good, and the only problem is the people who hate us because we’re free. Now I’m very pro-American — my entire family escaped poverty in Italy because they rightly believed in the American dream. My father and five of my uncles proudly served in World War II. But uncritical American boosterism — automatic endorsement of every government action — is myopic and self-defeating.” ~Camille Paglia
The above quotes are from a professing liberal atheist. Curious. Camille is one of the favorite writers at Salon.com which is a mixed bag of cultural observation and liberal politics. The interesting thing is, many of the articles I have read by her have been linked to from The Drudge Report or even LewRockwell.com, both conservative websites in their own right. Furthermore, I find myself applauding her tirades more often than not. While I naturally have to depart with her on issues of Christianity and liberal “progressive” dogma, politically she seems to often times hit the proverbial nail on the head. Her recent interview at Salon.com is no exception. Click here to read it.
I would suspect once again that most of our family members and a few friends will dislike much of what she has to say about Republicans. I don’t think I found anything to dispute in her references, personally, although she does mention a few figures that I am not familiar with so I can’t speak to those. Overall though, she has an uncanny ability to stick it to her own party (the Democrats) while she is able to see the pros and cons of the opposing party. If nothing else, I would encourage you all to check out this article to give you some things to mull over as we head into another election cycle. Which brings me to the point of this post…
November 7th is looming and as usual we all are getting pummelled by the predictable ads and smear campaigns by the reigning duopoly. Republican and Democratic candidates just keep throwing the same rhetoric at us as if we are still supposed to care. Their ads contradict each other. One candidate insists, “My opponent did this,” while their nemesis emphatically declares, “No I didn’t, my opponent did.” At the end of the day, what do we do? Do we research their claims to see if they are accurate? Do we look up the voting records of the candidates to see if they have exhibited voting habits that support our Christian world and life view? When they don’t do we try and find a viable alternative to the limitations of the two prominent figures?
No, to all of the above. We vote our party, not our conscience (which should be unyieldingly Christian in scope). We assume the best and reassure ourselves that the “G” in GOP stands for “God.” We take it on faith that the Republican candidate will be the best one to support our Christian values, regardless of whether or not the candidate is a Christian or has ever shown himself to be in line with a Christian view of life, society, and natural law. The reality is that many, if not most, of them are not. The party game, in my opinion (and I think this can be easily supported with even a cursory glance at partisan activity), is expertly portrayed in the aforementioned article by Ms. Paglia, her theology aside, and I don’t think she is alone in her assessment. She strikes me as very libertarian in her view of politics, even though she religiously aligns herself with the Democratic party, with whom she spares no snide remark or chastisement. I wish the Republican die-hards that I know would be willing to analyze their party with the same scrutiny.
I consider it madness for Ms. Paglia to continue to align herself with the senselessness of the modern Democrats, but I consider it also madness for Christians to continue to align themselves with the authoritarian senility of the Republican party as well. Forgive me for seeming brash, but when is the Church going to wake up to its calling of claiming the culture (and the public square of modern politics) for Christ? As Ms. Paglia so eloquently put it in the above quote, majority rule prefers the status quo; but there is absolutely nothing status quo about Christianity and Church history. There was nothing status quo about Martin Luther’s opposition to the prevailing church doctrine of indulgences (and so many other things) during the Reformation. His status as a detractor nearly got him killed, but as God always sustains His own, He went on to, however reluctantly, establish himself as the prophet in the wilderness, eliciting the hatred of the religious elite. Hmmm…it seems that God has a way of doing that with major figures in Christian history. If you recall, Jesus himself did the same thing so Brother Martin is in good company. But what about us?
I fear that we have gotten so comfortable in our American way of life and cultural imperialism, that we have become more American than Christian. When I say “American,” mind you, I don’t mean it in a classical sense, but rather a modern (or postmodern?) sense. We have been sucked up by a relativistic culture that doesn’t want its feelings hurt and is entertaining itself to death. We forget our own history though. Christianity should by definition make us cultural and political detractors. However, the current evangelical majority is just a variation on a theme as it is compared to the Secular Humanist majority. Where is the scandal of the Gospel?
I could ramble on but I will spare you all any further indignation. If you have read this far, I applaud your dedication to read what is on my mind. Let me just challenge you as I challenge myself to think differently about the American political landscape and to not be lazy in scrutinizing it with sound doctrine. We are not going to claim this culture for Christ by continuing to support the two party system in this country. We may make some headway, though, if we can start separating ourselves from the status quo of Republicans and Democrats, and start worshipping God with our minds by requiring our politics line up with our theology. There are better alternatives to the prevailing methodology. As we head into the voting booths next week, let us consider what those alternatives might be and be careful who we align ourselves with. We are Christians and if we are going to vote in the name of contributing to our political apparatus, let us at least be sure we are voting for someone who stands for what we stand for. Do this or don’t vote at all.
Finally, If you don’t know the name or the credibility of any given candidate, please reconsider before you pull that partisan lever. Or, and I’m going to sound like a broken record here, if you most vote partisan, please consider the Constitution Party which has an explicitly Christian/Biblical platform. They are no more perfect a party than any other, but at least they are doing a better job of standing for Biblical principles and the preservation of our Constitution.
Peace to you.