Can a good Christian vote Republican?

I asked my neighbor Marge today if she thought a good Christian could vote Republican.
She was just trying to unwind the cord on her electric lawnmower and I think the question took her by surprise. I asked her because she's a good Lutheran, the widow of a career Marine, the mother of four and grandmother of several. Like Sarah Palin, she's had her share of mothering challenges--kids with drug addictions, unmarried pregnancies, grand-daughters gone astray. In the forgiveness department, Marge has come a long way. She's one of the least judgmental people I know.

"I don't know," she said. "You should probably ask someone else. I haven't been keeping up with politics much. I know everyone in my church is going to vote Republican, except maybe me. They hand out a piece of paper that tells us who we ought to vote for, and most people just go with that."

"But what do they base it on, the things Jesus talked about or the things he never mentioned?"

"Whadya mean?"

"Well, he never said anything about homosexuality, except love everyone all the time; he never said anything about abortion, but he did say we will be judged according to how we judge others. He never said anything about gay marriage but was fierce in his condemnation of divorce. 'Let no man put asunder...' I think a good Christian is someone who takes a stand for what Jesus took a stand for---peace instead of violence, dignity for everyone, caring for the poor. Don't you think those are the things we should be considering?'

"Well, yeah, that makes sense, but it doesn't work like that. My sister is a Christian in Texas and when I told her I was all for getting out of Iraq fast, she couldn't figure out why I cared about Iraq. 'What's that country got to do with you? Why do you even care about it?' She couldn't even understand why it hurts me that all those people have lost their lives."

"Do you know how she's voting?"

"She'll vote for whoever her husband is for. It always goes like that. Whatever he believes, she believes. So they'll go for McCain. She likes Palin, too. Feels good about having a woman in there."

"Yeah, I'd like a woman in there too, but Sarah Palin kind of scares me. She doesn't believe in global warming, she doesn't want gun control, she's against reproductive rights and sex education. Yesterday I saw a clip of her talking about how the Alaskan pipeline is God's will. And today she's talking about maybe going to war with Russia. That's not the kind of leadership that inspires me."

"Me neither. I have another sister who used to live in Alaska. She likes Alaska so she'll be voting for Palin just because of that."

"Boy, that doesn't make much sense, does it?"

"Nope. But it's true. I think you oughta talk to some more people in the neighborhood. Give 'em something to think about. Like I said, I haven't tuned in yet. I don't know if I'm going to go for Obaman. I know darn well I'm not going to do what the church says, just because they say so. And I've never liked McCain, so who knows?"

"OK, Marge, keep me posted," I say as I head back over to my yard.

"OK," she hollers back, "and keep those questions coming. I'll be thinking about it all day: can a good Christian vote Republican? Let me know if you find out!"

I went back into the house wondering if we'll ever become a nation of original thinkers, or of we'll just keep voting the way our churches tell us, or our spouses, or because we like the state the person came from.

As for being a Christian, I have to vote for the "we" not the "me." I have to care about all of us---the poor, the immigrants, the refugees, the families in Baghdad and Afghanistan and Bosnia. I have to say NO to war, and not just this was, but all wars. Today the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen admitted that "we can't kill our way to victory." Not now, not ever.

War is an obsolete solution, as was slavery, as was child labor. I wonder if Christians really gave some thought to what their wise and holy teacher said about non-violence, about the poor, about what we do to the "least of these..." if they wouldn't cast their vote for the person who took time to remind us at the national convention that "we ARE our brothers and sisters' keepers."

Follow Jan Phillips on Twitter: www.twitter.com/theejanphillips

Comments

[justL00king]

Hi, I found this post while doing research on the bank that's taking over mine (if it turns out to be run by pro-war conservative Christian republicans, I'll be banking elsewhere), and I just wanted to say *bravo* for posting something that actually embodies what should be true Christian values. I could say the same things till I'm blue in the face, but the people who need to hear it wouldn't listen - I'm a young, independent, very pierced and openly queer liberal person of color living in San Francisco. I believe in God and I pray regularly, but have found most so-called Christians to be full of hatred, hypocrisy, thoughtlessness, ignorance, judgement against anything beyond the status quo, and a glaring sense of entitlement. It's good to know there are those who do their best to practice what they preach, since when it comes down to it every major religion and/or spiritual practice basically teaches the same things - the things we forgot from kindergarten. It's mind-blowing to me that people who say god is their life could *knowingly* and intentionally support such pure, unadulterated evil. You've redeemed a few Christians in my eyes - thank you.

[BobR69]

QUOTE: I know everyone in my church is going to vote Republican, except maybe me. They hand out a piece of paper that tells us who we ought to vote for, and most people just go with that."

How is this church still able to maintain its tax-exempt status?

[cat2008]

Jan please do not reference the Bible when you clearly have no idea what it says about homosexually, war, abortion (murder),
"Well, he never said anything about homosexuality,"Read Gen 19:24; GOD destroyed a whole city for their unnatural sexual realtions. Also read 1 Cor 6:9: It says they will not inherit the KINGDOM of GOD. GOD is love and if you don't show love to GOD with your heart and with the way you live your life then how can you possibly teach others what love is?

"he never said anything about abortion" Read Psalm 139. God opposes the shedding of innocent blood. God does not oppose war. He declared war so many times. Not that I justify it but war was it was throughout the Bible. Starting with Sodom and Gomorrah, 12 Tribes Israel,Gideon,etc.
"but he did say we will be judged according to how we judge others" He also said that the Bible is used for correcting and rebuking, etc (2 Tim 3:16). It is not judging it is correcting!
He never said anything about gay marriage~ Every example in the Bible of marriage was a union between man and woman. Adam and Eve. Do you understand what the Covenant of marriage is?
"I think a good Christian is someone who takes a stand for what Jesus took a stand for" Then become a true follower Christ.

[BobR69]

to cat2008: You need to do better with your reading comprehension. Jan clearly stated that Jesus never said anything about homosexuality. I believe that anything Jesus said came AFTER the Old Testament was written. Therefore, quoting the Old Testament is not a valid response.

For that matter, quoting anything in the New Testament that is not something that Jesus spoke is not really a good response either. I would be very interested in actual quotes in the Bible OFJESUS'S OWN WORDS that disputes what Jan has posted.

[writewoman]

Brilliant. True. Sad.

[LanceJetson]

Matthew 24:24
"For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."
Matthew 24:23-25
Fits here, don't you think. I've wanted to ask my dad, the pastor, the same question: "How can true Christians with a clear conscience vote the Republican ticket?"
Thanks for your post Jan!

[BadChristian]

Wow.
I have had a lot of comments deleted, for a lot of strange reasons, but to have a post deleted for saying "Sapere Aude," is far and away the most memorable. Particularly from a liberal site.
I meant it as a compliment for a writer who, I thought, was using her own reason to counter what has become the status quo of American religiosity.

"Enlightenment is man's release from his self incurred tutelage. Tutelage is man's inability to make use of his understanding without direction from another. Self-incurred is this tutelage when it's cause lies not in lack of reason but in lack of resolution and courage to use it without direction from another. Sapere aude! 'Have courage to use your own reason!' -- That is the motto of the enlightenment."
--Immanuel Kant, 1784

please accept my apologies for whatever affront I may have caused.

[strandwolf]

Whenever I see a post by a parent of a young military enlistee claiming that their child went into "the service" to "serve his country" by shooting up Iraq I counter their mindset by asking them why they didn't direct the fruit of their loins into college to prepare for a career in the Diplomatic Corps, or perhaps build up America's reputation for altruism (if it exists at all at this point) by working in the Peace Corps. Superior fire power is all these troglodytes seem to know. Despite having to sell one's soul, the military is a good gig financially these days, and I suspect that the bonuses, 3 squares a day, dental work, and substantial paychecks are the deciding factors for "answering the call."

[imfedup]

Jesus was a liberal.

[BBackSoon]

Well, I have to say I will be forwarding this all over the place. This gave me reason to pause and it is a great argument for the Christian Republicans.

[wyomingrev]

As a Christian minister, I am appalled at what passes for mainstream Christianity in the U.S. and especially appalled at how the right wing managed to convince so many of the faithful that their way was the Christian way. As Ms. Phillips writes, Jesus taught nonviolence; never said a (recorded) word about homosexuality; welcomed the outcasts; criticized the religious leaders of his own faith for their hypocrisy; preached against greed. And more. How in the world has his message been so effectively distorted?

Thankfully, there ARE progressive Christians -- though we're not covered by the MSM -- working for the poor, against the death penalty, on behalf of prison/imm­igration/d­rug policy/health care reform, feeding the hungry, taking care of the sick, protesting war, and much more.

[cat2008]

We all know the story about judgement that was placed upon Sodom and Gomorrah.
It surprises me that "Christians" have the tendency to read the word of God and have CLEARLY misinterpreted it. You mentioned that the word has not recorded anything about homosexuality?

Let me give you some insight and hope and pray you are not leading sheep astray.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (New King James Version)
9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived.Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals,[a] nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

What are progressive Christians? Christians are disciples of Christ Jesus. The Bible is God breathed. (2 Timothy 3:16.)Nothing needs to be progressive about it. It has over 7 billion copies in circulation and is 200 languages around the world. Human behavior will always be the same regardless of time.
Romans 12:2-KJV
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
The ways of the world is "degression" not progression.
True followers of Christ Jesus can vote for Republican.No matter who I vote for God is in control and Jesus is Lord of my life no matter what happens.

[bwilder]

I have a dear 86 year old male, white Southern friend here in North Carolina. His 'Daddy' was
KKK and this friend of mine growing up in the rural South has let the 'N' word roll off his tongue with ease throughout his life. This year he is voting for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

Now had you asked me six years ago when I met him if this would have ever been even remotely possible, I would have laughed myself silly.

My point here, is that while your neighbor's friends, family, or fellow parishioners may be following a herd mentality, there is a change rumbling beneath the surface. I have never felt it in such a profound way as I have this election cycle. If an my afore mentioned friend can stand up and vote for whom HE believes to be the right person, instead of what his upbringing, culture or friends may be saying gives me more hope than I have ever had in my fellow citizenry.

[ElBruce]

The simple fact is that the Republican mindset is Evil wrapped up as a political philosophy. I don't understand how people don't see it. Economics: every man for himself. Foreign policy; war. Greed and murder are presumably the sort of things that Christians should be against.

Interestingly enough, the Bible includes specific warnings about evil people subverting Christianity. The proscribed litmus test? "Judge them by their fruits." Exactly what Obama's been saying about the Bush years.

[schatsie]

correction, we need to call them the Bush McCain years...

McCain was for the War on Iraq on 9/11 before we knew that the bombers were Saudis who trained in Afghanistan.....he supported Bush 90 to 100% of the time.... He enabled Bush no end...

Then if McCain is elected then we will have the McCain Bush years, because NO ONE in the EXECUTIVE BRANCH will change... We will still have the Dept of Interior servicing the OIL industry...and the oil industry paying a pittance in royalties... The only good thing I can think about Alaska is that they are FIRST in Oil Royalties, not like the lower 48.

[mommadona]

Now, THAT was scary.