Christians And The Republican Party, Continued

I have been searching for months for a way to communicate my thoughts on the relationship between the Church of Jesus Christ and the Republican party. It has been a work in progress. I am now at a point where I can publish them. The results can be surprising, based on the comments I wrote on the late Jerry Falwell recently.

I am a life-long Republican. I have voted for one Democrat in my life, over 20 years ago, and he may be a Republican now, for all I know. I grew up in an area and in a time when a person could be a committed Christian and be a Democrat. I learned through knowing enough Oklahoma Democrats to realize that not everyone in that party is a godless secularist, even though their party has been taken over by them at the national level. It is ok to disagree on the role, size and scope of government. It is not ok for a Christian to embrace their party's agenda on cultural issues such as abortion and homosexual behavior.

The Church and political parties have different purposes. The Church exists to preach the gospel, and to be salt and light in society. Political parties exist first to get politicians elected, and then to advance an agenda if it is so inclined.

Conservative Christians have helped Republican candidates get elected for a quarter of a century. With that, many of us have expected to see social change (such as abolition of abortion) achieved by political means. It is 2007, and Roe v. Wade has not been overturned. I believe progress has been made in that area, but we are not where we want to be.

The Republican party has experienced a renaissance in the last quarter-century, electing three presidents, and controlling both houses of Congress at various times during that period, following decades of a Democrat hammerlock on Capitol Hill. The GOP would not have made such gains without an appeal to culturally conservative voters.

For a long time, I have grown increasingly uncomfortable with the alliance between two groups I ally with: the body of Christ, and the Republican party. God is holy, and is not to be co-opted merely for the sake of political power. Power and a political agenda can corrupt the church, making it powerless to spread the Gospel. At the same time, an overtly spiritual agenda turns off blocks of voters, making it harder for conservative Republican candidates to be elected.

A person should not have to be a Republican to become a Christian. Likewise, a person should not have to be a Christian to vote Republican.

I am not advocating for Christians to bail out of the Republican party. Given the right nominee, we'll still see church parking lots full of cars with Republican bumper stickers in the fall of 2008.

My pipe dream, really, is for increased influence for Christians in the Democrat party. I'm afraid it may be a pipe dream, because it is controlled by secularists at its highest levels, and has become the refuge for those repelled by the perceived religiosity of the Republican party.

The culture war is not over, by a longshot. However, we are beginning to realize that the Republican party is not a tool to win the culture war.

If anyone is curious, no, this is not an endorsement of Rudy Giuliani for president. Far from it. I'm leaning toward Fred Thompson, if he gets into the race.