[bit.listserv.christia] Singling out Republicans.

BWA6067@TAMAGEN (01/16/90)

       I'm not sure who it was that posted this to CHRISTIA, because
       I deleted the post in some indignation.  I now wish that I
       had not deleted it, but that's the way it goes.

       I seem to recall that this someone who raked Republicans in
       general over the coals later said that he/she singled
       Republicans out in order to show the foolishness of singling
       a particular group out.  While I appreciate the apparent
       sincerity of that particular disclaimer, I wonder if it
       really indicates the kind of mindset that the original
       accusation suggested--that Republicans have no sensitivity
       for the poverty-stricken.  The context of the letter further
       suggested that the author was dumbfounded that anyone who
       claimed to be a Christian could *possibly* espouse certain
       conservative views that happen to be mainly Republican views.
       The implication was that anyone who espoused such views was
       completely devoid of the kind of compassion that Jesus would
       desire of us.

       I'm not terribly interested in defending Republican political
       views as a response to that letter.  (I'll defend them in
       private, if anyone's interested.)  I'm not interested at the
       moment in defending *any* political point of view in
       particular.  But I am interested in addressing the somewhat
       arrogant spirit that causes one to make such generalizations
       and to link one's general political bent with one's
       dedication to Jesus Christ.  It is highly insulting to hear
       anyone say of anyone else, "I don't see how you can be a
       Christian and still be a member of the _______ (insert party
       of your choosing) party."  Regardless of the political
       affiliation of the object of that statement, that statement
       suggests the following:

                1.  There is only one political party that can
                possibly hold all of the "proper" views.  Once this
                principle is violated, i.e. a Republican view is
                proper on issue A and a Democrat view on issue B,
                the original statement falls.

                2.  The speaker is himself Biblically correct on all
                political issues.  This is a stance that can be
                proven neither correct nor incorrect, but it can be
                said with logical certainty that no two "Christians"
                are BOTH Biblically correct (except for some
                statistical coincidence).  Consequently, the
                original statement limits the number of politically
                correct Christians to right around unity.

       We must wean ourselves from the tendency to generalize that
       one political view is necessarily the "correct" one from a
       Biblical point of view.  The Bible is essentially apolitical,
       except in the sense that it requires us to be subject to the
       governing authorities (Romans 13).  It is possible for there
       to be two EQUALLY VALID yet DIFFERENT opinions on the same
       issue (Romans 14), and I think we must conclude that due to
       the apolitical nature of the Scriptures, the application of
       that principle extends beyond "church matters" into the
       political realm.  We are given no other guidelines as to how
       we should accomodate political differences among ourselves.
       The exclusivity demonstrated by the statement in question
       does little but to foster disunity in the body.

       One last thought:  how would you feel if the members of your
       particular political party were called "airheads" or
       "dunderheads?"  I forget which term was used in the original
       post, but it doesn't matter.  In our efforts to purge the
       damaging tendencies to "flame" one another, let us resolve
       not to resort to cheap shots and name-calling.  We all have
       some worth before Jesus; let us recognize that in one another
       and season our speech accordingly.

                                queue ball