Why We Shouldn’t Care About a Politician’s Religion
Countless times I’ve been asked to speculate on Obama’s religion. Do I think he’s a real Christian? Or a devout Muslim? I irritate people when I respond with, “That’s the President’s personal business and none of mine.”
Mind you, I didn’t vote for President Obama.. It’s nothing personal, but I’m a Libertarian and he was the furthest candidate from those ideals in the last election. It had nothing to do with his religion, and I’ll never choose one candidate over another because of their faith because I don’t think that religious beliefs tell us how a person will act in office.
Let me give you an example. I attend a very small Southern Baptist church in Texas. You’re probably picturing a barn full of overweight rednecks driving dirty trucks, wearing overalls, and shooting guns up in the air. And you probably think that these cavemen all line up to vote for the Republican party, but you’d be wrong.
In our tiny congregation there are Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, and some independent voters – and plenty of folks who just won’t tell you their affiliation. If you randomly picked someone from my church to serve as the President of the United States, then you would have no idea which political agendas they would support – there’s just too much variety even in a group that small. The fact that all of them are Southern Baptists who agree on almost every theological point does not ensure that they will have the same political outlook.
So, when a candidate promises me that they are a Christian – just like me! – I don’t get excited. I want to know thing like, how will they govern our taxes? Will they make new laws or seek to limit federal power? (I can dream, can’t I?) What do they intend to do about our very serious unemployment issues? None of these important questions have anything to do with the candidate’s faith.
I prefer to allow our leaders to keep their faith to themselves – and I appreciate them extending that same courtesy to me and allowing me to practice my own faith away from their prying eyes. And if they want my support then I don’t want them to put on a Christian face and tell me that we share the same faith. I only want to know how they will run a public office.
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Adam,
Ultimately I agree with you – I don’t check my politician’s faith before I vote for them – but I think I come to it a bit differently.
I have a lot of sympathy for those who make the claim that a person’s faith will play a pivotal role in their heart which will effect their decisions which will effect their political life. I don’t think faith, character, and works are easily separated.
However just because it isn’t easily separated on paper doesn’t mean that life isn’t full of examples of this separation. There are many dishonest Christians – in fact Christianity should be showing each of us that we are the chief of sinners.
And on the other side of the coin, I believe that God gives common grace to all men – so even men who are actively rebelling against God in their faith can still make wise decisions that will continue to hold up our country.
And like you I absolutely despise a man willing to put on a mask of faith in order to get votes. Much worse than a presuppositionally inconsistent but honest atheist IMO.
What exactly is a “presuppositionally inconsistent but honest atheist?”
A couple thoughts to add to a very good post on dealing with claims of politicians.
The fact that a politician claims that they will “will run a public office” in a certain way is just an assertion, so that you will make conclusions about their future intentions.
And when some politicians (not all I presume) state things about their faith, they are not inviting you to make conclusions about moving to their home town to have closer fellowship with them at their place of worship. They are also making an assertion so that you will make conclusions about their future intentions.
If that is true, then both kinds of statements are campaign promises in a way, being in the same boat, stating or hinting about what they intend to do. “I’m a Christian, therefore I will ….” and “I will run this office this way, not that way.” Both are campaign promises.
Therefore I think your methodology is right on, to ignore the statement. It’s not that you don’t care about their religion. You care about people’s spiritual condition, otherwise you wouldn’t talk to us, Adam! It’s that you recognize that promises made during a campaign await verification, and to mix into them statements about their faith is usually a form of taking an oath. “I’m a religious person. Therefore I wouldn’t do that.” But that kind of oath, indeed, any number of oaths, are always shown to have bound the person only when the time comes to fulfill them.
Hey Justin,
Sorry if there was any confusion in my statement – I was trying to be brief but sometimes that works against my communication ability.
What I was trying to get across was that an atheist has no presuppositional tenant that would dictate that they always possess an honest character. This isn’t to say that they must always be dishonest but that they can be dishonest when they perceive that their best interests (and their country’s best interests) are at stake and not betray their fundamental principles.
The discussion of fundamental governing tenants in both Christian and Atheistic worldviews can be delved into further but I am afraid I am already far off topic.
So on topic: I would like to add that it could be argued that politics cannot be practiced well today without a continual practice of dishonesty. Would I really feel comfortable sending a Christian brother into Washington knowing that he will likely have to undermine his own principles in order to even keep his head above water? If this line of reasoning holds true – then Christians shouldn’t be voting for other Christians at all.