How Would Jesus Vote?

Chapter One: Do Jesus and Politics Mix? But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God." Acts 4:19, NIV Jesus and politics. They do not mix. Or so we have been told. Jesus is certainly above politics. The question is, would He have His followers be involved in the political process? On the one hand, we should not put our trust in princes. Syndicated columnist Cal Thomas likes to point out that salvation will not come on Air Force One. Fair enough. Erwin Lutzer, an author and pastor, reminds us that the Cross can accomplish things politics cannot. I agree completely and invest most of my time in evangelism and discipleship. On the other hand, I also believe we must be involved in the political process. There's no question conservative Christianity is important in politics. In the wake of the 2006 elections, some "progressive" leaders among the Republicans blamed the religious Right for Democrat gains. Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family shot back: "Values voters are not going to carry the water for the Republican Party if it ignores their deeply held convictions and beliefs." Dobson warned the Republican leadership to think twice before it abandoned "their pro-moral, pro-family and pro-life base." Meanwhile, a November 2006 poll shows that fewer Christians trust the GOP as faith-friendly: "The number of people who consider the GOP friendly to religion dropped from 55 percent to 47 percent."3 In November 2006,Newsweekmagazine devoted a cover story to "The Politics of Jesus," while a February 2007 editorial inTimemagazine shouted "The Religious Right's Era Is Over."5 The same month, Christian Newswire declared that evangelicals are the nation's single largest voting bloc.6 Even Hillary Clinton, who in 2001 said, "I wonder if it's possible to be a Republican and a Christian at the same time,"7 recently hired an evangelical consultant to build bridges between her and the faith community. Any way you look at it, Jesus and politics are a hot topic. FEAR OF THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT A former writer for theNew York Times,Christopher Hedges, wrote a book titledAmerican Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America. In a recent commentary about the book, Don Feder, an orthodox Jew, said, Hedges' screed is the latest in a long, long, line of hysterical tracts denouncing what the secular left calls the Religious Right. The past year alone has seen such saliva-specked exposes of alleged Christian extremism as: Religion Gone Bad: Hidden Dangers of the Christian Rightby Mel White Why the Christian Right Is Wrongby Robin Meyers The Left Hand of God: Taking Back Our Country from the Religious Rightby Michael Lerner Theocons: Secular America Under Siegeby Damon Linker American Theocracyby Kevin Phillips The Baptizing of America: The Religious Right's Plan for the Rest of Usby James Rudin Piety and Politics: The Right Wing Assault on Religious Freedomby the Reverend Barry Lynn and Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalismby Michelle Goldberg. The objective of all of this Chicken Little squawking is to convince us that the Constitution is fallingthat conservative Christians intend to abolish the Bill of Rights, outlaw sin and replace democracy with a theocratic state that will make Calvin's Geneva look like Hugh Hefner's bachelor party.... Hedges quotes evangelist [D. James] Kennedy: "As vice regents of God, we are to exercise godly dominion andNewcombe, Jerry is the author of 'How Would Jesus Vote?', published 2008 under ISBN 9781400074068 and ISBN 1400074061.