When I became a Christian sometime in early 1994, there was a feeling of being fresh, new, nothing short of revolutionary. (Religious conversions can do that to a man.) I was welcomed into a circle of people who cared for you, praised God when you got an A and prayed for you when you are in deep crap with your teacher/dean/principal. Not only that, I was exploring for my place in the community of Christian believers, as all Christians have a purpose, a place to serve.
Now, I loved politics at a young age...the idea of civic duty, marble halls, the thought that you can change things at a flick of your hand: “Aye,” “Nay;” and whenever you show me a picture of the US Capitol, I can hear a swell of patriotic music in my head. And I was a Republican before I was a Christian (though underage at that time and the only Republican in my family. [Now I'm the only Libertarian in my family.]) Naturally, I fell into the Religious Right thing a few months later. Somebody recommended to me the Focus on the Family show on the radio and I listened to it before listening to Jack Hayford’s broadcast.
Dr. James Dobson was the mouthpiece of what Christians should do and act-- he discussed how to raise your children, how should teenagers date, how to be a “Godly Woman,” expounded on the virtues of being a Promise Keeper, and how to redeem America from moral decay. According to Dr. Dobson, one of the most important ways to do that is through the ballot box. And with Pat Robertson, Ralph Reed, the ACLJ, and the rest of the motley crew, the right way to vote is shown so you can win back Christian America for you and your families. Never mind that my own family is nominally Catholic-- but hey-- I can help them to point the way! Be a good witness, be a good example of what Jesus would do...so they can drop their heathen ways and be convinced that the Christian life will do.
Imagine that... life upheld, creationism taught in schools, SAT scores shot up, TV shows clean of innuendo, no more drugs and pornography, and eventually, souls saved... thanks to legislature done by upright Christians who have the courage to stand up for their rights and fight for what they believe. Sounds tantalizing, isn’t it? It was to me and many others who want to see Christ prevail. It was the same ol’ thing throughout high school until...
Enter Dr. Robert Kemp. He acquired his BA at Wabash College, gained his MA and PhD at the University of Chicago, volunteered for the Bobby Kennedy campaign before the tragedy at Los Angeles, and is currently my faculty advisor at Concordia. He taught several of my Poli Sci and History classes, and this semester he’s teaching Constitutional Law and US Early National History.
When I started in my freshman year, one of my plans was to intern at a Conservative Christian think tank like Family Research Council or Focus on the Family. That’d be icing on the cake as I liked to listen to the broadcasts. When we talked about my plans for an internship, he looked at me and asked me what I believed on God and politics. I responded with “God must be part of everyday life and it is our duty as Christians be active in politics and change society with our power as voters and citizens,” plus more stuff you probably hear from Falwell, et al. From that time forward, we discussed at length about the role of Church and State. This went on throughout the year.
At the same time, I was weighing the virtues of Lutheranism over Pentecostalism. And that entailed a great paradigm shift (to use that hackneyed term). There are several types of being Protestant. There is Lutheran, Calvinist, Unionist, Anglican (Don’t ask me on what they are-- they vary from High Church Anglo-Catholic to Low Church to Heresy-- see Bishop Spong for a great example), and Arminian (not to be confused with the country of Armenia). The Pentecostals fall into the latter category. Arminianism is named after the 16th century Calvinist theologian Arminius. He believed that people have the ultimate decision to be saved and that humans have total free will to say “yes” to Christ. The Calvinists condemned him (and to this day, call a Calvinist an Arminian to his face and expect a boot to the head-- it’s the ultimate insult) and excommunicated him. It emerged when John and Charles Wesley begun the Methodist movement and spread like wildfire in America by preachers like George Whitefield during the First and Second Great Awakenings. The Pentecostals came out of the movements and they are one of many torchbearers of Arminianism.
Besides Free Will, Arminianism emphasized living a morally upright Christian life. How? By removing perceived temptations (i.e. drinking) and setting up rules of personal conduct. The logical step after that is after getting rid of your own roadblocks, you work to remove the roadblocks for other people and convince them that doing a certain type of behavior will lead to downfall. Hence, the Scopes Monkey Trial, the Prohibition, the Moral Majority and the repealing of ERA, etc. With that in mind, it's natural that Evangelicals and Fundamentalists would align themselves with the Religious Right.
One day, Professor Kemp asked me if I know the state of man. “Nasty, poor, brutish and short,” I replied.
“Do Christians sin?”
“Yes, and still do.”
“If we Christians still sin time after time, how can we change the pagans, the unsaved through legislature? Their human nature will cause them to ignore our laws and break them.”
“I couldn’t, sir. Only God can change them.”
“Through the outside, or from within a human’s soul?”
“From within.”
“You are beginning to sound like a good Lutheran, Carol.”
Touche, Professor. At that point, my political philosophy fell down like a stack of cards. And worse yet, it was when I seriously considered remaining Pentecostal. Defeated! Not by a Secular Humanist, not by a “Feminist Womyn”, not by an Atheist on the order of O’Hair-- but by a fellow Pro-Life Christian-- a Democrat, to boot! Later that night, I listened to Dr. Dobson and what I heard began to be detestable. I turned off the radio and read Luther’s Small Catechism instead. Kemp began to teach me from primary sources, the Greek and Roman Classics instead of talking heads. St. Augustine. St. Thomas Aquinas. Luther. Tocqueville. “What do you think?” he asked his students. It blew our minds away. It gave me a firmer foundation.
Then I was introduced to Libertarianism by several people- particularly Dr. Rod Rosenbladt. I wondered why they belong to a party that was pro-choice and favored the legalization of hemp when they themselves are pro-life and frowned at abuse and they gave me a primer of sorts:
A person have basic human rights. As long nobody hurts one another, it is proper in the secular realm. But keep in mind that all actions have consequences. If somebody want to smoke pot, fine. But don't go boo-hooing to the government and beg for taxpayers' money to fix a mess you have done. I don't want that, and you deserve better. Is force proper? Look at the pro-life/pro-abortion struggles. Did screaming and shooting done one good bit to stop abortion? NO. But what does? Gentle persuasion. Volunteering at a crisis pregnancy center. Taking a unwed mother into one's home. That's what works. It is the efforts of individuals that works, not the works of the government. And people today still think that the government can help us for our troubles. That is why our freedoms are compromised. That's what I learned. And that is how I became a Libertarian.
In conclusion, if really you want to change America, you change the person from within. Legislature won’t. Congress won’t. God can. Culture can be changed by the people who are in it. In politics, remember that you belong to the secular state as well as the kingdom of God. Vote according to your conscience, vote according what’s best to the whole city/state/nation. To paraphrase Luther, I rather be lead by a competent pagan than an incompetent Christian.
I’m still learning, and still defining what is the role of politics. I hope for the best. Meanwhile, a voice asks me...
“What do you think?”
“I’m feasting on the rich table of freedom and there’s room for you and me.”
And there's room for you, too. Come and feast with us and enjoy.
