Three politically left-of-center evangelicals have written Compassion (&) Conviction: The AND Campaign’s Guide to Faithful Civic Engagement as a primer on Christian political engagement. Justin Giboney is an Atlanta political consultant. Michael Wear is a former Obama staffer. Chris Butler is a Chicago pastor and community activist.
The book is instructive for all Christians, but perhaps most useful for evangelicals and other Protestants who are Democrats striving to be faithful as progressivism becomes more adversarial to traditional faith.
Some conservative Christians might be tempted to dismiss this book as a roadmap for being religious and liberal. They would be unfair to do so. The counsel has wider application. And while political conservatives will disagree with the authors’ political alignment, they should appreciate the wider importance of Christian engagement in both major political parties.
(Keep reading here.)
Comment by Rev. Dr. Lee D Cary (ret. UM clergy) on August 8, 2020 at 9:07 pm
“Government is ordained by God, and he presides over order.”
The statement that God ordains governments and presides over order not only lacks scriptural substantiation, it flies in the face of human history – particularly during the 20th Century where Death by Government (title of a fine book by R.J. Rummel) catalogues the millions of people who fell victims to governments (e.g., Stalin’s Russia, Hitler’s Germany, and Mao’s China). Were those government’s “ordained” by God?
And did God preside over their orderly mass murder?
“All politics and the laws emerge from sets of values that are in some sense religious, even if ‘secular.’”
That’s like saying all dogs are canines, even if they’re felines.
“Adherence to progressivism or conservatism must be subordinated to Scripture.”
Well, progressivism, blossoming in the late 1800’s was not subordinated to Scripture, but to science – the new god, the new authority figure. E.g., see eugenics. And if Doctor Fauci says it, it must be truth.
“They warn, in an obvious point, that in our currently polarized America, political affiliations have become dangerously religious in nature.”
What religion is that? I submit that many Americans find both “poles” vacant of traditional religion, of any flavor, or even non-traditional religion. “In God we Trust” has become a political meme without religious content. Found most prevalently on the currency and the facades of government buildings.
Comment by Gary Bebop on August 9, 2020 at 4:51 pm
Mark, I appreciate that you post slants we need to be informed about, but I’m concerned that narrative contradiction and confusion will overwhelm the WCA script for birthing a new Wesleyan-holiness denomination. The church is becoming incomprehensible. Don’t count on congregations flocking to WCA for refuge from toxic progressivism if WCA leaders switch out the gospel for Critical Race Theory.
Comment by Lee Cary on August 10, 2020 at 11:42 am
Well written, Gary. And, IMHO, accurate. Thank you.
I suggest one correction, sir: “The church is becoming incomprehensible” to “The church has become…”