By
Rudy Barnes, Jr.
Just what is Christian morality? According to Tony Perkins, Franklin Graham
and other evangelical Christians, it’s about “family values” that oppose
abortion, homosexuality, universal health care, the immigration of Mexicans and
Muslims, and anything else promoted by leftist Democrats. Bottom line, it requires Christians to
support radical-right Republicans like Donald Trump and Roy Moore to get God’s
job done, even if they are not paragons
of Christian virtue.
That
should not be the last word on Christian morality in politics. The stewardship of democracy is a moral responsibility
for all Christians, so all churches should define and apply Christian moral
standards for political issues and for those seeking public office. Since Christian morality is rooted in
scripture, the church should provide the exegesis and homiletics needed to understand
what scripture meant to its ancient audience, and what it means for us today.
The
foundation for Christian morality is the
greatest commandment to love God and our neighbors as we love ourselves,
including our neighbors of other races and religions. It’s a
common word of faith for Jews, Christians and Muslims, but it’s only a
starting point. The real challenge is
applying that love command to issues of economic and social justice, foreign
policy and military operations, and balancing individual rights with providing
for the common good.
A
threshold issue in American politics that complicates issues of morality is a
two-party duopoly that is polarized by race.
Most white Christians are Republicans and black Christians are
Democrats, creating a toxic “us versus them” polarization along racial lines.
That has fostered a distorted evangelical Christian morality that supports a
radical-right Republican Party and that is opposed by a radical-left Democratic
Party hostile to tradition and religion in politics.
A
politics of reconciliation is needed to end the polarization that threatens
American democracy. It requires a moral
standard of “love for neighbor” that can apply to harsh functions of government,
such as law enforcement and military operations. Love in this context requires justifying the
use of lethal force to protect the common good from all who threaten it. While Jesus
never addressed that political need, Moses and Muhammad did so with religious
laws.
There
is no place for religious law in a democracy, but the moral standards of
legitimacy derived from religion shape secular law in a democracy. Christians can rightfully criticize Islamic apostasy
and blasphemy laws that deny the fundamental freedoms of religion and speech, as
well as other laws that deny equal justice to women and non-Muslims. But before Christians condemn Islamic
standards of legitimacy they must first put their own moral house in order.
While
Jesus never exercised political power as did Moses and Muhammad, his teachings
on altruistic love are universal and provide the standards of Christian
morality in politics. They assert the
primacy of love over law and emphasize
the virtues of forgiveness and
reconciliation, humble service, honesty and assisting the needy, and they
condemn the vices of deceit, sexual
immorality, adultery, greed, malice, lewdness, envy, arrogance, and sanctimonious
hypocrisy.
The
altruistic moral standards taught by Jesus have often been subordinated to racist
political priorities. So it was with
slavery in the ante-bellum South, and with the racist Jim Crow policies that
followed. Today those who support Donald
Trump and his Republican minions favor a materialistic “prosperity gospel” that
sanctifies the vices and trumps the virtues
of Christian morality in the gospel of Jesus.
What’s worse is that most claim to be Christians.
This
reversal of moral priorities was made possible by traditional church doctrine
that makes believing in Jesus as God more important to salvation than following
Jesus as the word of God. That misplaced
emphasis on exclusivist beliefs over morality has allowed Christians to make immoral
political priorities articles of their faith. The church needs to correct those misplaced
priorities of faith and clarify the standards of Christian morality in
politics.
Notes:
Dana Milbank has cited polls
showing that Republicans redefine
morality as whatever Trump does. See
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/republicans-redefine-morality-as-whatever-trump-does/2018/01/26/904fe5f4-02cc-11e8-8acf-ad2991367d9d_story.html?undefined=&utm_term=.956583d49b86&wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1. What’s more damning for Christianity is that
most white Christians vote Republican.
Michael Gerson has noted the
positive influence of evangelicals like Billy Graham with U.S. presidents in
the past, in contrast to the cynicism of current evangelicals like Graham’s
son, Franklin, Jerry Falwell, Jr. and Robert Jeffress. Gerson says that “Some Christian leaders are
surrendering the idea that character matters in public life in direct exchange
for political benefits to Christians themselves. …Trump’s court evangelicals have become
active participants in the moral deregulation of our political life. Never mind
whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is of good
repute. Some evangelicals are busy erasing bright lines and destroying moral
landmarks. In the process, they are associating evangelicalism with bigotry, selfishness
and deception. They are playing a grubby political game for the highest of
stakes: the reputation of their faith. …Not
long after Watergate broke, a chastened Billy Graham addressed a conference in
Switzerland, warning that an evangelist should be careful not “to identify the
Gospel with any one particular political program or culture,” and adding, “this
has been my own danger.” The danger
endures. See https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-trump-evangelicals-have-lost-their-gag-reflex/2018/01/22/761d1174-ffa8-11e7-bb03-722769454f82_story.html?undefined=&utm_term=.7df5466799c2&wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1.
Edward-Isaac Dovere has noted the
muted response of Tony Perkins to criticism of Donald Trump’s steamy affair
with a porn actress four months after his wife Melania gave birth to their son,
Barron. The irony is that Perkins heads
the Family Research Council that promotes “family values” and supports Donald
Trump. Perkins excused Trump’s immorality by saying that “evangelical
Christians were tired of being kicked around by Barack Obama and his leftists.
And I think they are finally glad there’s somebody on the playground that is
willing to punch the bully.” I have to
interject that it’s hard for me to imagine Obama bullying Trump. See https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/01/23/tony-perkins-evangelicals-donald-trump-stormy-daniels-216498?cid=apn.
Shane Phipps is a Christian political
centrist who bemoans how America’s polarized two-party duopoly has left people
like him with few political options: “We could vote for an independent, but
that is tantamount to throwing a vote away. No third party candidate stands a
realistic chance, let’s go ahead and face that fact right now. So, ultimately, we are faced with having to
swallow hard and bite the bullet–to set aside our belief about some issues in
favor of the greater good. Therein lies
a big part of the answer to the question of how we got to this point. Like it or not, religion has been taken
hostage by politics.” Phipps concludes
that “Those with good will and shallow understandings heard ‘Make America Great
Again’ and thought it sounded swell. They were sold a bill of goods. Those with ill will heard the slogan for what
it was—a dog whistle into the darkness echoing off of the bigotry, hatred and fear
that mark the worst aspects of our history.”
See https://progressivechristianity.org/resources/how-did-we-get-here/.
Edward Simmons has provided a
test of Christian morality for politicians.
“The standard Jesus used to evaluate religious leadership was simple:
look at their actions. How can we tell legitimate spokesmen for God from the
false? ‘You will know them by their fruits.’ (Matthew 7:16; Luke 6: 44). How
can we tell which religious leaders truly love God? They imitate the actions of
the Samaritan who, not thinking of his convenience or righteousness or the
worthiness of the victim, went out of the way to help someone in need. They do
not side with the wealthy and prosperous against the needy, or celebrate their
success by living in affluent enclaves; rather, they live among common people
compassionately and non-judgmentally as they shun lives of extraordinary
privilege. Loving God, according to Jesus, is best seen when people are treated
as neighbors to be loved without judgment or compulsion. …The message and
example of Jesus are clear for our time and for all time. The challenge for
disciples then and now is to: “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:37) See https://progressivechristianity.org/resources/jesus-as-critic-of-hypocrisy-then-and-now/.
Related
commentary:
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(1/18/15): Love over Law: A Principle at the Heart of Legitimacy
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(3/8/15): Wealth, Politics, Religion and Economic Justice
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(7/12/15): Reconciliation in Race and Religion: The Need for Compatibility, not
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(8/23/15): Legitimacy as a Context and Paradigm to Resolve Religious Conflict
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(6/10/17): Religious Exclusivity and Discrimination in Politics http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/06/religious-exclusivity-and.html
(6/17/17): Religious Exclusivity: Does It Matter? http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/06/religious-exclusivity-does-it-matter.html.
(7/1/17): Religion, Moral Authority and Conflicting Concepts of Legitimacy
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(8/5/17): Does Religion Seek to Reconcile and Redeem or to Divide and Conquer?
(8/12/17): The Universalist Teachings of Jesus as a Remedy for Religious
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(9/23/17): Tribalism and the American Civil Religion
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(1/6/18): The Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Diversity in Democracy
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