Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Devotion - Tuesday, March 1

I want to do something today that many say you should never do - mix religion and politics.  Religion and politics have to mix.  The so called "separation of Church and state" should never be interpreted to mean that persons of faith are forbidden to discuss political topics or engage in discourse regarding candidates.

You will hear a lot of talk about politics today.  It is "Super Tuesday" in the primary voting process.  Those of us who are SC residents have had our opportunity to vote; now it is the turn for persons in eleven other states to express their choices.

Elections matter.  The candidates may sometimes be accused of failing to live up to their promises, but that has to do with their ability to enlist others who were elected to join them in passing legislation.  Campaigns make promises because most of us only listen long enough to hear a 15 second sound-bite.  The promises are short-hand for what the candidates have written multi-page papers explaining.  But, we don't often read those long documents.

I encourage you to examine how your faith aligns with your involvement in the political process.  How is your devotion to God reflected in the way you vote or how does your devotion affect the tone of your talk?  Civil engagement surely ought to be the first marker of a faithful engagement.  Speaking up and expressing what Jesus would do should be another.

You may feel unprepared to examine how your faith lines up with candidates on the issues being discussed.  In which case it is enough to say to others that you are trying to integrate and that you want to discern how the promises match the hope you find in the words and teaching of Jesus.

Religion and politics do mix.   They must mix.  They are mixed by many others.  Let's make sure that the mixture which reflects our particular religious perspectives is known and registered by the culture and by those willing to serve as our representatives.  More  importantly, let's make sure we are helping one another discern.  It is a sad thing if such important life decisions are made on the advise and counsel of those who do not share our core confessions and beliefs.

No comments:

Post a Comment