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If you think about it - no one has a corner on God. Not Republicans or Democrats, men or women, Black or White, Asian, Hispanic, nor any culture, nationality, or religious sect. If those of us who are Christians understand anything about the nature of Christ, we know that He was a man for all seasons, a Son of God for all ages.
And yet, in the months leading up to the election of 2004 and the months following, I kept hearing about the Republican "Values" vote as the "Christian vote." I heard about how Bush had the Christian vote, and that those of us who were Democrats and Christians were not in line with core Christian values.
As someone who has been religious all my life, I became increasingly distressed by the growing divisions between Christians. I grew up Lutheran, the granddaughter of a Missouri Synod Lutheran minister, a Born Again Christian, and a Quaker. My mother was Lutheran, my father was Presbyterian and, particularly during high school, it was not unusual for me to join my father to sing in the choir or to attend a Methodist Church since I liked their non-liturgical service. I became a Born Again Christian my last year at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, helped in my own personal spiritual search by the Navigators, as well as by a Bible Church located nearby. My first teaching job was at Grand Canyon College, a Southern Baptist college in Phoenix. Later, I taught at two Church of the Brethren Colleges - McPherson College and University of LaVerne. I attended The Graduate Theological Union seminary in Berkeley, California, which is a consortium of seminaries which includes Baptist, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, and Catholic seminaries. One summer I did the Ignatian Exercises, which are the Jesuit exercises, usually done for five weeks by those entering the priesthood, but occasionally done by lay people. The exercises included Bible reading, prayer, and meditating three hours a day on the Life of Christ. This practice changed my life on many profound levels.
Throughout these years, I attended many different churches - non-denominational evangelical churches, the Church of the Nazarene, Episcopal, Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Baptist, Evangelical Free Church, but it took me some years to find my church home. One day in Phoenix in 1969, I decided to attend a Quaker Meeting (Society of Friends). I walked in, sat down, and knew I was home.
In 1991 I returned to graduate school, this time to study Feminist Liberation Theology. Although I recognize that anything with that "F" word is a red flag to some, I found that my work, particularly in Christian Feminist Theology, brought me more deeply in touch with the liberating work of Christ. Much of my study previously had been in Biblical Studies, Church history, Religion and the Arts, and Christian Mysticism, and I felt I had not brought my religion sufficiently into the social and political world. The Social Gospel became a very strong motivator for many of my decisions throughout this course of study. I did my internship with a Catholic charity in the Philippines (The Women's Economic Development and Earth Foundation - WODEEF). My time there changed my life. I began to move from my head to my heart, as the people I met and the work of WODEEF deeply touched me.
I have had, perhaps, a more ecumenical, and also a better experience with religion than many. I have met the best Christians of all types - from the most fundamentalist to the most liberal. I have found that none of them are so easily categorized. I have observed great faith and compassionate service from many people who are motivated by their faith and by their love of Christ.
In my discussions with Christians, I have always been amazed at how accepting and loving most are. I have found tolerance among the fundamentalists, and a commitment to Christ and the Bible of those considered liberal. My experiences have consistently moved me beyond stereotypes.
This point was brought home to me some years ago. While I was attending seminary, I took a four day vacation to visit my cousin in Colorado for four days. She considered herself a conservative Christian, and at that time, I would have labeled myself a liberal Christian. We were both comfortable with our labels and both committed to our faith. We began talking religion on the first day, and ended up talking religion for four days straight - over the dinner table, while taking hikes, while drinking afternoon tea, while cooking and doing errands. That's all we talked about. We talked about the Bible. About prayer. About our view of Jesus. And at the end of four days, we reached the conclusion that we believed pretty much the same things, but that our vocabulary was different.
This is not to say that there aren't differences among Christians, but I do believe that labels aren't quite as neat as we like to make them. And until recently, I found that many of us could co-exist together, as those who love Christ.
But something changed during these last few years. I noticed that the preaching from pulpits, the political ads, and the news from the television and newspapers expressed a view that somehow the Republicans owned God.
Republican politicians talk about Democrats as if being a Christian Democrat was an oxymoron. When I attended evangelical churches, I felt insulted and offended by their negative comments about anyone who wasn't a Republican.
I wondered what was happening to our country. If we had such strong Christians in government, why were we so often at each other's throats? Instead of religion pulling us together to create a more just and loving society, I found it created dissension, malice, and even hatred as if we Christians had become a dysfunctional family, unforgiving, unaccepting of anyone who did not express themselves exactly like us. It often seemed as if each Christian foot, hand, arm, demanded that we be exactly like them. We had become dismembered, disembodied, incapable of moving together toward the society that we kept insisting we wanted. As Christians we had become ineffective. No longer were we instruments of God's love and justice. Instead of bringing about less judgment, less name-calling, and more listening, we became blind to each other and less respectful. Instead of working together to build a more just and loving society that acts in line with our Christian values, we were building a less merciful and less compassionate society. Instead of bringing about a more peaceful and harmonious world, we were bringing about more dissension.
Non-Christians often told me that they saw Christians as vicious, vitriolic, and at war with each other, like Christian brothers and sisters having childish spats or vicious fights. We blamed. Labeled. And judged. Something clearly was terribly wrong. How and when had we become so un-Christ-like?
As a Christian who is also a writer, I realized I had to make a choice: I either had to withdraw from the political scene for my peace of mind or move more deeply into a clarification of my vision of how I believe religion and politics can best work together. This was an unusual choice for me. My spiritual journey for the last 35 years has been a movement toward being a bridge-builder and a unifier. Yet, when asked to write this book, I realized that I was taking on an intrinsically divisive topic - politics and religion. After much prayer, meditation, and discussion on the issue, I decided that I was not only willing to do this, but desired to address an issue that I believe needs to be resolved among Christians.
By no means do I believe that Democrats have some exclusive claim on God. To believe this would be adding fuel to the fire and another sword to the divisions that already exist. But it is time for Democrats to give an accounting of how Christian values are expressed through the Democratic Party. As Christians and as Democrats, we too are voting our values. We have a reason for our choices.
For those of you reading this book who are Republicans, I hope this brings you new respect and understanding for your fellow Christians. For those of you who are Democrats, I hope this helps you articulate your values without feeling defensive or judgmental of others. For those of you who are not Christian, this book may also speak to you. Many of us share the same commitment to mercy, compassion, unity, peace, and of bringing our values into the political arena. Virtually every religion includes the Golden Rule to guide our behavior. I believe that Christian values are universal values, and can, and should, provide a guide for moral and spiritual policies.
For those who are unsure about what party and what policies best express your values, perhaps this will bring you to some new decisions about who you are, what you believe as a citizen of our country and of our world, and what actions you can take to help create a society that is an expression of God's grace, the love of Christ, and the manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
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