Republican Faithful Deny The Full Power of Sin

October 30, 2008 | Posted by Steve

I was rummaging through the Gallup Poll web site today and stumbled across the following, new poll.

PRINCETON, NJ — A Gallup update based on more than 21,000 interviews conducted as part of Gallup Poll Daily tracking in October shows that registered voters’ religious intensity continues to be a powerful predictor of their presidential vote choice. John McCain wins overwhelmingly among non-Hispanic whites who attend church weekly, while Barack Obama dominates among whites who seldom or never attend church.

Can someone please explain to me why Christians insist on walking lock-step with the Republican Party?  I honestly don’t understand this situation.  Christians believe in the reality of original sin, in freedom from the penalty of that sin through Christ, and that our living example will either affirm or deny the presence of the living Christ in our lives.  Republicans, aside from being anti-abortion and anti-homosexuality, clearly deny the notion of the sin nature of humanity in nearly every other facet of the party’s platform.

Don’t believe me?

Consider the following “sin” litmus test.

Is abortion a sin?  Most thoughtful Christians would at least acknowledge that abortion, if not murder, is either sinful or the result of a sinful choice.  Yes, there are a small percentage of woman getting abortions because they were molested or raped.  More often than not, though, the statistics indicate that abortions are elective procedures, not procedures of necessity.

How about homosexuality?  This one gets a little more dicey for some moderate to liberal Christians, but the answer for most conservative Christians is easy.  The Apostle Paul preaches against homosexuality in the clearest of terms.  The story of Sodom and Gamorrah underscores God’s design.  Man for woman, woman for man, and homosexuality is not a viable option.

So far so good.  The Republicans have these two aced.

So what about greed?

That’s right.  You heard me.  If you are going to build a political party on moral outrage, you really need to go all the way and haul in all sin, not just the two biggies.  There are many, many sins covered in the Bible.  Never loose sight of the others while you squint your way through abortion and homosexuality.

When Jesus tossed over tables in the temple, he hadn’t just stumbled into an abortion clinic.  He didn’t happen upon a homosexual tryst.  He reacted in holy anger because he had walked into a cesspool of greed.

In fact, you can make a strong argument based on the full context of the Biblical narrative that Jesus was far more gracious and compassionate toward the woman caught in adultery than to the Pharisees and Sadducees whom he once called “vipers” or toward the money changers he saw cashing in on the floor of His father’s temple.

Take a gander at Wall Street these days.  Are “golden parachutes” worth hundreds of millions evidence of a heart yearning after the Jesus who said, “Sell everything and follow me”?  Are the hyper-convoluted, overly-leveraged  “derivatives” at the core of the recent collapse of giants such as AIG evidence of hearts born of self-restraint and compassion or hearts born of narcissistic greed and self-interest?

Why would any political party get a free pass on the notion of espousing “deregulation” by anyone, let alone Christians, after the financial fallout we have seen in recent weeks?

Why would we as Christians react so favorably to a candidate who blatantly appeals to our own greed with the line, “It’s your money, you hold on to it!”  In a Christian context, nothing I own is mine.  It is all in my hands for a time and I am its steward.  It could all be gone tomorrow.  The tighter I hold on to a “thing” (like money) the harder it will be to live without when that day comes.

The very notion of pursuing an agenda of “deregulation” presumes that humanity will do what is in the best interest of humanity, not what is in the best interest the few at the top of the heap.  This latest Wall Street debacle ought to have put to bed once and for all the notion that man can conduct business without legitimate, necessary controls on the transfer of finances and information.

Perhaps the greater irony is that today’s Republican Party seems to have lost sight of its founding fathers and moorings in financial equilibrium.  The “Death Tax” today’s Republican Party so zealously wishes to eliminate was fathered by no less a Republican stalwart than Teddy Roosevelt.  Why?  Because Roosevelt understood that those who enjoy the benefits of civil society the most also deserve to pay the highest price.  Roosevelt also undestood that greed and “inheritance” left unchecked will ultimately undermine society, consolidating power and wealth increasingly into the hands of a few.

Notice we haven’t really touched on the notion of sin in most of this.  Roosevelt and others acted out of concern for society, not the “sin” nature of humanity.  We Christians, on the other hand, have a higher standard to uphold.

If all we do is content ourselves with obsessing over the narrowly defined arenas of abortion and homosexuality we let ourselves off the hook far too lightly.  As Christians we have an obligation to hold political parties up to a higher standard of scrutiny than is often the case.

Now, if as a Christian you choose to vote for McCain because you truly believe his is the best overall candidate for the job, that is your prerogative.  Just don’t do it because you believe he or the party you support are pure as the driven snow.  The Republican Party no more believes in the sin nature of humanity than do the Democrats.  They are just better at concealing their true motives, taking well-intentioned Christians along for a very selfish ride.

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