Politics Part Three

loudsalt,

I completely relate with a lack of resolution on this topic, and I've been dealing with it for about ten years.

I tend to fall on the side that Robert Audi presents in the reading -- if a person or group advocates the adoption of any sort of coercive public policy, I find myself asking what reasons s/he or they have for advocating the policy and asking that I support it, as well. If the reasons rely solely upon religious conviction and religious sources of obligation, I find that I immediately cease considering any other possible merits the policy may have.

Now, I'm not trying to argue that I am correct in my response. I may be able to think through such a coercive policy and find broader, secular reasoning to support it. However, in actual conversation, I know that my knee-jerk reaction is to respond as "the devil's advocate." And, like all good 'Christians,' I believe that I am responding in like manner as Christ would -- trying to force others to follow certain strictures and dictates because one believes in one's own mind that it is the "right way" leaves very little room to respect & love those on whom one's religious dictates are being forced.

My reading of the gospels leaves me little personal doubt that Christ did not concern himself (or his followers) with the political workings of their day -- which, like our own today, were heavily tied to vying religious & secular factions. Had he done so, I believe that his political advice would have read much the same as his life & faith advice -- love God, love other people, then love yourself. In the realms of personal, religious, and civic life, I think this leaves very little room to demand that others live their lives the way I do. Furthermore, it leaves me feeling personally offended when others expect me to live my life the way they do -- especially when they claim to be living in the same footsteps that I try to.

As an inhabitant of our 21st-century global stage, I believe that it is possible to respond to it in a way that balances one's religious, political, and personal convictions. I therefore tend to oppose any group or organization that suggests a politics that neglects such a balance. I don't expect that it will be perfect at all times; I do expect, however, that imbalance will not be accepted. I think our American politics always suffers from too short a view -- just as too many of us find ourselves living paycheck to paycheck, our nation is too often found living election cycle to election cycle.

The incredible mystery of Christ, in my opinion, is often found in his unusually long view of life -- that which matters to us today often doesn't really matter at all but for those opportunities we have to love God, love others, and then love ourselves.