Man Bites Blog

At MOJ, Steve Shiffrin writes that it is perfectly appropriate for liberals or conservatives to see God as part of their ideological camp:

I want to disagree with those who respond by suggesting that that God is God, not a liberal or a conservative or anything in between or outside, that God has no politics. For Catholics, traditional or not, this strikes me a dead wrong. If I am a Christian liberal, I believe that God favors liberalism. If I am a conservative, I believe God favors conservatism. If I do not, I am a strange Christian. Christian liberals and Christian conservatives both think the other has bad politics and bad theology. It is possible to believe with Stanley Hauerwas (I do not) that Christians should stand outside the state, not participate in democratic governmental politics, and instead simply participate in Christian communities that witness a Christian way of life — but that too is based on a conception of how God wants Christians to relate to the state. In no sense is it a conclusion based on divine indifference.

The way I see it, is that saying whether God is a liberal or a conservative or any other political persuasion is among the least interesting things I can say about God. God is an all-loving all-powerful being who sent His ony Son to die for my sins. That’s much more critical to me than whether He thinks the state is best equipped to deliver people health care?

And in thinking this way leads also to the conclusion that our political affiliations are also among the least interesting thing about us. What will matter ultimately about us is not whether we are liberal or conservative, whether we think social justice issues take priority over life issues, but how much we loved. For sure, part of that will be how we carried out our duties as political citizens, but if I want to know you and what you’re about, who you voted for in last year’s election would not be the first thing I would ask.

I think the reluctance to assign God a political party is a healthy reminder that politics aren’t everything.

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