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Religion
These words are intended for all in the Democratic Party, with or without faith.
I am an evangelical Christian, and I am a Democrat.
Some in the Democratic Party are not Christians. I can accept that. A person can be of high morals, treat those they come in contact with consideration for them as individuals, with caring for their situation, with honesty and a sincere desire to help, and be without any faith. People can be of faith other than Christianity and be great people, too. I know many such people and I enjoy their company. Whether agnostic (not sure), atheist (thoroughly-considered non-believer) or of other faith, these people may vote the Democratic line for many reasons but it usually comes back to the fairness for all that the Democratic Party espouses as the reason we vote blue.
I believe in Jesus as my personal Savior, and while I probably won’t do it the first time we meet, I believe that I should share that news with you. I also believe that you have the option to say a variety of things when I do so. You can say, “No, thank you, I’ve considered that information and choose to think otherwise.” You can say, “I’m uncertain, but am not comfortable talking about religion because (fill in the blank).” Or you can say, “Let’s talk about faith, please.” These are all appropriate responses as are others that show your consideration and kindness.
But please don’t say, “Christians are all stupid Republicans ... or hypocrites ... or selfish ... or war-mongers ... or corporate scribes” because that is simply wrong. I have come across many non-Christians here in California that are amazed when I tell them of my faith and my political left-ness. They have seen too much of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, heard too many times our President invoke faith and tell a lie in the next sentence, known too many folks that speak of going to church on Sunday and then sin openly on a regular basis. Many Christians are very upset with the public persona of Christianity in America that can be attributed to the Religious Right. My aim with this blog is to alter that perception.
I apologize for some of my large and diverse Christian family whom, I think, simply get it wrong in the doing. They may be Christians, but I think they miss the broad points oft spoken by Jesus; of helping the poor, making peace, protecting God’s creation and of accepting any who come to the table. I will also openly say here that I am not a perfect Christian either; there is no such person alive on this planet unless Jesus Christ Himself has already returned. For those of you that don’t follow Christian theology, the concept of Christians not being perfect, but forgiven, sums it up pretty well. To take it one step further, Christians are supposed to try to be perfect in God’s eye and know it is not possible, but that is a paper for another day.
I urge all Democrats, whether secular, Christian or Jew, Muslim or Hindu, Buddhist, spiritualist or otherwise, to accept each other as worthy companions on the march towards a common goal. Let’s measure each other by our actions.
I ask secularists to honor our faith, whatever it may be, as part of our person. Similarly, I urge those of divergent faith (and this means Christians, too) to accept each other and those without faith with love and compassion, accepting those that think of God differently, or not at all, as still being God’s children. We are all God’s children and yes, sorry to some of you who don’t believe in any deity, I do believe you are God’s children too, but I promise not to berate you with that thinking any more than I have here.
For those of faith, I ask that you offer your faith to others if you are so inclined, but warn that you will need to accept that some will not be open to the concept and, in fact, you may be trampling on their faith in so doing. To be atheist is to state openly against faith and is, in a sense, a statement of personal faith in the moment. People of other faiths may or may not share the God of Abraham, but with or without a common God they will have major differences in theology. If a person rejects your offer of faithful explanation, accept it and move on towards common goals. If you are Christian, read the parable of the Four Soils and know that you may be softening hardened ground, but honor the person your are speaking with and give them their personal theological space. I don’t know enough about religions other than Christianity to speak of those perceptions, but do see “love of all” as strong common ground on which to build.
Again to those without faith - those of us that have faith like to pray, some more than others. Opening and closing any gathering of people in prayer we see as a call to our God to help us achieve our objectives, and we truly believe He hears us and helps us. If you don’t believe, what can it hurt? More importantly, you can listen to our prayer and hear our hearts. Respect us, please.
I urge us all to be the example of good Democrats united together towards common goals. Let’s accept each other for the good works we can do together and with the differences we can overcome politely. Let’s move America and this world forward towards a better future together.
I invite all to post comments and create a discussion here. I especially pray that some non-Christians will post positive comments about the common ground we share such that I can learn more and we can build an understanding together. We have much work to do. Let’s get to it.
Original Article
Copyright or Used by Permission, ©2006 ChewinTheFat.com
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