Obamania and the Religiosity of Politics

While I can only vividly remember four presidential elections, I have never witnessed an election with more celebrity vibe and popular appeal. From Huckabee appearing on The Colbert Report and Saturday Night Live to Hilary making a similar SNL appearance, it is obvious, however, that the candidate with the most populist and popular appeal is Barack Obama. And while populism and celebrity appeal of politicians is not inherently a bad thing, and in some cases is good if it encourages people to talk about things that really matter. The point that I become slightly uncomfortable is when the rhetoric used in the campaigns seeps to the edges of religious.

If you watch the video about Obama, the second such video produced by a supporter (and it should be said, not directly produced by Obama’s campaign, but I’m sure it will somehow find its way to his website) featuring many celebrities, you will hear a song and words that echo the tones of contemporary worship experiences in a Christian church. As Obama’s name is chanted, and even sung, in the background, you hear celebrities speak out in support of him, although no clear reason is ever given why they support him.

And as someone who deeply values the separation of church and state that is a major tenet of my faith, it is not just the overall religious tone to the video that bothers me, but even certain phrases that are used. Phrases such as “I believe in Barack Obama,” and words such as “revival” obviously have their place and meaning in secular culture. Revival simply means to revive something from sleep or death, and believing in something is a common phrase we use. But when these phrases are used in a context bordering on religious inspiration, they become obvious allusions to a religious-type movement in our nationalistic political campaigns.

While I can have nothing to say about secularists placing their faith in a political candidate or hoping for a political “revival” of a country, but as Christians, this type of rhetoric runs against everything we stand for. This language that borders on religion in a political campaign has less to say about any specific candidate as it does about the nature of American politics and its dangerous mingling into civil religion. As Christians, we are called to place our faith in Jesus alone, not in a political “messiah” who we hope will stop global warming, make our world safer, and reach out to help every kind of person. Our hope lies in one who came to establish a new kingdom, where political power and violence do not dominate, but love and sacrifice. Not in one who tries to gain support by spinning opponents’ words and gaining political power, but in one who “emptied himself in the form of a slave,” who “humbled himself to the point of death,” one who is exalted as the “name above every name.”

Through the Glass...

We all have important words of wisdom that we turn to in times of need or uncertainty. These words can come from a movie – “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get,” – literature – “Two roads diverged in a wood…” – or often, the Bible. When I worked as a chaplain at the hospital, before surgeries or procedures, it seemed everyone wanted me to read to them Psalm 23, “The Lord is my Shepherd…”

A friend of mine recently told me to read Isaiah 55. She said it was a passage that often spoke to her during times of uncertainty. It begins with an invitation to come to God, those of us who are thirsty, hungry, or simply need to seek God. And then God has some very important words for those of us who are seeking, questioning, and searching. “My thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways my ways… As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways.”

As the title of this blog indicates (a quote from 1 Corinthians 13:12), we always must approach God and life with humbleness and humility. We may not understand everything, we may not understand where God may be leading us, but part of the journey of this Christian life is the searching – coming closer to discovering God’s ways, only to be reminded always that we will never fully comprehend them in this life. In some ways these words only make life and discernment more frustrating, but in some ways they provide comfort, for we know that we are not alone. We all are in the same journey together – seeking, questioning, doubting, and sometimes understanding. And at the times of our greatest frustration, we can always hear God’s invitation –“Come to me, listen, that you may live.” (55:3)

Huckabee, Lemurs, and A Christian Nation

For the past couple weeks, I have been reading two books about the issue of the relationship between Church and State. At a time of Presidential campaigns, and a time when the notion of God enters into public political discourse more than ever, for aware Christians this issue seems to be all around us. And I believe that it is one of the most important issues that we can and should discuss.
The two books I am reading come from different perspectives. The Culture of Disbelief is by Stephen Carter, a committed Christian professor, arguing that religion has a rightful place in the public sphere, and political leaders ought to be free to base their judgments on their religious beliefs – ie. George W, candidate Mike Huckabee, and even many non-conservative politicians. The second book, Letter to a Christian Nation is by Sam Harris, a committed atheist, who blames religion’s influence in politics for many of the perils and horrors in humanity’s history. While I cannot side completely with either viewpoint, and do sympathize with some of Harris’s critiques of our faith, he paints Christians as unintelligent lemurs following a fairy tale story off the cliff of rationality.
While I certainly believe that atheists have the right to express their opinions just as anyone else, I am easily pissed off by vindictive atheists who blame Christians for all the evil in the world – in the same way I am pissed off by vindictive Christians who blame non-Christians for the same things. Christians cannot be proud of our entire history – years of killing Muslims, burning heretics, and supporting slavery ought to cause us more than a little humility. However, this does not disqualify us from hoping and helping to change the world. The important question is, By what means do we go about doing this? What role in national politics should religion play? This is a question that I struggle with constantly.
As a Christian, I know that we are part of God’s agenda to transform the world, and that transformation will take place through the Church. But to what extent can we use national politics to achieve those ends? Mike Huckabee has said that in order to make a difference, he felt like he needed to leave the church and enter politics. Many Americans believe that voting for the right Christian candidate will lead to God’s will being done.
For one, I believe this is an excuse for laziness. Voting can often be a substitute for direct action, for actually loving others, serving others, and working for justice and mercy. Christians are called to work through the church to accomplish the work of God, and the government has an entirely different agenda. As Karl Barth says, it is not the government’s place to legislate the Kingdom of God, because the government’s first responsibility is to the will of the people – especially in a democracy – and the first responsibility of the Church is to the will of God. Both are held to different standards. Does this mean that Christians therefore cannot run for political office, or lobby for political agendas?
Personally, I believe it is a democracy’s job to legislate the will of the majority, even if that goes against our understanding of the will of God. And it is the Church’s job to stand up against that injustice through our own means. For example, while the will of the majority may be in favor of allowing abortions, as Christians who believe that only God has the right to end life – even to stop life from beginning – it is our responsibility to ethically direct the public by not seeking abortions ourselves, and as Hauerwas says, to create the type of communities where there is so much caring that no one financially, emotionally, and physically needs to have an abortion.
So in response to Harris, I do believe the church as a mandate to enter the public realm and voice its opinion, but we must be careful not to become too closely linked with compromising politics, or else we may gain the world and at the same time forfeit our soul.

Giving In…

So, I finally gave in and am starting a blog. I have several friends who have blogs, but I do not typically read them. For a while I have avoided what I considered yet another trendy form of expression, but after first succumbing to the practicality of Rainbows, ipods, and Facebook, I now understand the usefulness of blogging. And since a friend told me that blogging is so easy that even I can do it, I finally gave in.
As a pastor, I have a pulpit every week from which to speak, an opportunity most people do not have. However, because the sermons I deliver are (hopefully) guided by more than my simple earthly musings, and because it would not be wise nor appropriate to offer many personal opinions and views in a sermon, a blog allows me to scratch my itch for writing and a platform to express my thoughts on anything from theology to Carolina basketball.
I do not expect many people to read this and am joining the blogging community more for my sake than for anyone else’s – I do not presume what I have to say to be anything profound or life-changing. However, if you do read, I would love for you to comment and join in dialogue – and I will try to do the same for fellow blogger friends. This endeavor will be much more worthwhile if the conversation is multi-sided. So I hope you enjoy, I hope this is worth your time, and I hope you will write back, whether you agree or think I have said the most useless and dumb thing you’ve ever read. I want to hear from you, I really do…