This may seem innocuous, however I was taken aback. It never occurred to me that my Christian beliefs would not fall completely in line with my moderate, yet slightly conservative political beliefs. My response was simply that I thought they reconciled themselves just fine, and I went back to work. This may seem like a cop out, but the truth is, the answer is not a quick and simple answer.
I am passionate about my faith, and I do not take questions about it lightly. I never turn down the opportunity to share my faith and answer questions of those who may be seeking answers-not that I have all the answers (I am a far cry from that), but I want to try. I want others to feel free to discuss their doubts with me and to explore why they believe what they do; still, to try and tie my political and spiritual beliefs together in a tight little bow while at work would do a disservice to my answer and my coworker. In fairness to my friend, I told him that I would post my answer here for him to read.
My Faith-the Basics:
I am a Christian, more specifically, I am of the Lutheran faith. I believe that Jesus Christ came down from heaven, lived the perfect life that I never could, died a terrible death (paying for the sins of myself and every other person past, present and future) , He defeated death, rose again and gives me (and all other believers) eternal life with Him.
It is not enough to merely say "I believe". My faith teaches that faith is what redeems us and saves us, however, as the James tells us in the Bible "What good is it brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? faith, by itself, if it is not accompanied by actions, is dead" (James 2:14,17b). More on that in a different post, but basically, if we believe that Christ is our savior, then we are compelled by the love in our hearts to perform deeds.
I believe that we are called to love others with all our hearts, even when it is not easy or convenient. We are called to love, even those who dislike us, mistreat us, and hurt us. We are called to love, even when we will receive no recognition and will not receive any love in return. We love, because God loves us, and our hearts overflow with love.
That's it, this is the super basic, primer on my faith. It is overly simplistic, but for the purpose of this post it will do.
My Politics, the very basics:
I do not affiliate with one party, democrat, republican or tea party. I feel that my political beliefs fall in the moderate range, leaning more right than center. If forced to choose a party, I would lean towards Republican, however, I see merits to each party. My belief is that we are to be fiscally responsible, personally and publicly. I am disheartened by the entitlement culture that is developing (another post, again), and how we are losing sight of what makes this country great.
I believe that we are to take care of those in need and that some public assistance programs are necessary, however they have grown to ridiculous proportions and if we continue on this path, this country will be bankrupt and will have nothing. I also believe that government should not interfere in individual lives or business, except in rare instances. I do not believe the Affordable Healthcare Act is a good thing, not because I don't think everyone deserves affordable health care, but because I believe everyone should have the option of affordable healthcare, not the mandate of it.
I also believe in personal responsibility. This is not a popular thought, but I believe that if you make a choice, you should live with the consequences. The fact that this country is dead set on bailing every dim wit who makes a bad decision out of trouble, and that we allow people to sue big corporations for frivolous reasons is terrible. We, as a nation, have lost sight with the fact we as individuals are responsible for our choices. I could write about this for hours, but you get the gist.
Do they really "Mesh"?
So how do these ideas mesh together? I think they mesh beautifully. We are called to love one another, that means several things:
- we are called to care for those who cannot care for themselves
- we are called not to take advantage of or hurt others intentionally
- we are called to rectify our wrongs when we do hurt others.
Did you get the first point? We are called to care for those who cannot care for themselves. We are not called to care for those who choose not to care for themselves. If you are able bodied, intelligent, and capable of working, but you would prefer to sit at home and hang with your buddies or watch tv, that is your right. However, if you choose to do that, do not ask me to assist you in that endeavor. If you cannot work, truly have fallen on hard times and are struggling, I am there to help anytime.
I try not to take advantage of others or be hurtful, but I am far from perfect. When I learn that I have hurt someone, I do what I can to make it right. I do not believe in being vengeful or holding a grudge- that is not love.
We are called to love one another, we are to help one another and to be there for each other. The truth is, if we, as a nation of individuals, did this (took care of one another), we would not have a need for entitlement programs. This is a wealthy country with an overabundance of resources, if we all worked to care for each other, and all gave to their ability, no one would be hungry, alone, battered or scared. We would care for our elderly, homeless, children, vulnerable patients, the mentally ill, the physically ill and all the other special populations.
We need to be fiscally responsible as well. To spend money that we don't have, whether "we" are the government, or individual homes, is wrong and against Gods word. God calls us to be good stewards of the gifts we are given. We are not squander them, and we are not to hoard them. God gave this nation, everything we need to care for everyone. If we all looked to his word and followed His instructions, the whole country would be a better place.
It may seem optimistic, or naive, but that is my belief. I do not see any incongruence between my faith and my political beliefs.
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