Religion and Politics in Letter 7

“Let him begin by treating his pacifism or patriotism as part of his religion. And then let him, under the influence of partisan spirit come to regard it as the most important part. And the quietly and gradually nurse him onto the stage where religion becomes merely part of the cause in which Christianity is valued chiefly because of the excellent arguments it produced…it makes very little difference what kind of worldly end he is pursuing provided that meetings, pamphlets, policies, movements, causes, and crusades matter more to him than prayers and sacraments and charity he is ours. And the more religious those terms, the more securely ours.”

It’s amazing that words written specifically in response to the British war effort over 60 years ago can be so relevant to the American political campaign in 2008. Religion and politics are going hand-in-hand this year. I’ve heard people on the right and the left identify religion as a reason why someone should vote for one candidate over another.

The classic contemporary image is that of the Evangelical Christian mindlessly voting for the Republican candidate because of their strong moral values. But that image is quickly fading as those same Evangelicals are feeling disenfranchised by the John McCain nomination while liberals make the case that being anti-war is more of a Christian view than being pro-life.

If you look at the hot topics: healthcare, war, immigration, abortion, gay rights, social welfare, gun control, etc, there are very religious people on both sides of the aisle, and they are not only religious, they make religious cases to justify their beliefs.

I can be a pretty pessimistic guy, so I tend to think that Screwtape is right here. I find more Christians who belief in certain policies and ideals and then use Christianity to convince themselves that they’re right to believe such things, than Christians who honestly explore the person of Jesus, read about his life and teaching, and honestly change their political thoughts to align them with who they believe Jesus is.

I have friends who have so aligned themselves with the Republican Party that they believe an American immigration policy that deports millions of people who fled their country’s poverty is the honest conclusion any thinking Christian would come to. Not that a case can’t be made for this, but to so align this policy with their religious beliefs can only be explained by the process Screwtape described. I, for one, am glad that whoever gets elected in November whether Clinton, Obama, or McCain, the White House will not be pushing to deport the poorest people who live in America back to a life of extreme poverty.

I struggle with how to proceed. I believe that we are called to work towards a just society--one where all people are treated with dignity and respect, in short, like they are images of the divine creator. But how do we work towards a just society without turning religion into a mere tool that we use to bang over people’s heads just to get what we want?

For example, I believe that we should not have the death penalty. My belief, however, is arrived at from a number of angles. From reading Scripture, for example, I believe that the high value God places on people means we should be exceedingly hesitant to take any life, even the life of a known criminal. Furthermore, I know that God can redeem the life of anyone, even the life of a rapist or murderer. Finally, from reading Christian scripture I have learned that the only thing that brings true hope and reconciliation is forgiveness and love, not vengeance. But those aren’t the only reasons I hold the beliefs I do. Statistics prove that it is more costly to put a criminal on death row than it is to incarcerate them indefinitely. (This is because death row inmates are—rightly--entitled to more legal appeals since they are fighting for their very lives. The increased amount of room and board costs of an inmate in jail for life without parole pales in comparison to the exorbitant amount of legal defense fees.) Although that is not much of a religious argument, it is an argument that, I believe, rings true in the same way the more religious ones do.

That said, Christians who read the 13th chapter of St. Paul’s letter to the Romans where Paul clearly states that God has ordained governments and does not expect them to “bear the sword in vain.” That, along with the laws of Moses which detail dozens of circumstances when the Hebrews were commanded by God to kill people who committed evil give those who support the death penalty an equal--if not greater--claim to saying they hold “the more Christian” position. This is coupled with evidence that societies with a more strictly executed death penalty system have less evil perpetrated makes a pretty strong case.

How do we decided which path is more just? How do we weigh the social, economic, and religious ideals and evidences? Whatever the answer, I’m sure simply as Screwtape shows, using Christianity to prop up your own ideas, is not the answer--though I suspect neither is ignoring religious beliefs all together.