Party or Church

People in the United States have a problem. They have a confusion of beliefs. Perhaps you can call them dualist or pluralist, but I think it's just that they are inconsistent with their beliefs. People, particularly people of faith, seem more comfortable siding with their political party in most cases than with the doctrine of their beliefs. I have seen myself tackling with this issue as well, but I have realized what I have been doing. Although I see the problem, it's hard for me to change it, because I am just so comfortable with what I believe, that I do not budge from it in order to believe what Christianity will tell me what is right.

Let's take the Christians who are part of the Republican party (like me). Most of us would say that we are pro-life. We believe abortion is wrong and according to our belief system, that would be accurate. However, why is life only restricted to abortion? What about the prisoner of war who we support getting tortured? How Christian is torture? What about the death penalty? I understand that these are criminals getting the penalty, but as Christians, shouldn't we forgive? Isn't that the answer to the WWJD bracelets?

Continuing on the life issue, why are most Christians supportive of an unjust war? By unjust war, I mean one where the USA are the aggressors. Many supporters claim that Iraq is linked to 9/11, but there is no proof of that unless Saddam Hussein actually sat down and conspired with Osama bin Laden.

What about universal health care and welfare? As a fiscal conservative, myself, it is extremely hard for me to support these programs. But as a Christian, those are two programs that I feel guilty not supporting. Wouldn't God be pleased with everyone getting health care? Wouldn't God want us to help our fellow humans whenever they cannot afford the basic necessities of life?


There are countless other doctrines that come into conflict when the political party is easier to be in line with than the faith. And those conflicts are on both the left and the right of the political spectrum. If that's the case, can either party truthfully claim to be the "party of God"? I just think some dialogue needs to be started.