Religion+Politics=A Confused Electorate

Presidential elections have never been immune to "God-talk". Long is the list of politicians who've used the "language of Zion" (Judeo-Christianeese) to reach a particular group of voters. Stranger yet is the way a lot of religious institutions, denominations and organizations cozy up to certain candidates who promote their often, seemingly single-issue agendas (e.g., abortion, gay marriage, war, stem cell research, public prayer, etc.) while totally ignoring the candidate's questionable views in other areas that relate to matters of faith. The current presidential election is no stranger to candidates touting their beliefs, quoting Scripture, or using religious language and locations to promote their cause. From Obama and Hilary speaking in local churches to Mike Huckabee's Christmas ads reminding us He's a Christian, to Mitt Romney's defense that his faith is not an election issue, it's hard to decipher which candidate is God's choice for the highest office in the land.

If we truly believe the God of Scripture transcends nations, governments, elections, race, denominations and our favorite college teams then we need to remind the candidates (and some of their loyal followers) that no one has exclusive rights to God. In other words, quit trying to package God as a plank in your candidate's or party's platform. Perhaps those of us who claim to follow Jesus Christ, need to be reminded that our leader was born a dark-skinned, Palestinian Jew long before the land of North America was even known, let alone before Washington D.C., existed as a hub of power. Remember, the power hub during Jesus' earthly days was Rome. And He never came promoting a candidate, party or type of government. In fact, He admonished His followers to submit to their elected officials and give God what is God's. The point: God transcends mere national or local governments. His agenda is eternal, not temporary like Rome, or the U.S., as hard as that may be to fathom. Yes, His agenda is a global one. He has a heart for the nations, but make no mistake, this world is not the final, "end-all" home for His people. He reigns over heaven and earth.

Hold on, I'm as patriotic as the next gal or guy. I love my country, fly the flag, vote and cry every July 4th when the Boston Pops plays while fireworks explode. But I do not believe our nation can lay exclusive claim to Christ through our churches, let alone our government and whoever resides in the White House. I believe every Christ-follower should do their homework, fervently pray and ask God to guide their voting decisions. But when we encourage, tolerate and allow our politicians to use the Almighty like an election puppet we need to draw the line. If not, we probably ought to seek citizenship in a country that promotes a government led by the religion and faith of our choice, because that is not the United States according to our founding and guiding documents.

Charles Haynes, a senior scholar at the First Amendment Center recently addressed the religious issue of our current election when he recently wrote in the Greenville News:

So religion-saturated is this election cycle that Beliefnet.com created a "God-o-meter" to track the shameless, mostly fatuous, invocation of religion by candidates seeking to appear holier-than-thou.

2007 was the year Democrats got religion -- and now they're competing mightily for the Almighty vote. The God-o-meter reports that Bill Richardson got so carried away in front of an Iowa crowd last week that he told them the state needed to preserve its first-caucus status "for constitutional reasons, for reasons related to the Lord."

Meanwhile, some Republicans appear to be running for Christian-in-Chief. Mike Huckabee advertises himself as a "Christian Leader," Mitt Romney scrambles to prove he's a true Christian and John McCain tells a reporter he thinks the Constitution establishes a "Christian nation."

Enough already. The U.S. Constitution establishes a secular republic, mandates "no religious test" for public office and guarantees full religious liberty for every citizen.

Politicians, like any American, are free to talk about their faith. But when they use religious language to signal preference for one group over others -- or suggest that one group should somehow be privileged by government -- they violate the spirit of the First Amendment and undermine religious freedom.

Personally, I think Roger Williams got it right in the 17th century: A truly Christian nation cannot be a Christian nation in any official or legal sense of the term. As Williams read the Gospel, God requires that liberty of conscience be protected for all people. That means no government entanglement with any religion in a society where everyone has the right to choose freely in matters of faith.

If you are a Christ-follower please search the New Testament and the Constitution on the matters of religious liberty and pray before you rant, rave, get mad and fire off an angry email touting a particular candidate or party. God may just change your mind. I know He has mine many times when I've sought His will regarding my voting choices. Is it Thanksgiving 2008 yet? Looking forward to some post-election television without all those political ads!