Those are good verses, right? People should be following them because it will make society better. Right?
Now, I want to respect everyone's political alignment. It won over your allegiance for reasons that felt good and it shows that you care about how you are treated. There is definitely pros and cons to every political side. If I had my way I would get everyone just to pick Libertarian just to see how it feels for 4 years.
And to be fair, I am not putting down a political party. I legit have no idea where this disconnect is between Christian beliefs and Republican beliefs.
But there is a disconnect and it hurts my head trying to make it make sense. The Republican party has always been keen on siding with God and his laws. We love the tradition of church and ancient laws. I was raised to believe that the God fearing humans were red and the transgressors were blue.
But now it is 2024 and I can't follow that logic anymore. We have this book of Proverbs that instructs us to be gentle, forgiving, peace making, observant of those who are hurting, and integrity filled, but we have a party that absolutely celebrates the opposite of those things. We have a potential president that will not show these things.
I know you can defend the party and you can give me a quick list of things that show how smart and logical we are (it's my parent's favorite hobby). But can you really say "Yay Jesus" and be complicit with:
Such hatred toward enemies (the president wants revenge on his enemies)
Such hatred toward the hurting (unauthorized immigrants are an enemy to party)
Such hatred toward humility ( The people think the future president will save them from all evil)
Such hatred toward laws (Even if the future president sins greatly he does not have to feel bad about it for a second)
Such demonization of the other side if they try to do something righteous (wait, the other side can be Christian?)
Things that get you fired from your job are smart tactics for political hopefuls
Now, I know that the argument turns into "What About-ism." I say something negative and you reply with, "have you seen what those other jerks are doing? It is way worse."
I am not looking for sin comparing. I am looking for a sub-culture of Christianity that can humbly say, "Wow, my party's beliefs are not being practiced and I wish they knew it." It feels like those are the people who are the minority in politics.
I have been to Twitter (which is my first mistake) and all I can yield from this political party is that hatred is strength, fear pushes us to a human savior, the enemy deserves to be brutally treated, and power is enforced through force.
It is unfair to sum up all Republicans as the Twitter stereotypes and that is my confusion. There are good people that love the right and do their best to follow God. My dad would never tweet like a future presidental candidate because he would lose his business ten times over. My mom would never tell bold faced lies to her Mary Kay group to get more sales because she loves doing the right thing. My best friends would never break the rules like people in power because they have such a good head on their shoulders.
But, there is this invisible rule that says politics is exempt from the accountability that we hold to ourselves. We cannot show mourning or disparagement that the people who claim to love God and his people are making errors and bad judgements in government. We must save that critical spirit for our rivals, but never for the home team. Who made that rule?
I can totally understand a good hearted Republican being directly behind the right to life, charity through less taxes, and configuring the market to be in favor of those who provide businesses. There is nothing damning about any of those things and they carry with it some logic. But, I cannot see why we are obligated to protect Republicans who need to know that they are not inline with our beliefs.
The future leader of the world does not tell us how to behave. They have no right to get us to hurt anyone or convince us that sin is righteousness. But when it comes to American politics, the ability to mourn and show displeasure toward someone's actions is on the same level as treason.
I wish I didn't have to grow up in this culture. I always thought politics was supposed to be boring and over my head, but now I am trying to discern why the future leaders of my party are doing things my kids would never do.
Help me understand.
