Albert Mohler and other Evangelicals are right, we as Christians cannot vote for Democrats. Amen. And they go further and suggest those that do so fall under condemnation. Amen to that as well.
But if they can't say the same about the GOP then they're not
representing a New Testament position. They're simply partisans and operatives
for a political faction.
The GOP is just as wicked, bankrupt, and anti-Christian as
the Democrats are.
In fact the entire system is. Don't support it by voting.
If you don't vote you
can't complain.
I used to think that way but it's backwards.
If you vote, you can't complain because if you believe in the
system you have to abide by the results and (if you're a true citizen) support
the democratic choice and the country – right or wrong. That's un-Christian, a
compromised allegiance. I don't oppose the government as the powers that be are
ordained by God – but I don't support it either, regardless of the political
party in charge.
In addition to its well established record of mammonism and
militarism, the GOP's more recent embrace of shameless deception, outright
lies, and political violence, signifies a hard turn toward authoritarianism and
fascism – and the party is clearly aligning with fascists beyond its borders. In
some instances this Far-Right anti-democratic turn is being obscured or given
cover by claims that the American democratic system only works in a Christian
context. At this point these apologists for political scheming and violence
usually pull out some quotes from a few select Founding Fathers that seemingly
support this argument.
As such, since the society has lost its 'Christian'
consensus, they believe that democracy can no longer be trusted, and in order
to recapture America they can legitimately (as patriots) appeal to
anti-Constitutional ideas and authoritarian tactics – even raw violence. These
arguments expose the true ugliness and unethical nature of the 1776 argument
for rebellion – a position no Christian should have supported then or now.
But guess what? That's not what the founding documents say. They
do not claim to function within the context of a Christian consensus (nor
require it) and in fact (in good Enlightenment Classical Liberal fashion) the
documents explicitly reject the heritage of Christendom. The United States was
the first Western nation established since the times of Constantine,
Theodosius, and Charlemagne to not establish rule on the basis of the grace of
God, or in His Name and authority. No, the USA was and is an Enlightenment
project rooted in Liberalism and questions of rights and social contract. It's
not Christian and wasn't meant to be. The Founders were turning their back on a
Christian political order. The old order of Christendom wasn't Christian either
but that's beside the point.
The claims made in the Declaration and Constitution are supposedly
'self-evident' and thus universal and so if you don't believe they're universal
(applicable in all places and at all times) then you're not a patriot in the ideological
mold of the Founders. I'm not and don't claim to be. I oppose and reject the
system and its very premise. That said, while I live under it (due to
historical circumstance) I won't vote, appeal to it for justice, support its
wars, or endorse its ideals. I obey laws (even unjust ones) and thus honour
those who make and enforce them, and pay taxes – as long as they don't cause me
to directly sin or participate in sin. As such, I embrace second-class
citizenship or to put it differently I live as a subject not a citizen.
The New Testament has no concept of 'rights' and is not
interested in pursuing them – and neither am I. We're called not to dominion or
the exercise of Enlightenment-conceived rights, but to providential obedience
and if need be suffering. Such suffering may be cultural and economic or at
times it can be violent.
I'm productive and have raised my children to be the same.
That's all they're getting out of me. I won't fly the flag or pledge allegiance
to it. I won't serve on a jury but nor do I want one – or the courts, or the
police. I understand that society will utilise these mechanisms and they serve
a purpose in this present evil age, but I have no use for them and will not
help to perpetuate them. Let the dead bury their dead. Let them pursue their
Babel project. I am a citizen of Zion. Our pilgrim calling vis-à-vis the
culture is prophetic (little 'p') and ambassadorial but we're not here to
transform or redeem things that are cursed and doomed. That's what the New
Testament says. Our focus is on the Church and we glorify God to that end – by condemning
the world and proclaiming its doom, by worshipping God in defiance of the
principalities and powers, and in sharing the gospel message of hope and
redemption.
But I say to those who believe in the system and think it is,
was, or has to be Christian – and then turn to authoritarianism, deceit, and
violence – your actions are not only unbiblical, you're even un-American in
your thinking. You're living out a contradiction in terms of ideology and
ethics – as were the Founders I might add.
The polity of the country is mixed. The federal government is
secular in origin, and yet many of the states (erroneously) had some kind of
Christian establishment or sanction. This doesn't make it right. It must be
evaluated. On Biblical grounds it must be rejected and in terms of the Federal
government, the Constitutional system which emerged was in a state of
contradiction on these points and many others. It was a flawed system and
within a century collapsed into civil war. The victors retained the forms but
they were added to – amendments which fundamentally changed the polity at
certain points, and created even more internal contradictions. Regardless, a
new Federal order emerged and so in many respects these debates are pointless
and are rarely able to stay on track. The truth is the fundamental original flaws
have never been resolved nor has the post-Civil War settlement. And from a
Christian standpoint these issues have no resolution as the system is
incompatible with the gospel and Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
America is not a Christian country. There's no such thing.
The very notion is an oxymoron. You can attach the name of Christ to the godless
Constitution (and a lot of other things) but that doesn't make it Christian. It
just adds to the confusion and condemnation of the country and its
mammon-worshiping violent society. Christians should oppose such measures and
we should insist the 'In God We Trust' blasphemy be removed from the currency.
In any case it's not the God of Scripture and so it's nothing Christians should
endorse or celebrate.
The system is wicked in its fundamental ideology, and the
mammon driven society it produced. Don't let your thinking be shaped by false political
binaries and scam operatives who are simply trying to manipulate you by means
of false appeals, fear tactics, and disingenuous guilt.
If you're a Christian you have no business voting in an
election that has nothing to do with us. The Republican Party isn't pro-life
and its leaders are not godly. They are creatures of the world and enslaved to
its lusts. The Christians in government are self-deceived frauds and in many
cases functional apostates. They are not to be elevated or emulated but pitied.
The Church only corrupts itself when it forms such alliances and then strengthens
the hands of these evildoers.
The appeal is made that we need to change the world, a point
accentuated by the Neo-Evangelical movement which emerged in the late 1940's –
a movement that now dominates the entire spectrum of American and even (to some
extent) global Christianity. In the aftermath of World War II, men like Billy
Graham wanted to dispense with Fundamentalist separatism and encourage the
Church to hold a position of respect in society and to be influential.
Seventy-five years later the result is all too clear. They did not change the
world but they did invite the world into the Church and the effect has been
profound and (in terms of their misguided and unbiblical movement) fatal. The
tragedy has been compounded by the fact that they continue to swallow up and
encompass numerous groups and movements within the wider sphere of both
national and international Protestantism and even now are in the process of
corrupting these bodies and bringing them down to share in the same doom that
awaits American Evangelicalism.
When these false teachers speak on the radio, turn it off.
When dominionism and pseudo-Christian politics are preached from the pulpit,
it's time to think about leaving.