Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Religion News
You CAN Be a Christian and Support the Democratic Party

You CAN Be a Christian and Support the Democratic Party

Last updated on: November 13, 2020 at 11:59 am by Matthew Distefano

You CAN Be a Christian and Support the Democratic Party 2020-11-13T11:59:57-06:00 Matthew Distefano

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The other day, Patheos approved my request to reactivate this blog on the Progressive Christian Channel. After they did so, I decided to take a look at the site, since it had been a while (over a year and a half, to be exact). One of the first articles I stumbled across was called “You Can’t Be a Christian and Support the Democratic Party,” which came out of the Evangelical Channel. Shocker, I know! I thought to myself, “You can’t? Strange, I don’t remember reading about that in any of the early creedal statements or confessions of faith.” But, whatever, it’s 2020, so it’s an odd time to be alive.

Essentially, the premise of this piece is that Democrats (I’m surprised it wasn’t spelled Demon-rats), have built their entire platform on “abortion and sexual licentiousness.” Now, while I’m not a registered Democrat, and, until Joe Biden, did not vote for a Democratic party candidate in any election of significance in my entire life, I found this strange. Sure, Democrats tend to support a woman’s right to choose, and are less stifling than their GOP counterparts when it comes to sexual expression, but they also stand for a whole helluva lot more than these two things.

For one, the Democrats I know are pretty passionate about climate change. Unlike large swaths of conservatives, they believe the roughly 97% of scientists who affirm human-exacerbated climate change. Kind of a big deal, no?

Second, most Democrats believe that healthcare is a right that all Americans should be afforded. They may disagree on the “how,” but they all tend to agree on the “what.”

Third, a lot of Democrats are against war. Sure, many aren’t. That’s one reason I couldn’t support Hilary Clinton in 2016. Her war-voting record was not something I could jump on board with. But that doesn’t mean a whole host of Democrats are also pro-war.

Fourth, the Democratic party, by and large, supports the equal treatment of the LGBTQ+ community. Does this make them proponents of “sexual licentiousness?” Some Evangelicals would have you believe that. But a strawman is what a strawman does.

And lastly (at least for this short article), most of my Democrat friends believe in racial equality and the dismantling of systemic racism here and abroad. I know most conservative Evangelicals don’t believe in systemic racism, but that’s beside the point. The point is: It’s something most Democrats stand against.

Now, do these five issues mean that I agree with how Democrats address the issues? Not necessarily. Not all Democrats think alike. Not all Progressives think alike. And I don’t necessarily fit into either camp (please don’t tell my channel manager). The point being: You can’t reduce Democrats down to two issues. That’s unfair. It’s overly-reductionist. And it’s something those on the other side of the aisle would bristle at (and rightly so).

In this era of divisiveness, what we don’t need is more pundits saying who can or can’t be “Christian.” The Christian Church has a long, storied history of excluding those who didn’t fit the correct doctrinal mold, and while we don’t literally burn heretics at the stake any longer (thank God!), we don’t need to do it figuratively either. To my mind, being Christian isn’t so much about which doctrines we affirm, but whether we live like Christ. It’s not so much about Orthodoxy, but Orthopraxy. And sure, you can have your doctrines and confessions of faith, but if you don’t love one another, whether conservative or liberal, Christian or non-, theist or atheist, gay or straight, then you are, as St. Paul put it, nothing but a clanging gong.

Sadly, the first article I came across was trending from the Evangelical Channel, and seemed like nothing but a clanging gong. Does that mean I’m regretting re-upping on here? Hell to the no! In fact, it makes me even more excited. In a time like this, we need more people of faith plowing through the TRUMPeting calls for division and seeking to heal the wounds tribalism has caused and continues to cause. Does that mean we tolerate intolerance in the name of “reconciliation.” Also, hell to the no! It just means that we put down our need to pigeonhole one another, actually listen to what the “other side” is saying, and then move forward accordingly.

Sound good? I hope so. If you agree, feel free to share. If you disagree, feel free to comment. Though, be forewarned that I don’t tolerate hateful speech, biblical proof-texting, or any nonsense like that.

And if you dig what I’m saying, please check out my “about” page, and follow my social media accounts.

Peace!

Previous Post

November 12, 2020

I'm Baaaaaaack!!!

Next Post

November 16, 2020 Inerrancy is Not Biblical

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Atonement Book Review Early Church Eschatology eternal torment Hell Hermeneutics LGBTQ+ Mimetic Theory Mysticism News Old Testament Podcast Poetry Politics Prayer Religion Sacrifice Satire Soteriology Theology Uncategorized Violence

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 June 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 June 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does the Hebrew word 'Ruach' mean?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Spirit/Breath Strength Fire Water

Books by This Author Books by All Set Free

See All Titles »