A Christian, A Democrat: From the FaithfulDemocrats.com Co-Chair

Last updated on: May 9, 2013 at 6:20 am by Faithful Democrats

A Christian, A Democrat: From the FaithfulDemocrats.com Co-Chair 2013-05-09T06:20:39-06:00 Faithful Democrats

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I am tired of politicians, partisans, and preachers spelling God

"G-O-P." Now
many Americans think Jesus never rode a donkey and today rides only an
elephant. The truth is, God cannot be held hostage by any political
party.

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In recent election seasons, many preachers have proclaimed not the Good
News, but the Bad. They have told faithful members of their
congregations that they cannot be Christians.

"Christians," they declare from the pulpit and beyond, "cannot be Democrats!"

To which some of us must ask: is the Scripture wrong? Is John
3:16 not to be believed? Is the Gospel not about faith, but
works? Not about grace, but politics? Not about what Jesus
did for us, but what we must do for Republicans?

I am tired of politicians, partisans, and preachers spelling God
"G-O-P." But make no mistake — regardless of how wrong they are
or how false their doctrine is, they have been frighteningly
effective. Now many Americans think Jesus never rode a donkey and
today rides only an elephant. The truth is, God cannot be held
hostage by any political party. And American Christians should
not be either.

Many American Christians have stories like mine. I was raised in
a faithful and loving church and a loving and faithful home. When
I was a child, every night my parents said The Lord's Prayer with
me. When the lights were out, we would talk until the sleepiest
would suggest, "Let's say our prayers." And we would repeat
together: "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be they name…"

We also prayed together before meals. I don't recall us ever
eating at home without saying what Dad called "Grace" or Mother called
"The Blessing." Mother and Dad, having been through the
Depression, always were thankful. And they knew Whom to
thank. My parents knew that they and our family and many
neighbors had survived the Depression through the grace of God.
And, quite frankly, through the policies of the Democratic Party.

My family almost lost our farm during the Depression when my
grandparents and parents could not get enough money for their crops to
pay the taxes. They barely held on until President Franklin
Roosevelt's New Deal gave farmers a prayer — and some decent prices for
their crops — again.

I didn't live through the Depression, but my parents made me think I
did. And from the time I was a child, I knew that the Democratic
Party was composed of the hurting and the helping. I knew that
Democrats were about doing justice and seeking fairness and helping
each American recognize his or her God-given potential.

My parents never confused FDR or any other politician with Jesus
Christ. Nor did they equate or conflate the Democratic Party or
any other political organization with the Church. But they also
knew that the Judgment of the Nations found in Matthew 25 had lessons
for how we live our lives. As believers. As citizens.
My parents believed, and my pastors and Sunday School teachers taught,
that we are called by the Almighty God to serve "the least of these."

The more I studied Scripture in divinity school, the more convinced I
became that God has a Holy passion for justice that is revealed from
the earliest Hebrew law found in the Pentateuch, right through the
books of the Prophets, especially the Eighth Century prophets Hosea,
Amos, and Micah, on through the Gospels and particularly the Gospel of
Luke, and right to the back of The Book where First John 3:16 ff.
reminds us of the implications for those of us who believe John 3:16.

I do not claim that Christians have to be Democrats. I have
worked and worshipped, shaped policy and shared prayers, with many
faithful Republicans. I have seen how they seek to do God's
will. I cannot and should not question their Christianity.
But I also know too many devout Democrats to believe for a moment that
they are not children of God, just because they find their faithful
values calling them to work as Democrats for freedom, justice, and
mercy.

That's why are we launching this website today.

I want FaithfulDemocrats.com to defend those values set forth in the
Declaration of Independence and Constitution and to help America live
up to our highest ideals.

I want FaithfulDemocrats.com to help the Church avoid the heresy that Jesus is a captive of any political party.

And I want us to lift up the Biblical values found throughout Scripture
but perhaps most poetically proclaimed by the prophet Micah, "What does
the Lord require of you but to do justice, love kindness, and walk
humbly with your God?"

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