“If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.” Mark 3:25
The prevailing attitude in politics today is one of hate, which would be disturbing in its own right. However, the real tragedy is that it prevails in the Church just as much as it does outside of the Church, and in many cases can be even worse. I call this position of the heart “hate for the other,” and I define it this way: it is when our emotions and intellect blame or demonize a person or group that’s on the opposite side of an issue, idea or set of beliefs than our own. I’m going to insist, as many others have done before me, that this is a dangerous and unproductive heart position, and neither gives us peace nor progress.
As a Christian myself, I have drawn a conclusion. “Hate for the other” is the rule in politics, not the exception. Extremists on the left hate the extremists on the right (more likely everyone on the right) and vice-versa. As a result we are constantly bombarded with media which is so lopsided, it can’t walk straight. For the most part, the only voices that are heard, Christian and non-Christian alike, tend to be nothing more than clanging gongs. But in my experience the people that are the loudest are not the wisest; in fact, it tends to be the case that the most judgmental and ignorant people are the ones constantly wagging their jaws.
This is not what Jesus has asked of us. No matter how afraid politicians and/or the media have caused us to be, Christians have never been given permission to make decisions out of fear! We are to make our judgments with faith, with love and with wisdom, “for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7) This polarization between the Right and Left is not a gift, but a curse. And I desperately want to say “thank you” to those who have rejected this polarization, who have oft-times stood in the middle of raging storms and mud slinging, those Democrats and Republicans who have fought to protect the lives of the weak.
I’m going to apply this “hate for the other” to a very difficult and emotionally charged topic, namely abortion. So, thank you Republicans who defend the unborn, care for single mothers, and adopt abandoned children. Thank you for not only loving the unborn, but the born, the lost, the drug addicted, and the lonely. You are the light of the world. And thank you to all of the Democrats that value both the unborn and the born alike, who do what is in their power to protect the vulnerable and hungry, who fight to win healthcare for mothers and families, and who seek to provide for the mentally and physically disabled. You are the light of the world.
photo taken from dailylifeverse.com
The truth is that no politician can honestly make the claim that they will protect the unborn. A great example of this is the presidency of George. W Bush. He made promises that he would protect the unborn, yet our laws did not undergo any major change during his presidency. Therefore, we cannot count upon those elected to create a culture that values all life. The Church must do this work. I absolutely agree with the many Pro-lifers who say we must change our laws regarding abortion. However, the reality is that merely changing the law regarding abortion will not end abortion. Ending abortion requires something much harder: cooperation between Christians across the political spectrum. We must create a pro-life culture, which includes many things such as: care and council for expectant mothers, education, and comprehensive and affordable healthcare for everyone. We must feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, raise the minimum wage, create good jobs and adopt abandoned children. All of these things can and will have a positive impact on the number of abortions in our country. It’s not that I believe politicians can’t make a difference. I have great faith that they can. But when we over-value political promises, we become distracted from the real work that the Church must do. When we allow political agendas to feed our “hate for the other” because it’s packaged as “Christian duty” or “righteousness,” we have essentially accomplished the devil’s work for him. To counteract “hate of the other” pro-life Republicans and pro-life Democrats must rely on one another, because creating a pro-life culture is a great work that we cannot achieve as long as we’re wasting our time fighting one another!
It’s not the loud, hateful gongs of the world that will bring God’s Kingdom here on earth; rather, it’s those of us who value all life, simply because God himself created it. It’s those who take the long view, those that spend time examining their own hearts (rather the hearts of “the other”), those that speak up for the weak, those willing to let go of some of their own comforts for the greater good. Because we know that none of us actually deserve anything and that everything we have is a gift, whether or not it’s perceived as earned or a hand-out . We are all dependent on the charity of God and the compassion of our neighbors. These are the people who will make the world a better place, and I pray that someday I will be worthy of being counted as one of them. So I challenge you: pray for one another, respect and love one another, pray and continue to pray for whomever is elected our next president, whether or not you voted for them.
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