I have heard stories of people who had to keep their voting preference to themselves for fear of retribution.  If they lived in a particularly Republican area, to vote Democrat called into question their patriotism and their Christianity.  Others, if they lived in a Democratic area and voted Republican, were chastised as being swayed by the extreme right and endorsing a hateful form of Christianity.  How did we get here?  Note: for a thorough historical analysis of this development, see One Nation Under God: Ho Corporate America Invented Christian America, by Kevin M. Kruse (2015).

     In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin hammered out a statement that served to shape American thinking ever since: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.  The Bill of Rights was written to protect against government overreach when it comes to faith: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.  Clearly, faith and religion were part of our country’s origin story.  For the most part, the faith of Jefferson and the other Founding Fathers appears to be Christian Deism, whereby God created everything and then walked away, basically uninvolved in the affairs of humanity ever since.  The expression of faith articulated in our founding documents was purposefully general in nature, to take focus away from theology, not spotlight it.

     Toward the end of the Industrial Revolution and its accompanying Gilded Age, Christian pastors and theologians raised concern over the plight of the poor – children, women, immigrants – who were forced to work in dangerous conditions and live in squalor.  They rebuked the wealthy industry leaders who flaunted their lavish lifestyles while the people who made them rich suffered.  They called on the government to create regulations to protect the vulnerable. They viewed this as a natural response of faithfulness that finds a wealth of support in both the Old and New Testament.  To them, this was part of the Gospel they were charged to promote.  To others, it become known as the Social Gospel.  Laws were put into place because of their work.  The lives of women and children were improved.

     Such government involvement was not welcomed by industries, however.  Some Christian leaders also objected to protections and provisions for the poor and vulnerable, fearing that a perpetual welfare state may be the result.  After the Crash of 1929 that led to the Great Depression, industries themselves faced damning public image problems.  Roosevelt’s New Deal promised more government involvement that they opposed.  But how could they turn the tide of public opinion?  Enter Rev. James Fifield, pastor of a large, thriving church in Los Angeles.  Politically, he was a Christian Libertarian.  Theologically, he was moderate, not endorsing the biblical literalism that was gaining popularity during that period.  In his view, the US didn’t need more government, it needed its individual citizens to be saved by faith, which would make them better citizens and the country stronger.  The country needed spiritual revival, not handouts. Fifield networked with 70,000 pastors nationwide, encouraging pastors to proclaim the same message through their respective pulpits.  Industry leaders recognized what was before them – a direct channel to millions of people through churches and the pastors who led them.  Industry leaders were overwhelmingly Republican.  In the 1930’s the marriage between Republican politics and Christianity was consecrated.

     Rev. Abraham Vereide helped take it further. He organized City Chapels all over the nation, a place where business leaders and clergy could come together to study the Bible and pray.  This led to the development of the National (and eventually International) Council for Christian Leadership, where the theological-political ideology was furthered, with the hopes that FDR’s New Deal could be quelled.  In other words, while the platform of the time together was cloaked in religious garb, there was also a clear agenda tied to Republican politics – keep government small, and keep the expression of Christianity focused on individual salvation, not politics. 

     In the 1950’s General Dwight Eisenhower became President, believing that a central part of his calling was to bring spiritual revival to the nation, partly helped along by the threat of nuclear attack from the USSR. With funding from major industries and the network created by Fifield, Vereide, and the crowds amassed by Billy Graham – all voices singing the same song – a campaign encouraging spiritual commitment as a sign of patriotism commenced.  Within a few years, the US recorded record religious affiliation and participation among its citizens that was never reached before or since.  The advertisers on Madison Avenue and Hollywood new how to move people.  During this period of years, the US adopted “In God We Trust” on all currency and added “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance, both nods to our country’s early inclusion of faith-language from the beginning, in contrast to Communism’s atheism.

     More conservative Christian leaders wanted to go a step further, mandating Bible study and prayer in public schools.  While the masses initially supported the idea, with time it waned as denominational leaders and scholars challenged the wisdom of the move as well as its Constitutionality.  The Supreme Court ruled it out.  Bills that were entertained in the House and Senate failed, much to the chagrin and consternation of conservative Christians.

     When Richard Nixon became President, he invited Billy Graham to help organize weekly church services at the White House (!), with the guest list hand-picked along with the pastors invited to speak.  It was, essentially, an opportunity to sacralize the president’s agenda on the government’s dime, protected by the First Amendment which it was simultaneously violating.  Graham’s worldview saw no conflict – God had provided the opportunity to influence, and so he did.

     Ronald Reagan, The Great Communicator, played Christian conservatives like a fiddle even though he rarely attended church himself.  He promised to get Bible study and prayer into public schools but never did.  His successor, George H. W. Bush was a devout Episcopal and did his best to keep the Evangelicals happy. To their chagrin a Southern Baptist Democrat, Bill Clinton, defeated him after one term.  Clinton’s immorality with Monica Lewinsky provided plenty of fodder for the Moral Majority and Family Values Republicans to pounce.  It was the beginning of a new level of political animosity, in my opinion, that would only decline.  The rhetoric of the Christian leaders at that time sounded a lot more like those responsible for killing Jesus than the Jesus they claimed to follow.  It has only worsened since.

     George W. Bush was a Born-Again Christian, which was music to the ears of Evangelicals.  Bush, however, was moderate regarding the hot-button issues that Republicans were known for.  His enduring legacy, of course, will be the war in Iraq and Afghanistan in response to the terrorist attack on the US September 11, 2001.

     Obama served two terms as the US’ first African American President, which stoked racial prejudice instead of dampening it.  The passage of the Affordable Care Act was decried as government intrusion and surely fueled the fires for a Republican win in 2016.

     Kruse’ book was written in 2015, before Donald Trump was elected.  There is nothing in Trump’s personal life history that suggests he was ever raised with a Christian ethos, and nothing in his bio that would suggest he practiced it or could even articulate it.  There are too many examples to note, both from his behavior and from his mouth. Nonetheless, he was embraced by the increasingly conservative Christian right as God’s appointed leader, a new Cyrus of old to redeem God’s people.  No amount of immorality on Trump’s part deterred his followers from their devotion because, I think, his personal level of Christian devotion was irrelevant to God’s use of him as a tool for Kingdom advancement.

     All this development of the marriage of conservative Christians and the Republican party have left many with a horrible impression of Christianity as anti-(fill-in-the-blank), generally hypocritical, and the useful idiots of the GOP (even if they think they are pulling the strings).

     Jesus and politics.  Occasionally I hear someone say the church should be like Jesus and stay out of politics. Whenever I hear this, it lets me know that the person making the statement is unaware of a very important fact: Jesus was, without question, politically outspoken and active.  Every reputable scholar believes that his primary teaching emphasis was about ushering in the Kingdom of God, or, as John Cobb phrases it, a Divine Commonwealth where true equity and justice for all exists on a healthy planet.  This was a direct challenge to Roman occupation.  Anytime Jesus used the phrase Good News, it is a slap in the face of Caesar who coined it for Roman purposes first.  Jesus constantly challenged the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem (Sadducees) for their corruption and challenged the Jewish leadership in Galilee (Pharisees) regarding their biblical literalism and associated legalism.  Unlike every other Messiah-wannabe, Jesus did not condone violence.  He was explicitly nonviolent in his actions and instructions.  Nonetheless, it was his political activity that got him killed.  The following passage is just one of many stories that to us seem quite benign, but to his original audience were extremely provocative.

The Pharisees plotted a way to trap him into saying something damaging. They sent their disciples, with a few of Herod's followers mixed in, to ask, "Teacher, we know you have integrity, teach the way of God accurately, are indifferent to popular opinion, and don't pander to your students. So, tell us honestly: Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"

     Jesus knew they were up to no good. He said, "Why are you playing these games with me? Why are you trying to trap me? Do you have a coin? Let me see it." They handed him a silver piece.

     "This engraving—who does it look like? And whose name is on it?"

     They said, "Caesar."

     "Then give Caesar what is his and give God what is his."

     The Pharisees were speechless. They went off shaking their heads. –Matthew 22:15-22 MSG

     Caesar and his subjects considered the Emperor to be God.  Jesus’ simple statement, give God what is his, was a direct challenge to that assumption.  Jesus was politically engaged, and he was clear about who he served.  His primary allegiance was to God.  Always.  While he surely defended the Jewish people, he did not sell out or align himself with any of the four primary Jewish sects of his day.  He stayed focused on his allegiance to Abba.  So should we.

     My hope for this teaching is to simply shed some light on the historical development of the long marriage between conservative Christianity and the Republican party.  I do so because the brand of Christianity showcased and aligned with the Republican party is not reflective of the fullness of the faith that Jesus modeled and taught, and because when we can see what’s what, we can choose more easily.  I know Christian people who have chosen not to support the Republican ticket and have been excoriated by their Republican friends and family and have had their faith and patriotism questioned.  This was not always the case.  This phenomenon developed and intensified over time.  We need to be advocates for a fuller faith that is not beholden to any political party.

     I am not encouraging those of you who are Republican to tear up your membership card and become Democrats (or vice versa).  I am encouraging you, if you claim to be a disciple of Jesus, to reexamine where your primary allegiance lies (hint: it should be Jesus).  As you weigh candidates, choose based on the Jesus criteria.  Also, when you see behavior on the part of any candidate that is clearly destructive, call it out, even if it’s your preferred party’s candidate.  Too many Christians said nothing as Hitler rose to power.  Too many Christians have remained silent when our own country has gone through seasons of difficult change when the vulnerable needed to hear the love of God and those in power needed to be instructed to honor justice with grace as they walk humbly with God.  Jesus followers: follow Jesus.

     And God bless America.