On Christianity And Political Parties

A few friends thought this worth keeping, so I repost it here.

Someone was commenting on the tendency of certain organizations and institutions to dialogue until Christians and conservatives submit, to repress expressions of Christianity and more traditional ways of being and thinking in the name of progress and equality. He said he saw little use in talking with them so long as they persisted in "their willingness to use such measures as they challenge the biblical founding of our great nation, as well the biblical principles of the Catholic faith. They continue to provide aid and comfort to those who seek to promote ideas and even legislation that goes against both, while at the same time denying students the ability to challenge those positions." His reaction was quite understandable, and yet it was a complete concession to the other side.

You know, so long as Christians get afraid, withdraw, and cease to pour out their time and care on the people who hate us and wish us destroyed, we will never see the conversion of the world. We will never have the ability to challenge their positions because we will have given up on our own.



We are forbidden from being conservative first, or liberal first, or gay first, or women first, or black first, or white first, or anything first before beloved children of God called to love the rest of the family. We are first and foremost the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ in the world, who ate with the rich and the poor, the powerful and the powerless, the scoundrels and the saints. We are not allowed the luxury of tribalism, of calling one group the untouchables and never coming into contact with them. We are to remain steadfast in the truth, of course, yes, absolutely--and part of that truth is that Jesus foresaw every sin of every revolutionary, of every social engineer, every person seeking to reshape the world in the image of liberal modernity, and he died for the salvation of their souls. He foresaw every sin of every conservative, of every act of tribalism, every time nationalism came before the Gospel, or national security trumped human rights, or party came before principle, and so forth, and he died for the salvation of their souls.

If that spirit is incompatible with modern day Republicanism, or with the Democrats, or the Tea Party, or Occupy Wall Street, or any other of the many symptoms of the national dis-ease in the discourse, I think there's something wrong with American political life.