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| Presidential Elections, 1844, from Cornell University Library |
It’s begun again, that headlong race towards the Presidential elections on a certain Tuesday in November. The Republican caucuses and primaries have begun, and in a couple of months it will be our turn in the New York primary.
Religion has been once again prominent in early debates, fueled by the strong religious beliefs of a number of the candidates, who include Mormons, Roman Catholics, a Baptist, a Methodist, and a couple of non-denominational Christians.
Our nation prides itself on the separation of church and state, encapsulated in the First Amendment, which reads that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ...."; Article VI specifies that "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States." But at the same time, religion inevitably enters political conversation.
So what is the place of religious criteria in our political life? And how should we as Christians live out our faith in this aspect of our national life? As we seek to answer these questions, I would suggest that we might turn to two places: Scripture and the Baptismal Covenant.
Jesus’ words as reported in the Gospel according to St Mark (12:17), “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's” (KJV), are often used as support for the separation of church and state. However, we need to read them in their original context, a discussion of taxes due to various authorities, both civil and religious, in a country and culture under foreign occupation. Jesus was answering a question designed to provide an excuse to hand him over to one set of authorities or another for transgressing their laws.
The modern concept of a wholly secular government is far from the minds of our biblical forebears. They knew nothing of a separation of church and state. “The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it, the world and all who dwell therein,” reads Psalm 24:1. A similar sentiment is expressed in the letter to the Romans (13:1), “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God” (NRSV). That would suggest that, from a Christian perspective, we must acknowledge some inherent relationship between God and government. And so we might ask of those standing for office, where do we see the dominion of God expressed in their leadership?
The United State has embraced a form of representative democracy in which members of congress are elected by the public to make decisions on our behalf. We are well aware of lobbyists of all kinds who seek the support of our rulers for their interests. As Christians, should we do any less?
In the Baptismal Covenant, we are asked if we will “persevere in resisting evil” and “strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.” Most of us are all too aware of evil and injustice in our world; few of us have direct power to make dramatic changes. But our government does. And so, indirectly, do we. We can lobby, we can vote, we can use the power given to us in our political system to make a difference in our world.
As followers of Christ, our task is not to simply to rubber stamp the candidate whose religious commitments most closely match ours, but rather, to ask, which among them will enable us to live out our vocations as the people of God in this world.
