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{"id":117,"date":"2010-10-27T22:27:56","date_gmt":"2010-10-28T02:27:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/philosophicalfragments\/?p=117"},"modified":"2010-10-27T22:27:56","modified_gmt":"2010-10-28T02:27:56","slug":"why-the-church-as-such-should-not-support-the-tea-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/2010\/10\/27\/why-the-church-as-such-should-not-support-the-tea-party\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the Church (As Such) Should Not Support the Tea Party"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

When Jeff Sharlet asks \u201c Is the Tea Party Becoming a Religious Movement?<\/a>\u201c, however, he asks a question I have been asking for sometime as well.\u00a0 (I don\u2019t agree with the article, by the way; but he asks a question that others are asking right now as well.)<\/p>\n

The Tea Party movement was overwhelmingly focused on economic and governance issues \u2014 government growth, deficit spending, and a broken political system \u2014 until the Restoring Honor rally.\u00a0 I am also sympathetic to the Restoring Honor rally; I think Christians can and should be involved in seeking a moral and spiritual regeneration for our nation.\u00a0 But it did have the effect of confusing matters a little.\u00a0 Was this Tea Party 2.0?\u00a0 Was the Tea Party evolving?\u00a0 Was this a second wing of the Tea Party, or was it best understood as something separate entirely?<\/p>\n

I think it would be best to hold the two things apart.\u00a0 A political movement in favor of limited government, fiscal responsibility, and a more transparent and accountable government.\u00a0 And a moral-religious movement to bring Christians (and anyone else) to recommit to live lives of integrity and to be salt and light in this polis and this culture.\u00a0 Some might see the latter as a re-launching of the culture wars; I don\u2019t.\u00a0 I see it as standing up for fundamental Judeo-Christian values.\u00a0 That\u2019s not all that it means to be a Christian.\u00a0 Being a Christian means much more than that.\u00a0 But it can never mean less than that.<\/p>\n

So like-minded conservatives should pursue Tea Party goals.\u00a0 Like-minded Christians should pursue the moral and spiritual renewal of the nation.\u00a0 And individual Christians who involve themselves in the Tea Party movement may well feel that they are pursuing what God calls them to do.\u00a0 All of that is fine.<\/p>\n

What should not <\/em>happen, I think, is for the Church to support the Tea Party movement, or any other similar political movement.\u00a0 The members of the Church can be activists for or against the Tea Party movement, and may do so on the basis of their faith as well as they understand it.\u00a0 However, what distinguishes the Tea Party movement from the alternatives is a properly political <\/em>belief that small government serves society best.\u00a0 You can make a strong biblical argument for this position, but the Bible does not provide a clear governing blueprint.<\/p>\n

Politics is the art of living together.\u00a0 There are some rules for living together that are perfectly clear applications of scripture.\u00a0 If there were two political parties, one in support of murder and another against, then the Church could absolutely side, without reservation, on the side against murder.\u00a0 And the Church could say that anyone who does not agree on this point is in clear violation of scripture.\u00a0 But this is not one of those cases.\u00a0 I find the argument for small government to be abundantly persuasive.\u00a0 But it is an argument based on political philosophy and experience; it is not an indubitable deduction from scripture.\u00a0 So while I might agree, and while I might feel as though God calls me to take up the cause, I should not confuse my political philosophy with the essence of Christian theology, and I should not believe that anyone who disagrees with me is therefore un-Christian.<\/p>\n

I know some of my fellow conservative Christians will disagree with me on this, and I hope we can do so charitably.\u00a0 But I think it\u2019s important that the Church \u2014 not the individual members of the Church, but the Church itself \u2014 maintain neutrality on political issues except where the scripture speaks with abundant clarity.\u00a0 Since the Bible does not hand us a clear small-government political philosophy, the Church can stand for relevant general principles \u2014 that each side should speak fairly and charitably and honestly, and that all should seek to care for the least of these \u2014 it should not stand for small-government or big-government solutions.\u00a0 Some conservative Christians believe that small government is <\/em>a biblical principle.\u00a0 Some believe that big-government solutions are biblically mandated.\u00a0 Perhaps someday I will be convinced by one or the other.\u00a0 Today, I disagree with both.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"