:: in.a.mirror.dimly ::

The selection of Evangelical Christian Sarah Palin as the Republican nominee for Vice President and the Saddleback church’s forum with McCain and Obama are evidence that Evangelical Christians are being aggressively courted once again for an election.

Mixing religion and politics can no doubt be toxic, and I’m very aware that I’m walking straight into a minefield where beliefs are passionate and opposing sides can be fairly divisive. So why even mess with this?

Here’s the thing, I think Christians can do better—both those voting Republican and Democrat. While we all hold certain values and beliefs above others and can debate which are most important, I believe Christians have an opportunity in this election to work on bridging some gaps and working on some common goals across party lines. Here’s how.

First of all, Christians don’t have to look at politics for common ground. Instead, we have a shared faith in the Gospel message that God the Father sent Jesus to earth for our salvation and the Holy Spirit continues to bring that new life. No need for a party platform, just a creed or two and we’re basically on the same page—even if we have plenty of other pages to argue over.

Now, if we have some basic unity on the major theological points, it should be no sweat to work through our differences in the political sphere. Right? Well, that’s not quite what has been happening.

So here’s my radical proposal for Christians—and anyone else for that matter, but Christians really shouldn’t pass on this. If you’re a Democrat, pick an issue and spend some time trying to think about that issue like a Republican. Republicans, do the same thing. Try to think of it in the most charitable light possible, trusting that those of opposing viewpoints may not be vile sub-humans bent on destroying America and the world as we know it.

In other words, Democrats are not necessarily blood-thirsty murderers of children and Republicans are not necessarily bent on polluting our world until it combusts into a fireball. Are we starting to understand the other side a little more new? Good. We’re making progress.

If we can do this, perhaps we may end up seeing those on the other side as honest Americans who are just trying to make the best decisions for their country. No one political party has a corner of morals, God, or doing “good” (as opposed to evil-doers).

Just as it is offensive to insinuate that one part of the nation is more American than another, it is also reprehensible to align Christianity with one political party, be it the party that wants to end abortion or the party that wants to end global warming, poverty and hunger. Both parties have turned blind eyes to injustice and moral wrongs, while both have their strengths.

As voters and as Christians, we face the difficult task of determining which issues take precedence when determining who receives our votes. This is rarely a black and white matter, and the moment we make it, I fear we have united the Kingdom of God with a political agenda. It is my prayer this election year that God’s Kingdom influences our votes, but is never made subservient to a political party.