A New Option

When I was old enough to understand the most general political ideas, I was confused by the fact that Christians were always Republicans. According to my understanding of the separations of the two parties, the Democratic party seemed to have more ideals that lined up with my understanding of God and faith.

For example: I understood Republicans as liking war, capital punishment, guns and big business. I understood them to not like abortion and not like the environment. I understood Democrats to like abortion and like the environment, care about the poor and dislike capital punishment, war and guns.

I understood God as caring for His world (environment) and people. So it seemed to me that politically God would care about the environment and helping poor people and he would not like war, capital punishment, guns and abortion because they all kill people.

I was always glad when my mom said she didn't really consider herself a Republican or a Democrat. It made sense to me to be more in the center.

Now that I'm older, my understanding of politics is a little bit deeper and I still feel conflicted. During this last presidential election I was one of those "undecided" people that the media acted like was so stupid. I understood that the candidates were very different. Some of what Bush said made sense to me and some of what Kerry said made sense to me.

The truth is there is no real option that fits how I see my faith relating to politics. There needs to be an option that doesn't fall to either of the extremes. In his book, God's Politics, Jim Wallis gave a beautiful description of a much needed option. When I think about politics, if this candidate were an option, he or she would have my vote. This option is....

"...traditional or conservative on issues of family values, sexual integrity and personal responsibility, while being very progressive, populist or even radical on issues like poverty and racial justice. It affirms good stewardship of the earth and its resources, supports gender equality, and is more internationally minded than nationalist - looking first to peacemaking and conflict resolution when it comes to foreign policy questions. The people it appeals to...are very strong on issues like marriage, raising kids, and individual ethics, but without being right-wing, reactionary, or mean-spirited or scapegoating against any group of people, such as homosexuals. They can be pro-life, pro-family and pro-feminist, all at the same time. They think issues of "moral character" are very important, both in a politician's personal life and in his or her policy choices. Yet they are decidedly pro-poor, for racial reconciliation, critical of purely military solutions, and defenders of the environment. At the heart of the fourth option is the integral link between personal ethics and social justice. And it appeals to people who refuse to make the choice between the two."

- Jim Wallis, "God's Politics"