Sojourners: Christians for Justice and Peace

Here is an excellent article from an awesome magazineSojourners: Christians for Justice and Peace

Christian in the middle
by Linda Mele
Apparently, the only friends I have who are comfortable sending me bulk e-mails are conservative Christian Republicans. In this election year, I have received countless right-leaning e-mails that have contained long lists of the sins of Democrats without acknowledging that Republicans, too, have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. I was dismayed at the un-Christlike nature of the e-mails, but more dismayed that people I know, love, and respect thought I would find them amusing, fair, or enlightening.

I am Christian and I am nonpartisan, because I believe God is nonpartisan. Therefore, I had assumed that my centrist views would have allowed me to cultivate a diverse group of friends from across the political spectrum, but I was wrong. I spend a lot of time in Christian worship and in Christian activities, and therefore have acquired a preponderance of Christian friends who are statistically more likely to be conservative Republicans than anything else. Therefore, people - even people who know me well - assume I am a conservative Republican, too.

Why is this? Why does the whole society, Christian and non-Christian, assume that an active, devout Christian must espouse the party doctrine of the GOP in all circumstances? If Jesus returned to earth, would he necessarily be a Republican, join the NRA, lobby for pro-business interests and looser environmental laws, and then go duck hunting with Dick Cheney to celebrate victory on all of the above? And if we're supposed to support George W. Bush because he shares our faith, then what of Jimmy Carter? Shouldn't we also have been a big supporter of his? When did Christians cut an exclusive deal with the Republican Party? I must have missed the memo.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not in love with the Democratic Party either. I am troubled by the morals and logic that give us "Save the Whales," "Save the Rainforest," "Save the Guy on Death Row," but go ahead and kill the unborn child. They support life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness gained at the expense of another life, masked with smug confidence in a contradictory value system. Adding to my consternation is that the mere expression of my opinion that there is a moral imperative on the question of abortion results in my being labeled intolerant. Liberal Democrats claim to be the sole arbiters of tolerance. Yet if you are not for them, you are against them. You are "anti-abortion," not "pro-life." Claiming that people who don't agree with you are your enemies is the precise definition of intolerance. But be careful about breaking this news to liberal Democrats. If they learn that they are equally as intolerant as conservative Republicans, it will cause a rift in their self-image, and they will implode the next time they look in a mirror.

As a Christian in the middle, I find myself blazing my own trail through the political scene, using only my faith as a guide. My faith tells me that Jesus would want to save everyone and everything. Saving is important to him. It's a Messiah thing. The unborn child who has the potential to live, the murderer who has the potential to repent, the things in nature that represent the Eden that God made for us and will give us again. All of these, he wants to save. Sometimes people are saved through love and compassion. Sometimes they are saved through tough consequences for wrong choices. I believe the compassion of the left and the morals of the right are not mutually exclusive and have already been shown to exist together in one great life, that of Jesus Christ. He is the divine Centrist, the alpha and the omega, at once liberal and conservative. He gives to us while he demands from us, his grace for our faith. He has great plans for us, but he expects great things from us as well. This is what I try to model in my own life.

But clearly I'm not doing a very good job of it, because many people are under the impression that I am on one side, a political side, that takes preference over spiritual issues. I am troubled by the label. I do not think my life reflects the label. But yet, I am branded.

I am not a Democrat. And I am not a Republican. I am a Christian, and I belong to the Party of God.

Linda Mele is a construction manager for nonprofit organizations and churches, and is an active member of Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in Torrance, California, where she lives with her husband, Stephen, and two daughters, Emma and Laura.