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Using the Church for Partisan
Politics: Pastors and Politicians, Beware
By Dr. Lewis Akpogena
Newsdiaryonline Sun Feb 13,2011
Related Articles:
How to engage
in Politics without losing your Soul
Political
prayers and politicking
What really happens when religion and politics mix?
It is not the mixing of
religion with politics that is problem but the proper
application of each within contemporary contexts by
practitioners that create problems.
For there is politics in
religion and religion in politics. Pastors and leaders of
Christian bodies
getting involved in extreme politicking and using Church pulpits
to endorse candidates
or political parties have cause image/integrity and
reproach to the body of Christ thereby impeding the impact of
the kingdom of God on earth. Many churches, marriages of pastors
and many have backslidden as result. In some cases erstwhile
friends have become foes. Unhealthy rivalry has become the order
of the day because pastors want to outwit one another to get
politicians and leaders of government over to their side.
Politicians and officials of government have realized the
electoral value of the church dictum politics is game of number
are falling over to get these religious bodies and
pastors/prophets to endorse them. This problem is all over
wherever the church or Christians become partisan in their
activities. Take
for instance, United
State of America, the problem have made
Congress to make series of amendment to their Constitution and
electoral laws in an effort to separate state and religion. In
spite of the various laws the Church in American is still victim
to this crisis that has bedeviled the Church.
Hear the view of
Tony Campolo,
Founder
of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education on
this:
“Those on the political left have been appalled as the Christian
Coalition passed out, in Evangelical churches, millions of voter
guides that lent obvious endorsements to candidates of the
Republican Party. During this last election, there was further
outrage among liberal Democrats when members of the Evangelical
clergy organized to overtly promote the election of Republicans
to Congress. There were cries of protest from those on the left
who claimed that such partisan politics violated the
constitutional principle of separation of church and state.
However the courts finally interpret the first amendment of the
Constitution, there is little question that endorsing parties or
candidates from the pulpit violates our election laws. To do so
should lead to those churches losing their tax-exempt status.
But what my friends on the political left fail to acknowledge is
that the same kind of violations have been going on for years in
African-American churches from one end of this country to the
other. Every election season, Democratic candidates file into
African-American churches and are introduced to the
congregations of these churches as friends of the pastors. And,
even if the pastors of these churches never officially endorse
these candidates, everyone knows what is going on. But it is not
only African-American churches that are guilty of such openly
partisan politics. There are white churches which are getting
caught up in the same sort of practices. I personally know of a
church where most of the members are anti-Bush, which during a
worship service invited members to sign a petition demanding his
resignation.”
“It is time for all of us to call upon the Election Commission
to take action and put an end to any kind of partisan politics
by churches, mosques, or synagogues. And it is time for us to
name the hypocrisy of the Left in complaining about how the
Religious Right is violating the first amendment while turning a
blind eye to their own candidates' use of churches as places to
campaign. The time to act is now, because there is mounting
pressure to get Congress to change the law so that campaigning
and fundraising in religious communities be made legal. A strong
case can be made for religious leaders to speak out on political
issues. No one wants to deny pro-life congregations, such as
Roman Catholic churches and the majority of Evangelical
churches, the right to have sermons on the sanctity of life. All
of those who follow the teachings of the New Testament, the
Hebrew Bible, and the Koran, have a responsibility to articulate
in houses of worship what these sacred scriptures have to say
about our responsibility to the poor--both individually and as a
nation. To live out their prophetic responsibilities, it is
essential for members of the clergy to decry the outrageous
happenings in such places as Darfur, and even to explain what
they believe God is leading them to say about the war in Iraq. But
when the clergy start
telling their members how to vote or putting out voter guides
that overtly make one political party the incarnation of evil
and the other the "God" party, something has gone wrong in the
land. Such clergy members and their churches should be made to
suffer the consequences of such actions”
How would you feel mixing religion with politics? Hear some
views from other places: “So what of team Jesus? Well, according
to a post-election survey conducted by Public Opinion
Strategies, white evangelical Christians were the largest bloc
of voters in 2010, totaling 30 percent of those who pulled the
lever. Predictably, they broke for Republicans by a count of
nearly 4-1. This providing the GOP with exaggerated results in
the South and Midwest. Ralph
Reed, founder and Chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition
i.e. praise baby Jesus, said: “People of faith turned out in
the highest numbers in a midterm election we have ever seen. And
they made an invaluable contribution to the historic results,
including the election of a Republican majority in the House and
significant gains in
U.S.
Senate seats, governorships, and hundreds of state legislative
seats and local offices.” It’s even more concerning when a
former U.S President, Jimmy Carter, who also happens to be a
Baptist preacher and was never shy to evangelize the gospel to
foreign leaders, steps forward to comment on the growing
influence of his beloved Christ in U.S politics: “There is
now an excessive melding of religion and politics. It began with
the Southern Baptist Convention and it’s now metastasized to
other religions, where an actual affiliation between the
denomination and the more conservative elements of the
Republican Party is almost official. There are pastors openly
calling for members to vote a certain way. That’s a serious
breakdown in the principle of separation of church and state.”
On “Political
Speech and the Churches”:
“The so-called "Houses of Worship Political Speech Protection
Act" (H.R. 2357) has been introduced in the U.S. House of
Representatives. It would allow religious groups to use up to
20% of their budgets for partisan political activities. The bill
was drafted by Pat Robertson's American Center
for Law and Justice. It's also supported by other leaders of the
Religious Right, including Jerry Farwell, D. James Kennedy,
James Dobson, and Tim LaHaye. It quickly attracted 116
cosponsors in the House. But most religious organizations have
come out against the bill. Among them are the National Council
of Churches, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of
America, the Islamic Supreme Council of America, and Soka Gakkai
International (a Buddhist association). Those groups recognize
that the Religious Right is using distortions and scare-tactics
to promote the bill. They also realize the bill's enactment
would harm both religion and government. The Religious Right
claims that passage of the bill is necessary to allow churches
the right to speak on moral, social, and political issues
without fear of losing their tax exemption. The hyperbolic
Kennedy is touting the bill with fliers depicting ministers as
gagged and the IRS as shuttering their churches. But under the
current law, churches are free to speak on moral, social, and
political issues. Anyone who watches television or reads
newspapers knows they often do. And the example of Martin Luther
King Jr. shows that addressing these issues with moral suasion
can be more effective than political power-brokering. What the
law forbids churches from doing is endorsing or opposing
candidates, and using church resources for political purposes.
Churches are given tax-exempt status because they are expected
to do charitable work, not engage in partisan politicking. If a
church wants to endorse candidates or otherwise become involved
in partisan politics, it's free to do so. All it has to do is
give up its tax exemption and form a political committee, the
same as other organizations. (A few religious groups have gone
this route.) Also under the present law, ministers and church
members can participate in partisan politics. They simply have
to do so in their individual capacities, and not by representing
a church or using church property or auspices. And churches may
perform neutral civic functions in connection with partisan
political campaigns. These include sponsoring debates between
candidates, conducting voter registration drives, and arranging
rides to the polls for voters. The Religious Right complains
that the current law has been enforced arbitrarily against
conservative churches. But in 1988, when presidential candidate
Jesse Jackson announced he would raise campaign funds in
churches during Sunday services, he was forced to abandon the
idea after objections were raised that he would be violating
federal law.”
“And
in 2000, the IRS visited a minister in New York City after
receiving complaints that he had endorsed Al Gore from the
pulpit. The agency reminded him of the law and asked that he
sign a statement promising to abide by it. He signed. It's true
that a church lost its tax-exempt status after running a
full-page newspaper ad against Bill Clinton in 1992. The ad
proclaimed that voting for
Clinton
was a "sin." The purpose of this flagrant violation was probably
to test whether the IRS would enforce the law against churches.
The agency did. And the church lost its appeal in court. If the
bill is enacted, politically active churches would become
conduits for campaign contributions. The money would be sent to
churches to take advantage of their tax-exempt status, and the
churches would then pass the funds along to support candidates.
Such schemes are attractive to leaders of the Religious Right,
who despise church-state separation and seem more interested in
politics than religion. But because churches don't have a duty
to disclose contributions the way PACs and candidates do, this
practice would wreak havoc on the campaign finance laws.
Moreover, the need to decide political matters could divide and
weaken congregations. They would have to determine whether their
church should become involved in politics. If a decision is made
to do so, they would then have to choose which candidates and
parties to endorse, how much support to provide, and what form
it should take. Most church members were brought together
because of agreement on religious or philosophical views, not
political ideology. As a result, a church's membership normally
consists of persons from a variety of political parties and
philosophies. The need to make decisions on political issues
would splinter some churches. Religious involvement in politics
could also set the churches against each other and against other
segments of society. It's chilling to envision people running
for office as Baptist-backed candidates, Catholic-backed
candidates, etc. Similar religious divisions have torn societies
apart in disputes over whose religion would govern the country.
Some ministers oppose the bill because they think the time and
energy spent on political matters would detract attention from
the true purposes of religion. They see this as a violation of
Christ's commandment to "Render to Caesar the things that are
Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." (Mark 12:17)
Additionally, political campaigns are often vicious,
win-at-all-costs battles in which truth, ethics, and civility
are among the casualties. There's a danger that if churches
become involved in partisan politics, they will lose dignity and
respect in the eyes of the public. When the mud starts flying in
the political arena, some of it will land on politically active
churches. Further, it's not in the best interest of religion for
the government to transform ministers into political bosses, and
churches into PACs and money-laundering operations for
politicians. Religion should strive to be above those levels.
Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for
Separation of Church and State (www.au.org),
testified against the bill before a congressional subcommittee.
He said it "would scrap a time-tested system and substitute a
reckless experiment in mixing religion and partisan politics."
Lynn, who is also a United Church of Christ minister, predicted
the result would be "the corruption of the church and the
political process." Keeping church and state separate is the
sensible and mutually beneficial course on this issue.
From
Zambia
come these comments: “THE
House of Chiefs has advised some biased clerics to be objective
and stop engaging in partisan politics and misleading
people. Chairperson of the House of Chiefs, Chief Madzimawe said
some clerics had gone astray and were misleading people by
ignoring their roles as Christian leaders. Chief Madzimawe of
the Ngoni people of Chipata District in
Eastern
Province said in an
interview yesterday that it was clear that some clerics had
forgotten about their role of promoting reconciliation, unity
and peace in the country, but were now actively sowing a seed of
hatred and disunity. He warned that clerics that were partisan
and actively sowing a seed of hatred and disunity in the country
would be held responsible for their actions, if they set the
country ablaze because of their selfish ambitions. “Partisan
politics are not encouraged in Church because within the Church,
there are people who belong to different political parties, but
it is sad to find that some clergymen are busy sowing a seed of
hatred, disunity and enmity within the church by preaching
partisan politics. “To say the truth, the stance taken by some
of these clergymen to engage in partisan politics is dangerous
and can set the country ablaze. This is why they need to be
reminded that they should go back to the drawing board and look
at the guidelines that guide them so that they know the dos and
don’ts,” Chief Madzimawe said.
Chief Madzimawe urged Zambians to ignore both clergymen and
politicians trying to create division in the country because Zambia has always enjoyed peace,
harmony and unity since independence.
He said Zambians should not allow any body to disturb the peace
that the country had been enjoying from independence because
peace was a pre-requisite for achieving economic recovery and
national development. Chief Madzimawe also cautioned Zambians to
be wary of the emerging politics of tribalism and regionalism
because it could divide the nation.
In this era of political instability and political induced
violence, there is also proliferation of praying groups with
political undertone. Is like every politician or elected
Government officer take pleasure to raise such group. And many
Christian leaders are mobilizing prayer support groups for
politicians and governments. Good, but my quarrel is the motive
and the practice of using these prayer groups to curry favour
and seek attention of politicians and Government. The abuse is
that these prayer groups have politicize prayers that it is more
of publicity and praise singing of Government and politicians in
the media than agonizing in
prayer for violent free state and prosperity of our
people. Priest Pastors and prophets helped ministers to enthrone
rulers in the Bible but were never running around
rulers/government officers for attention. If Christian leaders
conduct themselves very well these politicians and rulers would
seek for our counsel and prayers to rule well without unduly
advertising ourselves to them. We should not lower the dignity
of our calling and offices because we need government help to do
ministry work.
Let us learn from history as recorded by Joel C. Hunter in
“Prayer, Politics & Power” of what happened in
America
about Christian’s involvement in politics. “God used political
leadership for people who were given His law. It was appropriate
for Israel’s
maturing process, just as rules and parental force are
appropriate for your children. The Scripture clearly states,
though that God was preparing them for another form of
government … (see Jer. 31: 31, 33). The New Testament does speak
to the issue of Christians and government. We are to respect the
external government, “let everyone be in subjection to the
governing authorities” (Rom. 13: 1). We
are to cooperate and give our civil duty its due:
“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” (Mark 12:
17). We are to do such to aid our witness, our influence for
Christ. First Peter 2: 12-17 is quite clear about our obeying
government so that others will see no wrong and “glorify God”.
But there is no implication in the New Testament that political
reform, be a major part of our Christian strategy to share
Christ with the world” “There was a time when strong political
leadership was appropriate in the journey of God’s people.
However, we cannot justifiably transfer that method of operation
to the present, the New Testament calls us to grow up in our
political style… the point to be made here is that it is not any
great leader’s responsibility to solve the Christians’ problems.
Though leaders were appointed for order in the Church (I Tim.
3), no passage in the New Testament encourages Christians to
appoint for themselves a political leader. The leader Christ
gives to us to help us speak our cause to the world is the Holy
Spirit (John 16: 13), not a fallible, flesh-and-blood political
leader. The bible makes it clear that we are not to put too much
faith in political leaders (see Ps. 146: 3)”. If we refused to
learn from history it is bad.
From Church history we learned that when the organized
Rome Churches set aside the leadership of the Holy Spirit after
the departure of the early disciples/apostles, the organized
Church in Rome
started priesthood of titles and parishes after the political
order of dioceses and same authoritarian state control of
Churches. When the Churches then began to seek political
recognition and backing, the State began to dictate to the
Church leadership then; the result was that the Church could no
longer be light or give direction to the State that led to the
dark ages. (Read, “The Church Politicized” in World
History and Cultures” by George T. Thompson and Laurel Elizabeth
Hicks, pp. 121-122).
Priest, Pastors and Bishops taking to the extreme partisan
politicking has affected our corporate image, destroyed some
ministries/churches and led to some great servants of God to
backslide in the past. Politicians like to take advantage of
Pastors/churches’ needs to come around during elections to
induce pastors/churches support to vote them to office. Ask
before elections how many of these politicians attend church
discipleship and training programmes? How many of them join
other worshippers to pray for the betterment of the electorates?
How many of the have visited and support small churches/pastors?
What all these politicians are doing is gimmick not sincere
commitment to the Lord. Pastors must be careful not to reduce
our honour as God’s chosen servants by taking any political
position that undermines our calling and reputation. Pastors
know that you don’t need the vote of any politician or any body
to sustain your priesthood and ministry. Politicians must be
careful not to induce support of the pastors/churches in
whatever guise. It is God that enthrones neither pastors nor
churches can.(Ps.75:6-7, Dan.2:20-21).
Read my article on “How to engage in Politics without losing
your Soul”. Here are some excerpts suggestions: “Christians
must never allow ourselves to equate the biblical
Kingdom
of God with
any human political party or nation (John 18:36; Isaiah 9:7;
Matthew 6:33, Philippians 3:20, Revelation 11:15). As Christians
we must be diligent in maintaining and preserving the
distinctiveness between the Kingdom of God
and the kingdoms of this world. Christians must never allow
ourselves to elevate a specific politician to a messianic or
savior status (1 Peter 3:15). In our entertainment and celebrity
culture, it is becoming more common for people to infuse
politicians with almost a messianic or savior status. In other
words, people begin to believe a politician’s extraordinary
promises and that they actually can single-handedly produce
almost supernatural social results. As Christians, we have one
Lord, and we must resist all attempts to exalt any human
politician to unrealistic heights. Christians must not just
vote, but more importantly, we must pray for our government and
the leaders of all political parties (Matthew 5:44, 1 Timothy
2:1-2). In our polarized political society, many Christians are
tempted to bless the politician or political party they support,
and curse the other one they don’t. How unbiblical! The Bible is
clear, we are to pray for all political and government leaders,
even our political enemies. Christians must never allow
ourselves to bring the divisiveness and polarization of
political parties into the church, the family of God (Romans
16:17, 1 Corinthians 1:11-12). We cannot allow partisan politics
to divide the body of Christ. Individual Christians have freedom
of conscience before God and the Bible, and as a result, we must
accept the fact that there will be diversity of political
opinions in the church. We must never allow diverse political
perspectives cause conflict and divisions in the church.
Christians must never allow ourselves to demonize or dehumanize
another person – no matter what politician it is – because every
single human has been created in the image of God (Colossians
3:8, Matthew 7:1, James 4:12). Christians must not engage in
demeaning and judging other people, no matter whether we agree
with them politically or not.
Christians must never engage in angry confrontational arguments,
instead of being open to learn through civil debate and dialogue
(James 1:20, Philippians 2:14-16, 2 Timothy 2:14). When we
interact with other people with hard-core dogmatic positions, we
demonstrate an ugly pride that demeans the character of Christ.
As Christians we must humble ourselves, understand that as
humans we are limited in our understanding, and that we all can
learn more about the very complex issues that face our nation.
Christians must always engage in politics through a path of
reason and civility. Christians must never allow ourselves to
become so intertwined so closely with one political party that
we forfeit our independent identity as followers of Christ. When
we do, we lose the prophetic voice to speak and clarify biblical
truth to all politicians and political parties (1 Timothy 3:15,
Ephesians 4:15, Romans 3:4). Christians must never allow
ourselves to engage in partisan politics by supporting
divisiveness between races, between male and female, between
rich and poor, and between the young and old (Matthew 5:9, 2
Corinthians 5:18-19). Electoral politics is all about dividing
society into specific voting blocks. And as a result, politics
usually divides our society, instead of uniting it. Christians
must always function as peacemakers and reconcilers in the
public square, and resist every temptation to join the political
tactics of dividing people for political gain. Christians must
not allow ourselves to fall into the trap of simply cursing the
darkness through negativity, instead of constructively engaging
our world as preserving salt and illuminating light (Matthew
5:13-16). The cultural and missionary mandate of kingdom
Christians requires us to stop cursing the darkness and start
lighting more candles that reflects God’s truth, compassion, and
love.
Have question, you may call: 08055059656 or write:
akpogena@yahoo.com
Stay blessed.
Dr.
Lewis Akpogena
is a Christian Devotionals Writer, Educationist and consultant
write from Port Harcourt.
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