American Christian

As an individual Christian and an American I can simultaneously love my country and dislike the way my fellow citizens conduct their lives. I can care for the country I love and still mourn that our leaders and the voters are making bad, even immoral decisions. While I salute the flag [ I am one of the few people who actually sings the national anthem before a ball game], I can argue that the President is wrongheaded and is destroying the county of my birth.

I deplore our un-Christlike foreign policy, our economic policies that prefer the rich and our environmental policies that ruin God’s earth. I come to these views after 62 years of worship in God’s church and nearly as many years of Bible reading and study.

As a priest of the church there are some restrictions on what I can say about politics whether I am speaking for the church in the community or preaching the Gospel on a Sunday morning.
1. I may not suggest that God prefers the country I love. I may not say that God prefers one political movement or party over another....except..... Are there times when as priest and spokesperson for the church I should say to my people - “This candidate works for action that Christians should not support” “This political movement is leading us in immoral directions” May I ever say, “This policy is in opposition to the heart of the Gospel?” No doubt there are preachers who do that. They are usually ‘conservatives’ who oppose abortion and homosexuality.

Is there a place/time when Christian leaders may and should tell their people and the larger culture, “This war is wrong.” “These tax cuts hurt the working poor.” “Our relationships with other countries violate Gods’ law.”