Christians and Political Parties
Issue 12 *** July 2022
To be able to preserve freedom of worship in America, it is important that Christians take part in the political arena. At the very least, Christians must exercise their right to vote every available opportunity. Whether the election is local, state, or national, Christians must vote. Since in this country voters choose most candidates through primary elections, Christians must take part in these elections. To take part in primary elections believers must choose a political party at a point in the voting process. The timing of the choice depends upon state laws.
In their election reporting, the media identifies voters by political party affiliation. Throughout the country’s history there have been a substantial number of parties to surface for a variety of reasons. Parties often spring up around niche issues, but except for a very few they have little or no lasting success. Even though a host of parties continue to exist, today five active parties have successfully elected officials to a major office or have in recent years had elected office holders. Of those five only two have substantial nationwide influence on elections.
The two political parties with dominant national influence are the Democrat Party and the Republican Party. The other three parties having limited success are the Libertarian Party, the Green Party, and the American Independent Party. All five of these parties have put forth candidates for national and state positions over the past seventy-five years. The following chart uses the Political Spectrum Chart from the June issue of The Intersection of Faith and Culture to illustrate the parties’ political positions.
Note the placement of the parties on the Political Spectrum chart was this writer’s opinion of where the parties stand in 2022. The Democrat and Republican parties have shifted more leftward over the past century. The Democrat Party seventy-five years ago would have spanned a much wider section on the Political Spectrum. In fact, people organized the American Independent Party in 1967 in reaction to what they considered to be a leftward drift by the Democrats, and at the time the new party pulled many conservatives out of the Democrat Party. About that same time the Republican Party drifted from a moderate party to a more conservative position; however, Republicans have since drifted back toward the center.
There is another group of voters that are a substantial bloc of the electorate; however, this group has not organized into an operational political party. Since unaffiliated independent voters are unorganized, they do not appear on the chart, but these voters currently fall in the moderate range along the political spectrum (Moderate Liberal to Moderate Conservative). Though not organized this is an especially important part of the electorate who have a major impact on elections; therefore, the democrats and republicans spend a great deal of resources courting this independent bloc. In most states this unaffiliated bloc cannot participate in primary elections.
No political party in America aligns perfectly with Christian thought. Usually, one of the parties will be more in line with Christian thinking than the others. A survey report released June 17, 2022, by Gallup reported respondents’ answers to whether they believed in God (simply God not Jesus Christ). The survey revealed that 92% of Republicans, 81% of Independents, and 72% of Democrats responded affirmatively. Even so, Christians ought to think of themselves as independent voters and carefully examine all parties’ platforms (statements of positions) before formally aligning themselves with a specific party.
States approach the idea of party affiliation differently. In some states, laws make you choose a party or declare yourself as an independent at the time of voter registration while in other states you are not asked for a party designation at the time of registration. In the latter states you make your party decision at the time of a primary election. Georgia is a state that registers voters with no party affiliation. At the time of a primary, registered voters in Georgia can choose in which primary they would like to vote. For instance, in one primary election they can vote as democrats and in the next as republicans. Georgia’s neighbor to the south, Florida, requires at the time of voter registration either a party designation or declaration as an independent. When the time of a primary arrives in Florida, voters must vote in the primary of the party they designated at the time of registration.
Most political parties prefer a system like Florida’s over Georgia’s; however, Christians can more easily think of themselves as independents in a system like Georgia’s and still participate in primary elections. The systems in place are set up by state laws with little chance of legislatures completely overhauling their systems. As a result, Christians are bound by those laws; therefore, they must navigate the laws of their own states.
In full disclosure, I lived in Georgia for years, I considered myself an independent, and voted in the party primary of my choice at the time of the election. I now live in Florida and registered by choosing a party so that I can take part in the primary process. In both Georgia and Florida, even though I vote in a particular party’s primary, I have always thought and continue to think of myself as an independent at the time of a general election. In my opinion, the issues are more important than the parties or the candidates.
Regardless of a state’s system, Christians must avoid overly identifying with a particular political party. This should be the case even if they must choose a party at the time of voter registration. Party loyalists always vote for their party and are committed to doing so until their deaths. Christians should be loyal to issues that promote Christian causes. Parties are about power and money. The parties’ purposes are rooted in an earthly kingdom in which they have control or want to gain control. Political parties are easily swayed by what they believe will gain the greater number of votes. Political parties have and will in the future switch positions on issues if they believe through doing so, they can garner more support.
Since parties are power brokers, it is in the interests of all citizens that multiple parties exist. At times it might seem like the party battles grid lock the process and hinder progress toward meeting the nation’s needs; however, often the party power struggles protect the nation from drifting too far to the extremes on the Political Spectrum.
No political party nor candidate should ever be able to assume they have Christians’ votes locked. Christians when they vote must decide on the lesser of evils in parties and in candidates. Christians should remember their primary allegiance is to God and His Word; therefore, decisions as to party and candidates must center on whether the party/candidate will in fact support issues that will ensure the Christians freedom to worship and serve God.
Any influence Christians have in the political world is the result of the unity of Christians on issues that matter to them and the Christians’ willingness to vote for candidates that support those issues. The only focus of political parties has been votes they can count for their candidates. Christians must clearly communicate their issues to the parties and back those issues important to Christians by voting for the parties and candidates that most support Christian values. This author’s new book entitled Counterculture Evangelical Issues in the New Millennium discusses issues from a Christian perspective. The book can be found through the links at this website.
Note when dealing with political parties and candidates, they often will include issues supported by constituents in their talking points or platforms but ignore them completely once in power. For this reason, Christians must stay active in the political process. They must exert their influence prior to an election, during an election, and following an election throughout the candidates’ time in office.
The news media often references populists’ groups when reporting on elections and the populists’ impact on the elections. Populism is not a political party, but a movement that takes root within a party. Populists can be conservatives, liberals, or even political radicals. Populists rally around issues important to them they believe neglected by the mainline leadership in the parties. They then work to force the parties to recognize and focus on their issues.
Often populist groups coexist in the dominant parties, and they are large enough voting blocs the parties must listen to their concerns. This was the case in the 2020 presidential election where a moderate-conservative populists’ faction existed within the Republican Party and a democratic-socialists’ faction within the Democrat Party. As a result of these factions, the two national parties’ leaders adjusted party platforms to accommodate the populists’ ideas.
Should the parties not adjust to populists’ movements there is always a threat of the bloc leaving the primary party to form a third or alternate main party. This happened twice in the last seventy-five years causing the parties from which the group split to lose the elections. The primary parties, fearing populists’ groups, are prone to make accommodations for large, well-organized populists’ movements.
Whether evangelical Christians should get involved in populists’ movements is a matter of conscience. Christians must examine the issues and techniques set forth by the group to decide whether their involvement would honor God. It is worth noting evangelical Christians are a formidable voting bloc themselves, and they can certainly have an impact on a political party. Christians have exerted enough influence to cause the current Republican Party to embrace a pro-life stance in their national platform. The importance of evangelicals’ influence on the Republican Party was clearly visible in the recent Supreme Court ruling concerning abortion.
Another force in American elections are the thousands of political action committees (PACs) that now exist. Special interest groups organize PACs to raise and spend millions of dollars to either elect candidates that support their agendas or oppose candidates who oppose their agendas. PACs also support or oppose ballot initiatives on a local, state, or national level. Federal and state election laws regulate PACs and Super-PACs, but the organizations exhibit a heavy influence on the nation’s elections. Individuals, candidates, labor unions, trade organizations, and the political parties can set up PACs.
Currently the Faith and Freedom Coalition is a conservative organization set up to provide “Christians a voice in government.” Dr. Ralph Reed organized The Faith and Freedom Coalition as a 501 (c) (4) nonprofit and not as a PAC. The Faith and Freedom Coalition does donate funds to various PACs. It focuses on “get-out-to-vote” efforts throughout the country. In full disclosure, because I believe Christians must vote I have given extremely limited donations to this group. What Christians do in respect to political financial gifts should be up to their individual consciences and finances.
Be aware that once you give to any political group, your mailboxes will begin to fill with requests for funds from other political groups and candidates. Christians should not allow politicians to intimidate them into providing monetary donations. Reject outright those who oppose Christian principles. The best advice concerning political donations is to seek God through prayer before giving to any organization outside your local church or denomination.
The political world is truly of this world, and Christians must take care not to become overly entangled. However, the current political world is the protector of the freedoms that allow Christians to worship and serve God in America. If Christians neglect politics, those rights will certainly disappear. It is imperative that Christians support political candidates that support the issues important to believers. Christians need to get into the political waters but remain in the shallows since as the waters get deeper the sharks get bigger.
The purpose of The Intersection of Faith and Culture is to bring forward issues affecting Christians in the United States that a conversation might begin to help preserve the right to worship and glorify our Lord.
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In Coming Issues (no certain order):
“Christians and the Green New World”
“Christians in a Woke World”
“Christians and the First Amendment”
“Christians: Nationalism vs. Globalism”
“Christians: Prolife vs. the Right to Choose”
“Christians on Marriage”
“Christians on Gender Identity”