Why My Christianity Makes Me Lean Left

In doing my verse-searching for the previous post, I came across this site: http://www.zompist.com/meetthepoor.html. The author puts it this way:

The Bible on the Poor, or, Why God is a liberal

The Bible contains more than 300 verses on the poor, social justice, and God's deep concern for both. This page contains a wide sample of them, and some reflections. It's aimed at anyone who takes the Bible seriously.

As you read these passages, you will very likely feel a good deal of resistance (possibly at first manifesting itself as indifference). American churches have departed strongly from Biblical values in these areas, and even created a rationalization-- "prosperity theology"-- for rejecting them. It takes time and reflection to get past this misteaching.

But try to get past the resistance. Spiritual growth doesn't come from what goes down easily, or what we like to hear and read. It comes from what's different, and even difficult.

To add to this well-put sentiment, from my reading of the Bible, God talks a whole lot more about helping each other tangibly than about abortion or gay marriage, the things that currently make the mainstream American Christian church apoplectic. I just can't imagine that denying health care to everyone regardless of status, taking care of the environment, fighting racism and any institutionalized inequality wouldn't be at the top of a Christian's priority list.

My dear friend Emily is the Christian I respect most, for being a living example of being an active yet thoughtful member of her religious community and drawing a very reasonable boundary between her religious beliefs and how they ought to impact all Americans politically. For example, she believes the Bible is very clear about homosexuality as a sin, but doesn't believe that gives her or the church the right to oppose gay marriage as a right. While I personally choose to read those verses as more contextual than literal, I support her argument because it's built on logic, study, discussion, and a belief that all people are inherently equal. By the way, Emily and her church spend their extra money and energy helping the less fortunate, not battling Prop 8. If our country had more churches like that I think we'd be much better off.

To me, Christian (and "family") values are tolerance, feeding the hungry, taking care of the sick and less fortunate, listening to and hanging out with those who are not like you, not placing your value on material things, sharing, compassion, treating others better than you want to be treated, humility, and donating your money, time, and talent in accordance with what you've been given. To me, it's pretty obvious that these values more closely align with the initiatives backed by the left and our Democrat elected officials. Pretty simple, really.


(For more on the effort by some in my generation to make Christianity relevant, sincere, and less manipulated by politics, I highly suggest the writings of Donald Miller, especially his book "Blue Like Jazz." He's kinda like the CS Lewis of Portland, well worth a look. Whoa, now that I'm seeing he's way hotter than I pictured him, definitely worth a look.)