Right, Left, Democrat, Republican and Christianity

So we have two major political parties here in America. All issues, therefore, have been polarized. It's either right or left, and there can be no agreement between the two. Even on the subject of murder, there is no agreement. One party feels it's perfectly ok to kill babies, but not hardened criminals. The other group think's it's perfectly acceptable to kill someone who may have killed others, but doesn't want to allow women their choice to have an abortion.

So we live in a world, if you live in the US, where everything is black or white, right or left, conservative or liberal, etc. Anyone who calls themselves a moderate (sorry, folks, we all are, though, to some degree) gets called wishy-washy by both parties though they may believe all life is sacred and they hate the death penalty for criminals or pre-infants.

So how did the Republican party hijack Christianity? If someone finds out you're a born again Christian, they assume you're a conservative. I've done this, and I've had people who do it to me. In my case, they're right, I am mostly conservative with a few liberal tendancies. Interestingly enough, that statement is generally true, too. Find me an evangelical, and I'll show you a conservative. However, what caused this, and is it a good thing?

I recently heard a story about the civil war that took place in Indonesia in the 1950s and 60s. Really nasty, nasty times, tit for tat murder politics all over the place. Throughout all this violence, there was one group, a super-minority, which was out on the streets preaching peace. In 1965, Christians made up about 2% of the population of Indonesia. Yet, they were loudest on the corners preaching peace, the love of Christ, and to stop the war. 10 years later that census went up to 13% of the population was Christian because they were delivering a message of peace, not war. When 98% of the people are crying out for bloody murder, and 2% says there can be peace, people seemed to gravitate towards peace.

Yet, here in America, the "Christian" party isn't exactly a peaceful one. Now, make no mistake, Christ did not preach appeasement, but He did preach turning the other cheek. In America, we are given a choice. We can put the Prince of Peace to the side, or we can put the Father's justice to the side. One party states there is, in fact, a right and wrong, yet is willing to use the military solution pretty quickly. The other side says if you feel like it's right, it's right, unless you feel like going to war, that's always wrong.

Political ideologies aside (I am, again, pretty far to the right and was before I came to Christ), both of these parties spit in the face of Christianity. So why did we choose the Right to follow and label the religious party, and why didn't we form our own party so we could have our cake and eat it, too?

On a final note, I'm quite curious on people's take on this. In my opinion, the Republicans do the best at representing my ideological views, but are, by no means, perfect in doing so. I still feel like I'm being shafted of much of my opinion, though. I have to settle, and decide on which issues are most important.

On a really final note, when the heck did abortion become the end all be all? People will only vote for pro-choice/pro-life and ignore all the other issues.

Originally posted by junglejake
So why did we choose the Right to follow and label the religious party, and why didn't we form our own party so we could have our cake and eat it, too?

On a final note, I'm quite curious on people's take on this. In my opinion, the Republicans do the best at representing my ideological views, but are, by no means, perfect in doing so. I still feel like I'm being shafted of much of my opinion, though. I have to settle, and decide on which issues are most important.

On a really final note, when the heck did abortion become the end all be all? People will only vote for pro-choice/pro-life and ignore all the other issues.

I've posted extensively on this subject before (even in your own threads) including the historical context of Christianity in right/left US politics, so if you don't like the messenger look on your own into Christian socialism, the origins of the Democratic Party as founded on the Gospels, how Unions spreads, the 1890's to 1940's pulpitization of liberalism... and the reverse since the 60's civil rights and sexual revolution movements where "the right" saw an opportunity to go Old Testament and decidedly hijacked Christianity with the advent of mass media for it's own political counter agenda.

A summary of all that can be found in Frank Thomas's What's the Matter With Kansas: How Conservatives Won The Heart of America. Though the evidence exists out there on it's own.

Christianity aint what it used to be and hasn't been since 1964. Which in no small part contributes to your observation related to the subsequent division by Roe v. Wade.

Look into the Heritage Foundation, Paul Weyrich, Jerry Falwell, the Moral Majority, Zionism, and the PNAC and the comparitive absense of religion in the right prior to the 60's. If ever there was a secularist party pre-1950's Republicans were it. But ever since blacks and women found their equal place in society, Jesus magically became a capitalist.

It's marketing Jake. Not religion. Of course, the right appeals more to religious people now. Look how religion was co-opted. Religion changed, not the parties. Had you been an adult in the first half of the last century your then Christian views would have just as almost assuredly made you a liberal Democrat. Especially in the south.