Growing up, my parents did not talk about politics in the house very much. In fact, I do not remember them talking about politics at all. Why did they do this? Maybe it was to protect me and my brother from the corruptness in the world for as long as possible. Maybe it was so that we could blossom into our own individuals. So we could grow our own ideas. Maybe it was simply because they did not want to talk about politics around us. Whatever the reason, I grew up free from my parents directly telling me what to believe and what political persons to agree or disagree with.

Now, I was not going to stay sheltered from politics forever, and at some point, I was exposed to the politics of this country. Given, it was in small increments, but I was still exposed to certain ideas and how they aligned with one side or the other. Part of this slow breaking-in to political parties was coming to realize that certain people aligned one political party with Christianity and the other one with secularity.

Just to let you know, I was raised in a Christian household, United Methodist to be exact. And so, I am, and always have been, a Christian. Upon realizing that one party was aligned with Christianity and my beliefs, I assigned myself to one party based on my limited knowledge and my young, Christian convictions. I aligned myself with Democrats, instead of the culturally apparent conviction that Republicans are the Christian ones.

Yes, when given the opportunity to align my own Christian values, I chose the Democrats. Why? you ask. It seemed to me that the morals of the Democrats aligned more with my Christian morals of giving and love. When I sat down and looked at the faces of both Democrats and Republicans, the Democrats were kinder, they were more giving, they loved, they accepted; to me, they acted more like Jesus than Republicans. In contrast, I looked into the face of Republicans and I saw meanness, I saw greed, I saw harsh judgment, and I saw cruelty. So, imagine my surprise when I grew a little older and people began telling me to be Christian was to be Republican.

I began seeing my society much differently. I began to see my God differently. My world was tipped because I could not visualize how Christianity could be synonymous with Republicans. So I did what I always do, I questioned. Why is it that Christians want to have their wealth and not have it taxed in order to give it to the poor? Why is it that Christians are so persecutory towards minorities? LGBT? Why is it that Christians were so against immigration? So against the underdog? And then my questions changed. Why are the political parties so dichotic? Why is one so hot and the other so frigid? How is it that they exist? How is it they function? How is it that people so blindly follow political parties? Agreeing wholeheartedly with one side or the other simply because they agree with the party? These seem like such confining ideas. Why do we, as individuals try and put ourselves in boxes of ideology? Then it hit me. How can we put God in such a box?

And then I saw it. I saw how people on the Republican side saw that God was the God of Republicans. I saw the issues of Pro-Life. I saw the need to earn success. I saw God. I saw Christianity. I saw the American dream.

But the thing is, I still saw it the other way too. I saw how God was the God of Democrats. I saw the issues of justice for the underdog. I saw the acceptance of minorities. I saw God. I saw Christianity. I saw the American dream.

So what do you do? You stop putting God in a box. Take God out of politics. Do not form your opinions and then find scripture to support it. I bet you I can do the same thing against your opinion if I work in that direction. You read scripture; you pray; you listen to God; you form your opinions. (That is if you are Christian). Do not force your opinions on others. And do not do it in the name of God. The thing is, you form all these opinions based on scripture (remember not the other way around) and then you can do whatever you want in politics. You can straddle the fence. You can pick a side. But do not say God is on either side. God cannot fit into a dichotomy. Stop pretending God can. Stop saying God is behind or against any given candidate. Stop saying your prayers were answered because someone was elected or not. I'm not saying that God has nothing to do with it. I know prayer works and God has a hand in everything. What I am saying is, do not put words in God's mouth.

An example for you. Say you or someone you know is on the local high school basketball team. Let's call them the Giraffes. And they go to their rival school to play the Puppers. You know, that before each game the team prays to God so that they win and have a good game. You participate in this prayer. So the game starts. And five minutes in your star player rolls his ankle. He is not permanently injured, but he's our for the rest of the game. What now? Has God not answered your prayer? Did God ignore you? Or, did God instead listen to the prayers of the Puppers team? The game goes on. You are down point by point. You lose hope little by little. But you keep praying. Your team loses. What does that mean? Did God choose the Puppers over the Giraffes? Why? What did the Giraffes do wrong to make God make them lose? Nothing. God did not make them lose. It's the team. It is the accident that knocked out your star player. It is the laws of nature and the world that God created.

In this instance, both teams prayed to win the game. Only one team won. Did God only hear the prayers of the one team? Did he like them better? No. This is silly. You see how silly this is. You do not have a faith crisis because your basketball team lost. You say alright that's fine and move on. On the flip side, though, what if they win? Then it is all praise God and thanks.

Apply that same concept to politics. God did not choose a basketball team, why would God choose a candidate? It is not God's fault or praise who won. It's ours America. We voted for our senators, our congressmen, our President. Yes, we may have prayed along the way. But what were we praying for? Were we praying to win? Or were we praying for God's will? Or were we praying to be able to make the right choice? Or were we praying for God to discern to us who would be best for America? Or were we praying for us to be right?

When we put God in a political party. We assume God agrees with us. We assume that our prayers are right. That we are praying for what is right. And so of course God will answer. And of course God will say yes. But we fail to remember, God is bigger than us. By a long shot. So what are we doing putting God in a box? God, the creator of the universe. In a box? In a political party? In a simple dichotomy of much more complex problems? In agreeance with us? We need to work the other way. We need to listen to what God says. And we need to stop putting words, beliefs, convictions, whatever, in God's mouth.