It’s election year in America, the time when the country is at its most divided. Tempers run high, arguments are had, and battle lines are drawn. In today’s world, the media covers every angle of the political battleground at every hour of the day. For the past nine months or so, the American populace has been bombarded with political advertisements and speeches as each candidate vies for the public’s votes. If you’re anything like me, you’re getting tired of this circus act, and the last thing you want to read is yet another article telling you who you should or should not vote for. Well, hear me out, because that’s not what this will be. There is a prevalent attitude among many of today’s American Evangelicals that being a good Christian automatically makes you a Republican, or at least a conservative. Anyone who breaks this mold is either not a real Christian, living in sin, deceived, or they’re just stupid and don’t really know what the Bible says. I’d like to challenge the dangerous assumption that being a Christian automatically makes one “conservative” and the even more dangerous assumption that being conservative automatically makes one a Christian.

Let me start off by saying that I say all of this out of love for my brothers and sisters in the Faith, for the Church, and for what the Church is supposed to be. I strongly believe in unity and civility among believers, and everything I say here is in an effort to remedy some of the disunity currently abounding in the Church.

First, let’s define this idea of conservatism. The word itself speaks to a tendency to conserve the traditional ways of looking at the world, ways which are often associated with Evangelical Christianity. Conservatives generally support the idea of a small federal government, free-market capitalism, individual liberties (especially religious freedom), and strict adherence to the Constitution. Let it be abundantly clear that I am not asserting that any one of these ideas are bad. All I wish to do is bring awareness to the fallacious correlation between American Evangelicalism and conservatism.

Capitalism specifically is understood to be a mandatory tenant of conservatism, and its justification goes almost completely unquestioned. The ultimate aims of capitalism are the maximization of profits and the accumulation of individual wealth. While there is nothing wrong with making money, often, in their effort to maximize their profits, capitalists cut production costs by outsourcing labor to foreign factories that often have sub-human working conditions. Therefore, profit is often built upon the blood, sweat, and tears of the oppressed peoples of the world. Any study of the rise of capitalism in the Industrial Revolution and the decrepit working conditions of American laborers during its early days shows that capitalism, unchecked, leads to the oppression of the poor in the pursuit of wealth. The accumulation of this wealth is directly condemned in the New Testament. Christ tells us in Matthew 6 to “store up for ourselves treasures in heaven, […] for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”, and in Matthew 19: 24, that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Indeed, it seems that, rather than endorsing a capitalist, wealth-oriented society, Jesus specifically urged against the pursuit of personal wealth. This is backed up by the way the early Church was organized, saying in Acts 2: “And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need” (Acts 2:44-45). It is clear that Christ emphasized not the hoarding of individual wealth, but the common good of the community.

Now that we’ve established that capitalism is a decidedly un-Biblical idea, let's move on to another belief commonly held by conservatives: that American interests are Christian interests. This point is nicely illustrated by the controversial Syrian refugee crisis that America is currently facing, specifically whether or not we should allow these refugees into the U.S. The majority of conservatives believe that to do so would jeopardize the safety of the American people. Whether this is true or not is not my point, but the fact that the conservative response is assumed to be the Christian response is troubling. In Matthew 5:44, Jesus says that we are to “love [our] enemies, and pray for those who persecute [us].” Allow me to ask this question: Is it loving to refuse people asylum from the civil war that is tearing apart their homeland? Before you respond, as many do, by saying that letting them in would be allowing attacks on Americans, we have to remember that Christ also said: “Do not resist the one who is evil. But, if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matt 5:39).

I’d like to reiterate that I am in no way condemning capitalism or conservatism; I myself identify as conservative on a number of issues. I am, however, calling to attention the discrepancies between Christian teaching and conservative philosophy. The question that I want to leave you with: Where these contradictions occur, which will win out?