Someone once said to me, “She is a strong believer — although I’m pretty sure she’s a Democrat.”
When did conservatism become synonymous with evangelical Christianity? And when did liberalism equal Catholics and/or the devil?
When did politics become a matter of faith? America is not a Christian nation, nor does its leader need to profess to Christianity in order for God to be glorified.
The 2016 election is challenging group identities, especially in the Republican party. It seems that fights break out every night on Fox News, and the multitude of Republican party leaders revoking their Trump endorsements are just the tip of the iceberg of chaos.
But to know what we, as individual American citizens, believe--through careful evaluation instead of careless groupthink--is a really good thing for America. America is its individual citizens, not its parties.
Group identities are dangerous. Groups advertise themselves as a place of belonging, of people with common interests and common goals. And once an individual identifies himself as a member of a group, he seldom evaluates the group to which he belongs.
Groupthink is also dangerous. Take Naziism or whites in pre-apartheid South Africa or plantation owners in the 1850s American South or any other powerful group in world history. Groupthink says that if others are doing it, then it must be okay. Or if others believe it, then it must be valid. Or if others accept it, then it must be acceptable. Even if “it” is not okay or valid or acceptable.
Before the 2016 election season, most Christians were comfortable associating with conservatism. The Republican party gave conservative men and women a sense of belonging, and Republicans seldom questioned the Republican party.
Unyielding support for the Republican party is no longer as prevalent in the church. Placing Donald Trump, a man who does not stand for many of the conservative Christian values that Republicans usually promote, as the presidential nominee has forced Americans themselves to do the thinking, to evaluate what they do believe.
Many Republican leaders believe that the chaos in the Republican party this year is the worst thing that could happen to America. “What’s best is that we stay together. There’s power in numbers,” they say. But unyielding, unquestioning support for any party is not what’s best for America.
America needs citizens who know what they believe.
