Vor einigen Wochen habe ich mich im Beitrag “Enttäuschung ohne Respektlosigkeit” gegen Politiker-Bashing verwahrt. Diese Reaktion ist letztlich eine Selbstoffenbarung.
Auch nach der US-Wahl – die wir als Familie intensiv verfolgt haben – sollten wir uns sorgfältig der transatlantischen Unterschiede bewusst bleiben. Carl Truemans Artikel über Religion in der amerikanischen Politik kann dabei helfen.
Here, the religious vote is deemed so significant that even those as obviously cynical about Christianity as the two current candidates for president feel the need to draw on the totemic power of religious symbols or commitment. Trump’s posing with a Bible outside an Episcopal church and Biden’s profession of devout Catholicism are both, in different ways, implausible and manipulative.
Trump’s playing to the evangelical base has exposed the pragmatism of at least some evangelical leaders. Those who denounced Bill Clinton because of his loose sexual mores but who now throw their weight behind Trump have exposed themselves to accusations of hypocritical pragmatism. The “court evangelicals,” as their critics have dubbed them, lack moral credibility precisely because of their previous moralism.
Bart Barber hat in CT ein biblisches Vorgehen vorgeschlagen:
- I will pray for him sincerely.
- On every occasion when I can, I will praise good things he has done.
- I will look for opportunities to pass over criticism of bad things he does.
- Where I must criticize, I will do so with civility.
- I will not tell jokes that are demeaning of him, nor will I encourage others in sharing such jokes with me.
- I will not slander him by listening to, sharing, tweeting, or posting conspiracy theories about him.
- Whenever I can do so without disobeying God, I will obey him.
Mark Dever dachte in einem Vortrag über Politik und die Ortsgemeinde nach. Hier sind Devers Feststellungen, die zwar banal erscheinen. Doch sie sind entscheidend!
- Sin is so deceptive.
- Christians disagree.
- Action sometimes precedes agreement.
- We can be paralyzed for fear of being epically wrong!
Und noch seine (bedenkenswerten) Fragen für die Ortsgemeinde:
- How important are our differences?
- Are the political differences we are experiencing today like slavery was? Do they rise to the level of salvation?
- If our differences are not at the level of salvation, are our political differences at the level of those things we must agree on in order to have a church (subjects of baptism, when and how we will meet)?
- Or are they matters about which we can sustain disagreement?
- At which level are various political differences best understood?
