Christianity and politics. (Fair Use)
Politics and Christianity
Is the Southern Border a Test of Our Christianity?
By Scout
“ONE BEGOTTEN OF GOD TAKES NO PART IN THIS WORLD'S POLITICS!” – Herbert W. Armstrong, Worldwide News, 1980
I remember when political realism caught up with the Worldwide Church of God (WCG). For some of us, it landed like a hot potato – to be handled cautiously and gingerly. I do not remember the facts of the case as much as I remember the philosophical and theological arguments. A member of the WCG was going to run for mayor in Big Sandy, Texas. At least, this is what I recall now decades later. To the WCG lay membership back in those days, worldly political involvement was anathema.
I discussed this growing issue with one of my buddies who worked at AC. I recall that he was ambivalent but knew one of the principal arguments in support of this new political realism. He said, “If you lived in a city where most of the population was in the WCG, wouldn’t you want the city government to be run by a WCG member?” While there is a practicality to this view, it does not comport with the quotation from Hebert W. Armstrong above. Herbert W. Armstrong was fully in opposition to WCG members participating in politics. So much so, that in the quote above, he is unequivocally denying the conversion of anyone who does. But what are the ramifications?
The Dilemma of Politics for Christianity
A case in point. Many White Evangelicals around the country are influenced by something called White Christian Nationalism (WCN). Sociologist Samuel L. Perry defined it this way, “Adherents believe in the idea that America was founded by Christians who modeled its laws and institutions after Protestant ideals with a mission to spread the religion and those ideals in the face of threats from non-whites, non-Christians, and immigrants.”
This creates a problem, for instance concerning the issue of immigration. This is roughly what has happened. The USA has a great appetite for illegal drugs. US citizens buy tons of product from Central and South American countries. This destabilizes their governments and economies and funds the power of the cartels. The result is that people flee these countries to come to the USA where there is an economy they can participate in up to a certain level – that level being lower class but much better than what is available in their devastated homeland. They want their kids to eat regularly and go to school – like most economic immigrants. The USA is a full participant in this cycle.
The conundrum for those American citizens who claim to follow Jesus, but are influenced by WCN thinking, is that some of the people sleeping on the ground at the southern border are also Christians. I have seen church services at the border being conducted on TV. And it only makes sense that some Christians would be caught up in this engine of destruction. Christians are everywhere – they salt the earth. There are missionary groups that are trying to help these Christians on the border. But they are the traditional groups and I really do not see any WCN involvement. The WCN people are mostly Trump supporters and want to see the door closed in the faces of, in some cases, other Christians. Hence, the political involvement of the WCN not only trumps Christianity, it vacates its force and role. It is no longer about Jesus’ commandment to love your neighbor but about a political opposition to immigration for secular reasons.
Let me hasten to add that I do not do anything directly to help the border Christians and non-Christians - people in crisis. My resources are absorbed elsewhere. I do see Christian groups, judging from the internet, who are helping. And I know of some Armstrongists who have talked up the idea of charity. I know little about what actually gets done.
Summary Argument
Worldly politics has resulted in Christians with a hard heart opposing other Christians in need. That is the sad dilemma whether HWA saw this specific issue of immigration or not. Watch this space. If there are rebuttals from WCN-influenced Armstrongists the chances are high that the rebuttals will be political and not theological. I am not sure there is a theological rebuttal to taking care of your brothers. An example of a political rebuttal is to say, “We just want these people to come into the country legally.” That doesn’t give anyone a plate of food. That doesn’t acknowledge that American drug consumers role in destroying homelands. I believe HWA was right about politics. I wonder how many of his followers adhere to that idea?
