Just to provide some background to my post: Before I became a Christian, I was mostly apolitical. Since becoming a Christian, I have become politically conservative. For a short time when I was in my twenties, I considered myself to be a republican, but eventually came to the conclusion that pledging my loyalty to any one political party just wasn't for me. So I consider myself (politically) to be a conservative independent.
During the months leading up to the 2016 presidential election, I was shocked at the overwhelming Christian support for Donald Trump. Here is a man who does not flesh out Christian morals, and as far as I can tell is unrepentant, and yet he has overwhelming support from white evangelicals. I might be able to understand if people voted for him as the "lesser of two evils"... but that doesn't seem to be the case.
When I came to be a Christian 17 years ago (after a youth of partying and crime), the Donald Trump version of Christianity is not what I envisioned when I came to know God. In fact, he embodies many of the bad behaviors which I have worked together with God to leave behind. Yet I'm confident that the pastor of my church is a big fan of Trump. He doesn't come right out and say it, but I feel like the underlying tone is there in some of his sermons, and he talks about how people are sometimes upset by the political messages on his Facebook page (I'm not on Facebook, so have never seen his page for myself). The tipping point for me probably came last year, when at the beginning of one of his sermons he said that he was "praying for Brett Kavanaugh." This was after the hearings, where Kavanaugh most likely lied under oath by saying that "Devil's Triangle" was a drinking game, "boofing" means to fart, and that "Renate Alumni's" written in him and his friend's yearbooks meant that they had all gone on dates with a girl named Renate (and that none of these were sexual references).
I've gotten to the point where I find it difficult to put my trust in a church which unconditionally supports politicians simply because of their political affiliation. Most of this, of course, seems to be centered around supporting politicians who are opposed to abortion. I'm very pro-life, and yet I can't comprehend a church putting all other morals aside and supporting politicians based merely on the fact that they SAY they are pro-life.
So to get to my point... I didn't come here to start a political debate, but am wondering what other people have done when they have encountered politics being dragged into the church. I'm to the point where it almost makes me not want to go, or to try finding a different congregation. Perhaps I am focusing too much on the negative? Do you think that politics has a place in the church, and when you have encountered it in the church how have you handled it?
Thanks,
Mark
During the months leading up to the 2016 presidential election, I was shocked at the overwhelming Christian support for Donald Trump. Here is a man who does not flesh out Christian morals, and as far as I can tell is unrepentant, and yet he has overwhelming support from white evangelicals. I might be able to understand if people voted for him as the "lesser of two evils"... but that doesn't seem to be the case.
When I came to be a Christian 17 years ago (after a youth of partying and crime), the Donald Trump version of Christianity is not what I envisioned when I came to know God. In fact, he embodies many of the bad behaviors which I have worked together with God to leave behind. Yet I'm confident that the pastor of my church is a big fan of Trump. He doesn't come right out and say it, but I feel like the underlying tone is there in some of his sermons, and he talks about how people are sometimes upset by the political messages on his Facebook page (I'm not on Facebook, so have never seen his page for myself). The tipping point for me probably came last year, when at the beginning of one of his sermons he said that he was "praying for Brett Kavanaugh." This was after the hearings, where Kavanaugh most likely lied under oath by saying that "Devil's Triangle" was a drinking game, "boofing" means to fart, and that "Renate Alumni's" written in him and his friend's yearbooks meant that they had all gone on dates with a girl named Renate (and that none of these were sexual references).
I've gotten to the point where I find it difficult to put my trust in a church which unconditionally supports politicians simply because of their political affiliation. Most of this, of course, seems to be centered around supporting politicians who are opposed to abortion. I'm very pro-life, and yet I can't comprehend a church putting all other morals aside and supporting politicians based merely on the fact that they SAY they are pro-life.
So to get to my point... I didn't come here to start a political debate, but am wondering what other people have done when they have encountered politics being dragged into the church. I'm to the point where it almost makes me not want to go, or to try finding a different congregation. Perhaps I am focusing too much on the negative? Do you think that politics has a place in the church, and when you have encountered it in the church how have you handled it?
Thanks,
Mark
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