The Christian Right and Left Share the Same Faith But Couldn’t Be More Different

Posted by collectivist

"I didn't know Christians could be Democrats until I got to college. Though affiliated with the relatively conservative Christian Reformed Church, my school had a small but vocal minority of leftist professors and students.

Growing up, I went to church with my family every Sunday. We attended predominantly White non-denominational or Assemblies of God churches. What I heard from the pulpit ranged from apocalyptic altar calls—scary enough that I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal lord and savior every damn time—to sermons that condoned heteronormative sex and gender roles and condemned premarital sex, abortion, and alcohol. My father, a Black Ph.D. from Washington D.C., and my mother, a second-generation Puerto Rican immigrant who grew up in Spanish Harlem, are statistical anomalies. Until recently—Mami voted for Hillary— they’ve voted Republican, a political ideology affirmed and assumed in our churches. 

So, in school, when I met my then-friend-now-partner Sean, I would often have dinner at his family’s house. I was surprised that his parents, Peter and Peggy, who are overwhelmingly astute about politics and current events, were so outspoken in their disdain and distrust of the Republican party and President George W. Bush.

Twenty years later, they’re exactly the same—critical of the GOP and conservative leanings overall. But the most confounding thing about them to me—then and now— is their moral, value, and belief systems stem from a deep-rooted Christian faith.

This same Christian faith is upheld by evangelical Christians, most of whom oppose most of what progressive Christians like Peter and Peggy find support for in the Bible: marriage equity, open immigration, women’s reproductive rights, the notion of human-caused climate change. And though liberal Christians have long been engaged in social justice work, this may be the first time they’ve faced such a widely polarized political landscape. They are now fighting for their beliefs on multiple fronts: in politics, within their communities, and, even within their own congregations.

Driving The Right Wing

While conservative evangelicalism tends to focus on sin, repentance, and salvation, the Christian Left identify Christ’s radical love and inclusion for marginalized people as the locus of their faith. 

White evangelical Christians are the driving force of America’s right wing. Nearly 80 percent voted for Trump and about 70 percentstill approve of the job he’s doing, although, according to a recent poll, his overall rating at the time of this writing has declined to 39 percent since January. . ."

https://www.yesmagazine.org/social-justice/2019/12/24/political-christian-belief