Can Christians be Republicans?

I'm wondering this evening if it's possible for people to be good upstanding Christians and still vote Republican. It concerns me that our political debate has become so vexed that any free thinking person of faith really has to ask themselves if they can, in good conscience, vote Republican. It seems narrow minded. Shouldn't an upstanding Christian be able to vote either way. Why are all Christians Democrats?

Let's tackle the question of poverty. Jesus spends the majority, text wise, talking about the need to help the poor and the needy. He makes no mention of boot straps, no mention of welfare queens. Instead he implies that what a person does to the lowest among them they do unto Christ himself. So, how can I vote for a candidate who says that he doesn't care about poor people. How can I vote for a party that considers programs like welfare and social security things that should be chopped immediately? I don't know. It's a tough call. I want some Christians to be able to be Republicans, but it gets tough at times.

Obviously Jesus was a small business owner who enjoyed the luxury of low taxes during the rise of the Jerusalem empire, but was he a big supporter of government? Why did he say that thing about rendering unto Caesar? Didn't he mean, big government keeps me from making a quality ottoman? It seems that Jesus wasn't particularly concerned with his tax rate. It seems that he was more concerned with helping those in needs. I don't think he even shipped any jobs over to China because they do cheaper labor. I mean, when you start to think about it, maybe Jesus was just a communist, like Obama. So, how am I supposed to vote Republican when Jesus didn't seem to tell people to buy boot straps or lower his taxes, so he could create more jobs.


What did Jesus believe about national security? What's all this about loving everyone? What if we bombed them instead? Well, he wasn't too big on national security. In fact, rumor has it, he wasn't even an American. He was an Arab. Well, this puts most of us in an awkward position in less we take his message at face value. Apparently Jesus doesn't want us to wage war and make a bunch of threats to other nations and plant army bases wherever possible. It just wouldn't be Christian now would it? Was what happened in Hiroshima or Nagasaki the right Christian response? Is America God's real chosen nation? It seems like Jesus would once again be on the side of the more liberal leaning democrats. Certainly he wouldn't be trumpeting a weakness on national security as any sort of weakness at all. In fact, it would seem that he'd probably imply that weakness can be strength, that our promises are for the next world anyhow. Again, how am I to reconcile being a war mongering patriotic, remember render unto Caesar, not worship Caesar and his forefathers, person with voting Republican. It's tough. Did Jesus regard the Scriptures as secondary to the Constitution? No. Well, this is awkward. Maybe I can find another way for those last few Christian hold outs to still be able to vote Republican in good conscience.

The environment. Are we responsible for this world or not? Jesus seemed to imply that we should care mostly about the next world. Unfortunately, I don't think this means that he would try to drill into the molten core of the earth to extract the last bit of fossil fuels. I mean, in Revelation, it appears that the city has a river running through it accompanied by abundant trees. It does not say, a highway strung through it with abundant 7 elevens. Maybe Jesus wouldn't condone an economy that is 70 percent dependent on Consumerism. In this way, maybe he wasn't Republican or Deomcrat. Maybe He was a guy, the son of God, and not a super relevant American political figure at all. It's not clear to me that Jesus would have said burn up all your resources now even though you're already the richest nation in the world because you deserve it. In fact, he might have cautioned a little more posterity.

Is Jesus a free market capitalist who loves big business? No. He didn't like big business. He was not cool with Pharisees. He tended to see rich people as responsible for the poor, and as having a hell of a time getting into heaven with all that loot. (Camel in the eye of a needle here). Well, why not strip yourself of your belongings? We can't all be Warren Buffet, but perhaps we could encourage the Warren Buffets to give it away rather than "creating more jobs" by stowing away money by the millions or billions.

1) Taxes-Democrats. Likes poor people.

2) National security-Not particularly patriotic, more in the camp of loving people than drone bombing them.

3) Social programs-Still thinks we should help poor people.

5) Probably- a communist at heart and secretly Russian.

6) Kind of apolitical- though leaning a bit left as environmental degradation and corporate greed often lead to impoverished lives and diseases for the poorest of the poor.

7) Not a free market capitalist. Not in favor of large corporations.

Well, we need a way out. And I think I've found a second way. Sure Jesus wouldn't have exactly loved the death penalty, but I'm pretty sure, deep down, he was a social conservative. I mean, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone," and all aside, He did flip over some gambling tables in the temple. He's also not a fan of divorce. He doesn't really have solid opinions on things like abortion, gay marriage etc. But, it's fair to say His views are more conventional, and maybe that's the way out for the roughly ten percent of Christians that vote Republican. Perhaps, just knowing that Jesus has family values, though how exactly a Democrat doesn't have family values is a bit opaque, is enough to vote Republican. And that's why I'd like to encourage those last bastions of Christian right wingers. Sure, it ain't easy to be a Christian and Republican, you probably feel isolated in a group of Christians who keep bringing up poor people, and inequity, and tax rates, and the crass individualism and insularity of American culture, but, stay strong. You may not have two legs to stand on, but doggonit, you might have half of one. So go out to the ballots and don't vote Democrat like the rest of your Christian friends just because it's cool to help poor people and have health care and not start multiple wars. Fight on, you few! As for me and my family, we'll be voting with our conscience, with the numbers, with our hearts, Democratic (or Green Part if I feel totally compelled even though the vote outcome is depressing on election day, and I'd even consider Libertarian at some point if we could get some more traction of what we have there).

Conclusion: Sort of a communist.