Religion and politics

I'm reading the book God's Politics by Jim Wallis. I'll probably have a few entries on this as I go along. Although the book is by an American and about America, it is not hard to link concepts to the situation in Canada today. They have a situation where Republicans are associated with Christianity. We have a situation in which the Canadian Alliance is associated with Christianity. For both, it's because of "moral issues" : abortion and gay marriage are the top two. But both right wing parties fail to see that issues of common good, such as poverty and the environment, are also moral issues.

I thought one of the most salient points was that George W. Bush is not a man without compassion, and his faith seems genuine. But he has a mindset of charity, not a mindset of justice.

Ditto for the Canadian Alliance and leaders such as Manning, Day and Harper. I have no reason to doubt that their faith is real. But they have embraced an individualistic ideology that does not see justice and the common good as something for governments to be concerned about. I think government should be the one primarily concerned about it. It is the only institution that has the capacity to impact justice in any substantial way. I believe it was Manning I was reading one time where he said that government should not deliver charity, that's the role of the church and non-profits. I don't find that to be biblical. God himself called upon governments in the OT to do justice.

The individualistic mindset blames the poor - if they would only make better decisions they would be okay. It ignores the systemic issues that create poverty and disadvantage. I used to be a fan of the saying Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond to it. One of the defining moments in my thinking was when I was reading an author who criticized the left thinkers who believe that people are good, but society is bad. How could a bunch of good people create a bad society? While I was agreeing with him, the thought that zinged into my head (that I strongly suspect as the HS) was, But you believe that sinful people can create a neutral society. Another defining moment was when I started to really examine what the Bible says about the poor. While it doesn't fail to make a link between people's actions and their outcomes (Prov 6:10-11), most of the time the poor are said to be in need of deliverance, not behaviour change.

Wallis shows how America's history is full of people who let their faith guide their politics and the result was progress: civil rights, women's suffrage, abolition of slavery.

I don't know Canadian history well. But Tommy Douglas and Nelly McClung are 2 people who snap to mind as deeply spiritual and very progressive in advocating for justice.

Without a vision, the people perish.

I'm starting to wonder what vision might be possible for the political landscape in Canada.