In recent years, the Democratic party has moved increasingly to the left, becoming more and more liberal and abandoning many of the traditional beliefs that their parents and grandparents believed in. It is no longer the Democratic party of John Kennedy, for example, who famously challenged Americans to “ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.” Nor is it the party of Bill Clinton who signed the Defense of Marriage Act which, for federal purposes, declared marriage to be a union between one man and one woman. In fact, the party has espoused beliefs and hotly defended doctrines that should make every Christian cringe and turn away. Let’s explore some of these.
First, the Democratic party prides itself on being all inclusive, welcoming and celebrating people of all ethnicities and of every sexual proclivity possible, specifically the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual communities. (For your information, an intersexual person has characteristics of both genders and an asexual person doesn’t experience sexual desire.) Jesus was all-inclusive, you argue, and I agree. He was. He forgave the woman at the well who was an adulteress, he rubbed shoulders with fishermen and the wealthy alike, he ate with tax collectors, he healed the daughter of a Roman Centurion, and he praised a Samaritan in a parable.
But, you see, Democrats are not really all-inclusive. While they claim to include everyone, they actually exclude anyone who doesn’t agree with them. A group of women were excluded from the Women’s March in Washington because they are pro-life. Blacks who are Republicans or who speak up for the rights of conservatives are shunned, denigrated, and called “Uncle Toms.” Conservative speakers are banned from campuses after left-leaning students object to their invitations, or, if they do come to speak, demonstrations and riots often prevent them from actually speaking. Scientists who suggest that the human contribution to climate change may not be as great as the prevailing view states lose their reputations and all too often their jobs. All Republicans and any conservative-leaning independent are called homophobic, xenophobic, racist, and sexist bigots any time they venture to disagree with a Democratic idea. A few years ago, bracelets bearing the initial WWJD were all the rage for Christian children. WWJD. What would Jesus Do? He would not do what the Democratic Party is doing.
Secondly, the Democrats would argue that Christianity is equivalent to Islam in that the Crusades and the current atrocities of ISIS and other Islamic extremists are much the same. There exists no equal comparison. Christianity is a religion based upon love. Islam was born in bloodshed as the descendants of Mohammed killed each other off in an attempt to seize control of the movement. On the other hand, Jesus taught that the greatest commandment was to love God, but that the second was to love our neighbor as ourselves. Islam teaches that Jihad, the Holy War, should be carried out against the infidels, those who are not Muslims, and that those who kill infidels are rewarded in heaven for their deeds. Christianity teaches that murder is a sin and any Christian who kills “in the name of God” would be banished to hell for eternity, not rewarded. The Crusades ended about 800 years ago and during a time when even the most civilized country in Europe was not civilized by our standards. Crimes of any kind were punished harshly and brutally. The Crusades were organized to take control of the Holy Land from the Muslims and were military campaigns carried out specifically in and around Jerusalem. They were not a war against all Muslims. And they failed. Whatever atrocities might have been carried out, were carried out in the course of war campaigns with actual armies fighting against each other. Were innocent civilians caught up in the fighting? Of course, and they were often brutalized by both sides. But again, it was 800 years ago, and even then, many of the Crusaders would have balked at the murder of innocents. Today’s Jihadists, however, revel in the slaughter of the innocent, women and children alike. To them it is a badge of honor. Theirs is a religion of the sword, not of love. There is no equivalency.
Third, homosexuality and other sexual proclivities are the poster children of the Democrats. Under a Democratic president, portions of the Defense of Marriage Act were struck down, allowing for the legal marriage of same sex partners. Christians should believe that this was a wrong decision. God created Adam and Eve, not Eve and Mary nor Adam and Fred. All through the Bible, marriage between a man and a woman (in the Old Testament a man and often several women) appeared. Nowhere do we read of marriage between members of the same sex. Although homosexuality existed in Biblical times, it was clearly identified as a sin, most definitively in the story of Lot in Sodom, one of the two cities so evil that God totally destroyed them. In the New Testament, by which Christians conduct their lives, we are instructed that a man should be the husband of one wife. Again, marriage between partners of the same sex never appears. Christians are not homophobic. They do not fear homosexuals, which is the true meaning of the word, nor should they despise them. Again the Bible teaches us to despise the sin, but to love the sinner, and that is the attitude that any Christian should take.
Fourth, Democrats reject anyone who does not believe in abortion upon demand. While they purport to be the saviors of the underdog, the defenseless, the endangered in society, they refuse to protect the most defenseless of all, the unborn child. Former Democratic candidate for president and Vermont Governor, Howard Dean, told Joe Scarborough on MSNBC’s Morning Joe that “we (the Democratic Party) are never going back to maybe making compromises on abortion.” Yet, liberal Nat Hentoff, although an atheist, himself become a pro-life advocate before his death in January of this year, and was then shunned by many of the left. In a 1989 article in the Washington Post, he compared the pro-life movement to the civil rights movement of the 50s and 60s, saying that Roe v. Wade has determined that “like the slave, the fetus is property and its owner can dispose of it” (Hentoff). Pro-lifers realize, he contends, that a fetus with a heartbeat at 21 – 22 days after conception, is as much a life as you or I. Thus, abortion, becomes in fact, impalpable as is maybe, murder. Needless to say, no Christian should support such a demonstrable disregard for life nor belong to a political party for which such an act is a major part of its platform.
There are, unfortunately, many Democrats who are practicing Christians. For any of you who might read this blog, I pray that you would prayerfully consider whether your allegiance to God is undermined by your allegiance to your party.