In faith and politics, lessons from Matthew

Newsday ^ | October 19, 2004 | Raymond J. Keating

[I'mPeach]

Mixing religion and politics can spark controversy. Nonetheless, church leaders have a moral obligation to speak out on certain issues. So, faith and politics will, at times, intersect. But what constitutes the church's proper role?

Consider two recent examples. As Newsday reported last week, the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton appeared with Sen. John Kerry at the Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in Miami. Some 300 parishioners, flapping "Kerry-Edwards" fans, were urged to vote Democratic.

Meanwhile, various Catholic bishops have raised questions about the moral legitimacy of voting for a candidate favoring abortion and embryonic stem cell research. Kerry, who is a Catholic, has a staunchly pro-abortion record, and calls for taxpayer funding for stem cell research that destroys human embryos.

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In the end, the mission is as Jesus commanded: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20). Perhaps some of the churches or clergy who enthusiastically embrace a secular political agenda simply find this "Great Commission" uninteresting or unconvincing - a disturbing thought. For Christians, as Pastor Fleischmann observed, the Gospel informs politics, not the other way around.