The Christian right, as you might know, supports Harper because he claims to be a Christian, and he is pro-Israeli (which is important to the Christian right because in order for Jesus’ second coming to occur, Israel has to have political control over Jerusalem – and that is a vastly over-simplified explanation). There might be other reasons they support Harper, but those are the two biggies.
I also claim to be a committed Christian. My faith is central to everything about my life. I am not perfect, in fact I am far from it, and I would never presume to think that I know why things happen and why people are the way they are. But I think it is important, even in all my imperfections, that I take an opportunity to outline why I am not and never will be a Harper supporter, and why I believe that my position is supported by my Christian beliefs.
Several times now in the past few months when I have posted anti-Harper opinions on Facebook, I have been reprimanded by some of my friends with reference to the Bible verse that tells us that we should pray for and support our leaders. I assume that this refers to 1 Timothy 2, which reads: First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Or the passage from Romans 13: Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
I always respond with a comment along the lines that I am praying for Stephen Harper.... in fact, I am praying really hard that after October 19, he will no longer be the leader of our beautiful country, and we can go about trying to repair some of the damage his government has done. As you can imagine, this is not the response that I am supposed to give, as a “good” Christian (me being a “good” Christian is a whole other issue...).
According to my friends, these passages say that our authorities are given power according to God’s will, God has a plan and a mission for these leaders, and if I speak out against them or “resist” their leadership, I am going against my Christian faith. As Christians, then, we are to prayerfully support our leaders, without question and without criticism. Maybe that’s a good principle. But let’s examine that a little bit. According to that interpretation, if Hitler, Idi Amin, Osama bin Laden, Stalin, Pol Pot, Mussolini, Ghadafi, Marcos, Castro, or Duvalier, just to name a few, were my leader, I would be obligated to prayerfully support their ideals and their actions, because the Bible tells us to. (Or does the Bible actually mean it only applies to Christian leaders? Because if that’s the argument, I would like to point out that those passages were written when non-Christian governments, i.e. the Romans, were in power in the Holy Land, so if you are going to be literalist, it must apply to any and every governing authority).
I am not a theologian, but I do think a lot about what I believe and how that should affect my daily life. I think about someone like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran minister of the gospel in Nazi Germany, who stared evil in the face, and decided that as a Christian, he could not prayerfully (or morally) support the evil he observed in his country’s leader; he was ultimately executed by his own government for daring to try to eliminate the evil influence from his country. I think of someone like Archbishop Oscar Romero, who spoke out against the government-sponsored injustices and murders taking place in El Salvador in the 1970s and 1980s, and was assassinated for living his faith. Their actions clearly did not support the biblical injunctions to submit to the governing authority. Although the issues facing most Canadians are very different from those in Nazi Germany or El Salvador, I think I am in pretty good company when I say that my very faith will not allow me to support any leader who promotes hatred, distrust, corruption, dishonesty, injustice, or any other morally reprehensible behaviour, whether they are Liberal, Conservative, NDP, Green or Rhino.
I base my personal faith on the New Covenant that was made through Jesus. I try to think about what Jesus taught through his words, his life, his interactions with people. The Jesus that I know didn’t teach hate. The only time he got angry was when he was faced with hypocrisy and injustice. The Jesus that I know taught love and justice for all. In fact, he went out of his way to show love for every marginalized person he met. The Samaritan woman at the well. The tax collector. The adulteress. In 2015, maybe we could include the aboriginal woman who is missing or murdered. Or the person struggling with mental health issues. Or the homeless person. Or the Palestinian. (Would Jesus have sanctioned the killing of Palestinians, many of whom are innocent children and bystanders, by western-backed Israeli governments? Would he? I think not. Even for the sake of Jerusalem. My tax dollars, and yours, support this injustice. To me, that’s a sobering thought. And it’s only one of many injustices. That’s even more sobering.)
I cannot speak for other faith traditions, but for those of us who profess to be Christians living in a democratic society, I believe that we have the responsibility to elect leaders, regardless of their personal faith traditions, who reflect the values our faith teaches. I believe that as Christians we have a responsibility to reflect on whether our current government’s actions and policies truly reflect the ideals that Jesus taught and lived. If we support leaders who are dishonest, hypocrites, cheaters, liars, and willing to sacrifice the welfare of others for their own gain, I believe we will be individually and collectively judged for that support.
Walter Rauschenbusch was a theologian of the social gospel a little over a century ago. He told a parable based on the story of Pontius Pilate, who washed his hands in front of the raucous crowd demanding that Jesus be crucified, a symbol that he was relinquishing his responsibility to take a stand, and delivering Jesus into the hands of the crowd.
On the eve of the crucifixion Pilate’s Washbowl disappeared from the palace. Nobody knows who took it. Some accused Judas Iscariot of selling it; but that is plainly a libel, because Judas was honest enough to go and hang himself. At any rate, ever since that time, the Washbowl is abroad in the land, carried by infernal hands wherever it is needed, and people are constantly joining the invisible choir which performs its imperceptible ablutions therein. The politician who suppresses principles because they might endanger the success of the party; the good citizen who will have nothing to do with politics; the editor who sees a righteous cause misrepresented and says nothing, because it might injure the circulation; the deacon who sees a clique undermining a pastor’s position and dares not create a disturbance ... All of these are using Pilate's Washbowl.
In the last election, 61.4% of eligible voters chose to exercise their right to vote. Of those, 39.62% voted for Stephen Harper’s government. I am no mathematician, but by my figuring, that means that only about 25% of Canada’s population actually elected Harper’s Conservatives. That does not sound like a healthy democracy at work. So I am advocating for change that starts with voting. People have fought for our right to vote. We owe it to our loved ones, our aging parents, our spouses, our children, to vote, and to vote wisely. We owe it to our society to take a stand, to not be the people who are washing their hands in Pilate’s Washbowl. And we owe it to our society and our country to hold our leaders accountable after the election, no matter who is elected.
I do not expect everyone to agree with my views, just as I do not agree with everyone else’s views. But that is part of living in a democratic country. And if anyone wants to criticize me for being anti-Christian or anti-Biblical, I will point out that for me, as a Baptist, my right to vote and to advocate according to my beliefs and my conscience is part of my legacy of soul liberty, which very simply means that I answer only to God on matters of conscience and faith. That means that I also must respect every person’s right to soul liberty, no matter how much I might disagree. A friend of mine often uses a quotation that is attributed to Voltaire: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it” – an appropriate quotation for both a Baptist and a believer in democracy.
And yes, no government is perfect, and the federal Liberals have a lot to answer for too. But I respectfully disagree with those who believe that the Conservatives have enacted God’s plan for Canada. As is my right.
