have heard time and again that we are a Christian nation. But we are not a Christian nation—neither in many of our actions nor in the makeup of our citizens. No matter how much we might like to be homogeneous in religion, we are not. We are a diverse nation, made up of Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, Wiccans, Hare Krishnas, Sikhs, New Agers, atheists, agnostics, Zoroaster followers, and followers of Native American spirituality, among others.
There are many people other than Christians who have values. Many of those values are similar to ours—among them, the values of freedom, equality, honesty, justice, mercy, compassion, and the Golden Rule. Many people besides Christians see America as the land of opportunity, the land where they can achieve their dreams. Although there may be more of “us” than “them,” and although our democracy may have been founded mainly (but not entirely) by Christians, our country has strived from the very beginning to give freedom and justice to all. As Christians living in a democratic nation, what we desire for ourselves must be available for all. Suppressing another’s freedom is not the answer.
Was Jesus Political?
Christians look to God to lead and guide them in their decisions. They look to the example of Jesus, but some wonder if Jesus is relevant to our political choices.
On the surface, it might seem as if Jesus was not a political person but was someone who focused, instead, on individuals and individual relationships. He certainly did not live up to the Jewish hopes for a political Messiah. The Jews in Jesus’ day imagined a militant Messiah who would lead an army, overthrow the oppressive rule of Rome, and establish a religious kingdom.
We can, however, see some of the political viewpoints of Jesus through the actions he took and those he didn’t take. Jesus didn’t identify with any of the political structures of the day. He rejected the Sadducees, the conservatives who were willing to go along with foreign domination provided it didn’t compromise their position. He confronted the Pharisees, who observed religious practices in great detail, made hundreds of oppressive religious laws, and also supported the established powers of the day. He never joined the Essenes, who rejected political involvement and took no part in any of the religious ceremonies they considered impure. Essenes formed a separate sect, and moved to Qumran by the Dead Sea. He was not part of the Zealots, one of the most politically active groups. They were nationalists, who wanted a radical transformation of existing political institutions through violent revolution.
Many of Jesus’ followers were from different political parties with different political and religious beliefs. Simon, called the Zealot, would have either been a revolutionary or a sympathizer with the group that desired to overthrow the Roman government. Matthew, the tax collector, worked for the oppressive government Simon wanted to overthrow. Yet there’s no evidence that Jesus tried to change their political parties, or even their religion. He wanted to change their hearts and their actions.10
Was Jesus Conservative or Liberal?
The labels of conservative and liberal can paint individuals into a corner. Liberals often hold conservative values, and those considered to be conservative often hold certain liberal values.
The word “conservative” comes from the word “conserve,” which means to preserve. Generally, conservatives want to preserve the status quo. They prefer to maintain existing habits and views and institutions. A true conservative usually wants government to have a limited role in social and economic affairs. At their best, conservatives ground our country by recognizing the ideals of the past and giving us a solid foundation on which to stand.
At their worst, conservatives can be inflexible, rigid, legalistic, and immovable, with no vision of a future and little thought to how our actions today might affect the world of tomorrow. They are sometimes fearful of risks and distrustful of change. Because they are often unable to imagine other possibilities or to believe that change can lead us to a better society, conservatives are less apt to envision new ways to solve social problems.
“Liberal” is a word coming from the Latin liberare—to set free or to liberate. The word often means generous and bounteous and open-handed, as used when someone gives liberally to charity. Liberals tend to advocate reforms that would achieve greater freedom for citizens. To achieve that, they are more apt to criticize the status quo, imagine new possibilities, and ask how it can be done better. They are willing to be unconventional and untraditional in order to solve a problem. At their most extreme, liberals can become so freedom-minded that their actions lead to excess, anarchy, and a lack of restraint that can become destructive.
We sometimes hear the term “progressive,” and sometimes politicians such as Hillary Clinton refer to themselves as progressives rather than liberals. They tend to be tolerant of others and want to remove restraints to the freedom of all citizens, not just for themselves. They want to improve the world and improve the social welfare of others. “Progressive Christianity,” a relatively new term, refers to Christians who work toward a more just and compassionate world and struggle against racism, sexism, homophobia, and other human oppressions. They recognize that there is truth in other traditions as well, and they strive to overcome dogmatism.
All of these positions need to be balanced. Lacking balance, any position can lead to the vicious extremism we see in almost all political parties and religions—ranging from the fundamentalists who will kill in the name of their party or their religion, to the radicals who destroy property and create anarchy in the name of freedom.
Like most of us, Jesus exemplified both conservative and liberal values. There were certain values he wanted to conserve; there were others that he wanted to liberate from a rule-oriented culture in order to reinterpret, broaden, or change them.
The Freedom to Love God
The most important value that Jesus wanted to conserve was the commandment to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and all your strength.”11 Love of God is above all things and is the guiding principle throughout the entire Bible. How to love God has been one of the thorniest issues any individual confronts.
Our nation was founded by many who loved God. Before the Constitution was written, the early colonies tried to legislate the love of God. They became repressive when they tried to impose laws about how this love was to be shown. The Massachusetts Bay Colony persecuted any who didn’t love God in the same way they did. They banished those who didn’t agree with them, particularly the Quakers. Besides being banished, Quakers were imprisoned, whipped, branded, burned, and enslaved; some had their ears cut off and their property confiscated; several were put to death for insisting on the right to worship in their own way.12
Puritan minister Roger Williams (who later helped found the first Baptist church in America) was banished from Boston because he believed that everyone had the right to think and worship as he pleased. In his pamphlet called “The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution, for the Cause of Conscience,” published in 1644, Williams said, “How ghastly and unbelieved … was the damage done and the number of innocent human beings slaughtered in the effort to make men and women worship God in some certain way.”13
He believed in separation of church and state so neither could control the other, and complete toleration by the government of all sorts of religion, even the religion of the Native Americans. Williams, the Quakers, and other tolerant Christians established freedom of worship and freedom from a state-sponsored religion.
Just as important as Williams’ ideals about religious freedom were his ideals about democracy. He believed that governing was not the work of the aristocracy, but that each family should have an equal voice in the government. Together with Anne Hutchinson and Samuel Gorton, he founded Rhode Island, which was one of the first colonies with complete religious freedom.
In 1657, the Flushing Remonstrance was created as a declaration of religious freedom in New York, and an affirmation of diversity. It is considered to be one of the precursors of the Bill of Rights, and declares, “we are bound by the Law to do good unto all men,” and guarantees that “love, peace and liberty” should be extended to all residents, including “to Jews, Turks and Egyptians as they are considered the sons of Adam … our desire is not to offend one of his little ones in whatsoever form, name or title he