I recently got into a discussion with a friend over republican vs democratic government. I preface this by saying, I'm a republican and I haven't changed. I went to great lengths to re-register Sean as a republican for this election for the sake of not living in the same home as a democratic. Doesn't it just cancel us out in the voting pool to registered in opposite parties? But anyway, my friend's argument has kept me up at night wondering if it's truly an idiosyncrasy to say it's impossibly to be both democratic and Christian. She's a well versed, well studied, well thought out Christian. Her exclamation at my thought that our new church is predominantly democratic was "How is it possible for Christians to be democrats?!"
That's where we left it.
I'm sure she sleeps at night.
I don't.
The thing is social security supported Sean for most of his life after his dad died. Sean's dad was born with medical issues that prevented him from ever getting life insurance. He was destined to die early. Sean's parents had been married for a year and half when they got pregnant. Sean's dad was concerned about ever having kids knowing his health was declining. Sean wasn't planned.
Was it irresponsible of them to get married? Who's to say that people should stop living as soon as they have a health problem? Anyone could die at any time. What of the Duggers? Mr. Dugger could have died when his first 7 children were still very young. Life is full of chances.
The second question would be is the government responsible for the widows and the fatherless. Well actually the Bible says the church is. Our government was set up with the mindset that we take care of the elderly, the fatherless, and the widows.
If the church were take this on and judge everyone by whether or not they were righteous in making the decisions the made to end up in the situation they did, the system would still be broken. Yes, there are people having 10 kids that don't get jobs and don't take care of them. There are children raised in uneducated, uncaring, homes.
Is Sean the anomaly? Should everyone be allowed to take something from Social Security or just a few choice people? Should it be set up as a pay in/pay out system?
There is something to be said for the fact that my genetic make up and my social situation are out of my hands in terms of what I was born into. The intellectual capacity I have is thanks to my parents. It's certainly my choice to pay attention in school, but that is also impacted by the level of education of the teachers I have. Additionally, a child with educated parents has a million more words in his vocabulary by the time he starts kindergarten. There is a point where advancement is a choice, but at what point?
I've realized from my own situation that without money and opportunity, there is nothing I can do to change who I am and where I'm from. I can choose to educate myself. I can choose the books I read. I can choose to demonstrate class and etiquette. I can choose to serve others and I can choose my attitude and tolerance of other people. I cannot choose my genetic make up, my time and history, my predisposition to good or bad health, or even the reputation of the members of my family.
In my opinion, the democratic party has an important place in promoting groups of people. It's very important that our government is set up as a balance of power and not one side of power. It would be terribly unfortunate to have a tyrant government of all republicans or all democrats. I think it's important to have a give and take.
Is it possible to be a democratic Christian? Was Lincoln's abolition of slavery a Christian movement? Did Roosevelt's "New Deal" have Biblical values?
Certainly the influx of cash from the New Deal might have put America ahead and then subsequently created this mess we're in now. People are fallen. Individuals are fallen. That doesn't mean that democrats are fallen any more than republicans.
Should the church still be responsible for social systems? Is it unfair to take tax payer dollars to care for those who are deemed irresponsible and/or unable to care for themselves or does it promote a system or population of people who are irresponsible?
Would Jesus or the disciples have been Republicans? How about Zacchaeus? Or the sons of Zebedee? I bet their dad was! The single mother's and working women? The lady at the well? What about Cain and Abel? Am I my brother's keeper?
I still associate and vote Republican. Sean is still registered Democratic. Before the election, we couldn't get it changed. I voted and he didn't. He won and I didn't! We have great discussions and we both see eye to eye on some things and we have opposition on others. Sean and I have different perspectives having come from two different sides of the country, two different systems of theology, and two very different socio-economic back grounds with parents from two very different education levels. I think that's awesome! I think it's powerful to agree to disagree and to take both sides and raise our children to see that not every one is handed everything. Sean didn't get a dad. He never did and he never will.
Were my professional parents responsible to pay into a system that paid out to help families like Sean's? I think it worked out incredibly in our favor. While we aren't millionaires by any means, I married someone with the right background, the right personality, and the right life experience to "put up with me." Maybe being our "brother's keeper" for the better of mankind is to our ultimate good even if there's something that are broken about the system. Sean wouldn't have made it through High School as a straight student and attended one of the top 50 national Universities all thanks to government programs...oh and to major in politics and become a democrat.
I still haven't answered my own question, but maybe someone else can.
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