You may be wondering why there has been a shift in the tone of my blog.  Don't worry; I'm still a Bible-believing Reformed Christian!  My reason for changing the tone a little is that I'm tired of "Christian" being defined as "Republican".  There are a lot of things that the Republican party stands for that are not biblical.  They also ignore many issues that are central to Scripture, such as care for the poor and the environment.

Once I believed that what needed to be emphasized was neutrality on political issues on which we agreed, at least in public.  Now, however, I believe that it is critical that the Republican faction hear the point of view of the Democrats in their midst.  First, they need to realize that we exist.  Second, they need to know that we hold our positions based on our understanding of Scripture.  To disagree with the Republican party on economic or environmental issues is not to disagree with Scripture; at least these issues should be discussed more freely.

Of course all Bible-believing Christians find it necessary to oppose certain Democratic policies (pro-choice, lobbying for civil unions for homosexuals, etc.) but that doesn't mean that we oppose the party as a whole.  Many Republicans continued to support Bush even when he began to do things that they disagreed with.  The time has come for us to realize that sometimes the only way to reform a party is to join it and act from within.

My goal is not to divide but to purify.  If you are a capitalist Republican because you believe that system best fits the ethics of Scripture, then fine, but please understand that having studied Scripture as God's holy and inspired Word I must disagree.  Who is right?  Probably both of us.  It is my belief that almost any system (except pure capitalism which no longer exists in America) will work and glorify God by serving his purposes in certain set systems.  The question before us is what system will work for America?  When we look at the question in this light it becomes obvious that we all agree on the model of what the results of government should be (prosperity, peace, justice), but what we disagree on is the model of good government that will work in our nation.

Also, let me make one last point.  Christianity is an absolute monarchy ruled by Jesus Christ.  Many argue that my own denomination's system of church government (Presbyterian) is democratic or republican in model, but it is not.  The elders may not oppose the Scriptures (at least in theory) and so to say they are elected leaders who represent the people is incorrect.  They represent God by discerning his will and answer to him, not the people.  This is important for many argue that Scripture supports democracy.  It does not; it neither supports nor condemns any particular form of human government (although theocratic monarchy [in the form of direct rule by God] is shown to be the one pure form of government]) and so it cannot be invoked to support any particular political philosophy as superior in all instances.  That is why the question must remain open.  We all know where we are trying to go; what we are debating is how to get there.

PS: The only systems that I absolutely oppose are pure capitalism, which no longer exists in America (as I pointed out above), and communism.  Pure capitalism is based entirely on greed, which is a sin, and communism doesn't work.  The only exception to this are the small communes that exist in some places, however, the model of communism will not work for a national economy because it assumes too much good of human nature.