Political Religion, 2

Here is a selection from John Henry Newman, quoted by Craig Gay in The Way of the (modern) World (referenced in my previous post):

As the traveler on serious business may be tempted to linger, while he gazes on the beauty of the prospect which opens on his way, so this well-ordered and divinely governed world, with all its blessings of sense and knowledge, may lead us to neglect those interests which will endure when itself has passed away. In truth, it promises more than it can fulfill.... And hence it is that many pursuits, in themselves honest and right, are nevertheless to be engaged in with caution, lest they seduce us; and those perhaps with special caution, which tend to the well-being of men in this life. The sciences, for instance, of good government, acquiring wealth, of preventing and relieving want, and the like, are for this reason especially dangerous; for fixing, as they do, our exertions on this world as an end, they go far to persuade us that they have no other end.

Political Religion

It's been nearly a month without a post, but hopefully I'll get a couple in before school starts on January 28th. Needless to say, Campaign 2008 is in full swing and it will be a number of weeks before we will know the final candidates for each party. I've been struck again and again by the uninspiring rhetoric from political candidates from both sides. Here's a little taste:

"America is our cause, yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Her greatness is our hope; her strength is our protection; her ideals our greatest treasure; her prosperity, the promise we keep to our children, her goodness, the hope of mankind." John McCain's victory speech following the NH primary

"But we always knew that hope is not blind optimism. It's not ignoring the enormity of the task ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path. It's not sitting on the sidelines or shirking from a fight. Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it, and to work for it, and to fight for it... Hope is the bedrock of this nation; the belief that our destiny will not be written for us, but by us; by all those men and women who are not content to settle for the world as it is; who have the courage to remake the world as it should be. Barack Obama's victory speech following the IA primary

After listening unmoved, I was surprised at the reaction of the political pundits, especially to Obama. Normally cool and cynical, MSNBC's Chris Matthews confessed to being teary after Iowa. He believes he witnessed a great moment in American history.

As a Christian, though, these sounds of transcendence ring very hollow. It is without Christ. It ignores eternity. It is atheistic, at best; idolatrous, at worst. This is the nature of modern politics, however, and Christians must beware their involvement in such a Godless enterprise.

Craig M. Gay points out the danger in The Way of the (modern) World: Or, Why It's Tempting to Live As If God Doesn't Exist.

The worldliness of modern political life lies precisely in the modern tendency to relativize all human aspirations over and against those of immanent political-social change. Or, put somewhat differently, it has become increasingly plausible for us to focus essentially religious aspirations on the possibilities of political action and organization. While we may lose faith in this or that politician and/or party from time to time, our belief in the potential of the political process tends to be largely unshakable.

Politics is fun to watch. Politics is important, especially for the Christian. But Barack Obama and John McCain and the remaining candidates are tremendously less important than they or we believe. Let's not be deceived.