blog » February 11, 2006/Faith and politics: why I voted NDP

I’ve been wanting to write this for a while now. In fact, I wanted to write it before the election. But I haven’t had time. But anyways, on with the show.

In Canada, evangelical Christianity is generally associated politically with the Conservative party (much like it is generally associated with the Republican party in the States). This association is mainly because of the Conservative’s stance on morality issues, and its defense of “family values.”

A number of Christians, however, prefer to align themselves with the left-wing parties such as the NDP or the Greens because of different reasons, mainly social justice issues. I would tend to fall into this second group.

While morality issues may be important, I believe that social justice issues are more important in the Christian’s public life, and I believe that this is supported by the Bible. It seems to me that most Christians today have become like the Pharisees of Jesus’ time, comparing the lengths of their tassels, instead of being like Jesus and eating with the sinners.

The Bible says a few things about how we should interact with the rest of the world — our public life: in the beginning, we are commanded to rule over the world (Gen. 1:28) (in other words, to take care of God’s creation). We are to take care of widows, orphans, and the oppressed (James 1:27, and others). We are, ourselves, to live pure lives (Gal. 5:25, and others). And we are to make disciples (Matt. 28:19–20). But we are never commanded to impose God’s law on non-believers; we are never told to make the world conform to our morality.

(Passages such as Ezekiel 33:7–9 say that we are to warn the wicked and “dissuade him from his ways” (NIV), but this should not be taken as merely getting others to follow our morals. As can be seen from these passages, the reason for trying to get the wicked to change their ways is a salvation issue. And we know that we are not saved by not doing wicked things, but by believing in Jesus. Merely getting them to follow our morals is useless when it comes to salvation.)

While the Bible does instruct us to live moral lives, it is primarily a command for personal observance, along with for instructing fellow believers and your children.

Thus when acting politically, I believe that I should be acting according to these values: care for creation; care for the widows, orphans, and the oppressed; personal purity; and evangelism. The last two are not affected by any of the current political parties. And what is left mainly puts me alongside the values of the NDP.

(Next election essay: electoral reform.)