This election cycle American political discourse has sunk to a new low. Rather than presenting facts and offering persuasive arguments based on policies, we’ve seen a whole slew of false claims and personal attacks. The exchanges between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have been so caustic and shameful that when I discovered my ten year-old was watching one of the presidential debates with his mom, I immediately ushered him out of the room, muttering that such language and behavior was inappropriate for him to see. (He had weaseled his way in to watch it on the excuse that he couldn’t sleep.) What does it say about the way politics works itself out on national TV that I felt horrified that my son was exposed to such bickering and animosity among those who are vying for the highest and noblest governmental office in the land?
I could deal with all of this, but what I can’t handle is the fact that Christians don’t seem to carry themselves any differently than their worldly counterparts. Social media channels and email boxes overflow with vitriol and exaggeration as each side shouts ever louder, trying to drown out the sound of the other. In this episode of off script, we offer some suggestions on how to think and behave when engaging in political discourse as Christians. We begin by discussing an episode of Ira Glass’ This American Life podcast episode “Seriously?” in which he addressed how misinformation and lies dominate political conversations. Listen to the first 20 minutes to hear the part we discuss. Also, we engaged with Justin Brierly’s Unbelievable? podcast episode “Should Christians vote for Trump?” where Republican John Zmirak and Democrat Christina Rees discuss what Christians should do. For Zmirak’s “dead moose” comment, skip to 18 minutes.
7 thoughts on “Off Script 16: Christians Discussing Politics”
This was more than a podcast on the 2016 Presidential election. This was a great discussion on how we should live our lives as followers of Messiah everyday. While none of us are perfect, there is no room for slander in the speech of a believer as far as I’m concerned. God bless and thanks again guys for the enjoyable podcast, from a fellow Apolitical.
This was a really good talk. One in a million at this particular time. My only thought is that you might be confusing religion with Christianity and pew sitters with believers. Knowing and believing Christ is different than religion no matter what it’s called. Religion has always been cruel. Even in Christ’s day. ajc Narrow is the path.
Tried to read some of the suggested articles but they were basically just bashing Clinton. Same old same old. Why is it that almost all sites that are Christian that bring up the political thing always trash democrats. Could Trump be anymore unqualified, ignorant. evil (filthy mind, filthy life style, adulterer many times over, liar) than he is. He is America’s new dictator. Already paid all his friends back by deregulating everything that was meant to protect us as Americans. Now his friends can really make out at America’s expense. If you are basically supporting Trump then you should say so. People have a right to know. I don’t care how smart a person is and how wonderful some of his teachings are, I would question his discernment if he voted for Trump. Yes, who you vote for is personal but if you are playing the politics thing – then you need to be honest so a person can choose if they want to continue reading your site. Because I don’t mind saying that I think anyone who calls themselves a believer and has a mother, wife or daughter and votes for Trump is off in his way of thinking . There is only one spirit. He is not going to tell one believer one thing and another believer another thing. I think the people that voted for Trump must have the same value system as he does, or are delusional. I don’t want to hang with people that voted in a man that will and would hurt my family. A man that hurts women and the poor. A man that delights in and brags about his lust and cruelty. Clinton is far from perfect but she is not a monster as Trump is. Picture your daughter stranded on a desert island with Trump. ajc
Thank you for this, ajc! I also despair of the assumption that the only Christian path is to support Trump and the current conservative agenda. I’m amazed that so many are willing to overlook so much in order to hold to a view that our system divides us perfectly into two camps, where liberals are evil and conservatives are godly. Not so. There are a lot of progressive views that can more clearly be supported by scripture than some conservative ones. In fact, the connection of conservative policy with Christian values was a marketing strategy to win the fundamentalists of the 1950’s. It is thin in many places. And then there’s the sustained outrage over Clinton’s mishandling of emails, alongside the blind eye toward Trump’s long legal history of fraud, elder abuse, violations of the Fair Housing Act, defamation, sexual harassment…these are qualifications we want in a president? Aside from these moral issues, he’s unqualified. But he is a Republican so apparently the choice of many Christians.
There are issues on both sides of the aisle, so we should think critically and evaluate the issues to determine which policy or candidate to support, rather than continuing to assume it’s bad if the dems are behind it or vice versa.
I’m pleasantly surprised to find some of that critical thinking and openness to logic and discussion here.
A dead moose would in fact be less threatening to freedom of religion, the lives of the unborn, the sexual purity of our young people, etc etc etc. The left is an atheistic, perverted agenda and the Truth is, the Facts are such that no disciple of Christ should ever countenance no less support their godless agenda.
This election cycle American political discourse has sunk to a new low. Rather than presenting facts and offering persuasive arguments based on policies, we’ve seen a whole slew of false claims and personal attacks. The exchanges between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have been so caustic and shameful that when I discovered my ten year-old was watching one of the presidential debates with his mom, I immediately ushered him out of the room, muttering that such language and behavior was inappropriate for him to see. (He had weaseled his way in to watch it on the excuse that he couldn’t sleep.) What does it say about the way politics works itself out on national TV that I felt horrified that my son was exposed to such bickering and animosity among those who are vying for the highest and noblest governmental office in the land?
This was more than a podcast on the 2016 Presidential election. This was a great discussion on how we should live our lives as followers of Messiah everyday. While none of us are perfect, there is no room for slander in the speech of a believer as far as I’m concerned. God bless and thanks again guys for the enjoyable podcast, from a fellow Apolitical.
I thought you all handled this topic very well – with great respect for people, as God sees them. Thank you!
This was a really good talk. One in a million at this particular time. My only thought is that you might be confusing religion with Christianity and pew sitters with believers. Knowing and believing Christ is different than religion no matter what it’s called. Religion has always been cruel. Even in Christ’s day. ajc Narrow is the path.
Tried to read some of the suggested articles but they were basically just bashing Clinton. Same old same old. Why is it that almost all sites that are Christian that bring up the political thing always trash democrats. Could Trump be anymore unqualified, ignorant. evil (filthy mind, filthy life style, adulterer many times over, liar) than he is. He is America’s new dictator. Already paid all his friends back by deregulating everything that was meant to protect us as Americans. Now his friends can really make out at America’s expense. If you are basically supporting Trump then you should say so. People have a right to know. I don’t care how smart a person is and how wonderful some of his teachings are, I would question his discernment if he voted for Trump. Yes, who you vote for is personal but if you are playing the politics thing – then you need to be honest so a person can choose if they want to continue reading your site. Because I don’t mind saying that I think anyone who calls themselves a believer and has a mother, wife or daughter and votes for Trump is off in his way of thinking . There is only one spirit. He is not going to tell one believer one thing and another believer another thing. I think the people that voted for Trump must have the same value system as he does, or are delusional. I don’t want to hang with people that voted in a man that will and would hurt my family. A man that hurts women and the poor. A man that delights in and brags about his lust and cruelty. Clinton is far from perfect but she is not a monster as Trump is. Picture your daughter stranded on a desert island with Trump. ajc
Thank you for this, ajc! I also despair of the assumption that the only Christian path is to support Trump and the current conservative agenda. I’m amazed that so many are willing to overlook so much in order to hold to a view that our system divides us perfectly into two camps, where liberals are evil and conservatives are godly. Not so. There are a lot of progressive views that can more clearly be supported by scripture than some conservative ones. In fact, the connection of conservative policy with Christian values was a marketing strategy to win the fundamentalists of the 1950’s. It is thin in many places. And then there’s the sustained outrage over Clinton’s mishandling of emails, alongside the blind eye toward Trump’s long legal history of fraud, elder abuse, violations of the Fair Housing Act, defamation, sexual harassment…these are qualifications we want in a president? Aside from these moral issues, he’s unqualified. But he is a Republican so apparently the choice of many Christians.
There are issues on both sides of the aisle, so we should think critically and evaluate the issues to determine which policy or candidate to support, rather than continuing to assume it’s bad if the dems are behind it or vice versa.
I’m pleasantly surprised to find some of that critical thinking and openness to logic and discussion here.
A dead moose would in fact be less threatening to freedom of religion, the lives of the unborn, the sexual purity of our young people, etc etc etc. The left is an atheistic, perverted agenda and the Truth is, the Facts are such that no disciple of Christ should ever countenance no less support their godless agenda.
Levi, we’ve elected to respond to your comment in Off Script 42: Hillary Clinton, a Dead Moose, and Christians Discussing Politics. Check out our response.