Don't Rail against the Christian Right

Cal Thomas wrote an article entitled "Religious Right R.I.P." (11-06-08).

It's easy to demagogue against the religious right and to call into question its grander scheme of national politics--but the Christian Right does not start there.

The Christian Right begins with a Sunday School teacher attending a PTO meeting for the local school, and being concerned over curricula which indoctrinate students with anti-Christian values, and eventually being elected as president of the PTO, and who knows, perhaps even being elected as mayor.

The Christian Right begins at the County Commissioner levels where County Commissioners harass churches over zoning laws, prompting a deacon to run for office.

The Christian Right begins when an incumbent state delegate or congressman votes against the born-alive bill which would mandate medical care to babies of botched abortions, prompting a church trustee to run against him.

The Christian Right begins with a lawyer in the church hearing about voter fraud, prompting him to volunteer his time to monitor polling places.

The Christian Right begins with Christians in a community lobbying U.S. Representatives to repeal the marriage penalty from the tax laws so that their 20-something aged children will stop citing it as an excuse for shacking up.

The Christian Right begins with Christians in a community pressing their U.S. Senators to stop stealing the legitimate earnings of successful people in order to redistribute their wealth to unworthy causes.

The Christian Right begins with the preacher from the pulpit telling his congregation that there is a right and a wrong, and that their vote on election day should reflect that fact.

The Christian Right begins with two or three believers meeting for prayer regularly to pray for the forthcoming election.



When believers do what they ought to do, there is fundamental change in society. Our salvation, in fact, moves us to be involved as change-agents in our society. Yes, we have the mandate to preach the Gospel, but we also have the mandate to live the Gospel.