I have often wondered about the strangeness of politics and religion and how they end up entwined. In the United States it was Ronald Reagan campaigning in 1979 for presidency that brilliantly tapped into the religious right to boost him to the win. Since then the Republican party has forever been tied to conservative Christians.

Of course most things that occur in the US echo here in the Great White North and this interesting dance between politics and faith has happened here as well. For a while now my  experience in the church has been one that has seen evangelical Christians tied somewhat inextricably to the Progressive Conservative party (and now the Conservative Party) when it comes to voting in elections.

Now there is nothing wrong with either Republicans and Conservatives (why some of my best friends are Republicans and Conservatives…) but I question what I perceive as unthinking loyalty to anything. I have met many a person who simply assumes that because they are Christian they must in fact be Conservative or Republican.

It used to be a party’s stance on abortion was the thin edge of the wedge for Christian votes…of course this no longer factors into Canadian politics because every major Canadian party has publicly stated that they will not repoen the issue or consider private member’s bills.

So how do faith-based decisions get made when it comes to voting. What are the big issues Christians should consider? Here are a few:

– Poverty
– Health care (healing the sick)
– Sanctity of Life (all life)
– Corrections and crime (vengeance or rehabilitative)
– Environmental policies (Stewardship of Creation)
– Tolerance (as Christians who value our freedoms and feel them eroding we must recognize that tolerance is the key to regaining what we have lost and this is secondary to the fact that “God so love THE WORLD…” and desires that ALL would be saved and created everyone with the Imago Dei)
–  Senior Citizens (care for our elders)
– Economy (Store up riches in Heaven, do policies make it easier to fall into debt or harder)
– Youth related issues and policy (education etc. “Do not let people look down on you because you are young”)

This is a tiny list and there is much more but it gives you an idea of the depth one can delve in making a decision. All of the parties have strengths in this list. All of them have weaknesses. How does a person of faith decide?

Certainly one does not decide by name or tradition.