Tea Party and Christian Values

Jim Wallis is one of the more thoughtful religious leaders of today. He founded the Soujourners -- "Christians for Justice and Peace" -- and he promotes ecumenical efforts to overcome poverty and seek social justice. He also teaches a course at Harvard on "Faith, Politics and Society." So his thoughts on the Tea Party movement are of interest.

In an essay on Huffington Post, he addresses the question: "How Christian is the Tea Party Movement?" In short, his answer is that Libertarian emphasis on individual rights and private property rights, and seeing the government as the problem, is antithetical to Christian teachings.

Here are some ways in which he finds Libertarian values in conflict with Christian values:

1. The Christian answer to the question "Are we our brother's keeper?" is decidedly "Yes." . . . Loving your neighbor is a better Christian response than telling your neighbor to leave you alone. Both compassion and social justice are fundamental Christian commitments.

2. An anti-government ideology just isn't biblical. Romans 13 . . . describes the role and vocation of government [which] also plays a role in God's plan and purposes. Preserving the social order, punishing evil and rewarding good, and protecting the common good are all prescribed; we are even instructed to pay taxes for those purposes.

3. The Libertarians' supreme confidence in the market is not consistent with a biblical view . . . When government regulation is the enemy, the market is set free to pursue its own self-interest without regard for public safety, the common good, and the protection of the environment -- which Christians regard as God's creation. . . .

4. The Libertarian preference for the strong over the weak is decidedly un-Christian. . . .When the system is designed to protect the privileges of the already strong and make the weak even more defenseless and vulnerable, something is wrong with the system.

Some may object that the Tea Party is not a libertarian organization. The Kentucky Libertarian Party has even said that Rand Paul is not a true libertarian -- because he favors government regulation on things like abortion and gay marriage -- so they may run someone against him in the general election. However, the similarity of Tea Party and Libertarian interests makes Wallis' remarks germane, whatever political philosophy they may espouse.

I suspect that many in the Tea Party crowds would be distressed to be told that what they are demanding is not compatible with Christian values. They need to do some thinking about what is Christian about it.

Needless to say, I find myself in sync with Wallis on this -- and with Jesus' social teachings -- even though I identify myself more as a humanist than a believer in Christian theology.

Ralph