Democrats And Republicans Are Different

Ok, you knew that one. But to what extent are they different? How deep does it go?

Seattle pastor Mark Driscoll in his book, Radical Reformission, refers to syndicated columnist Thomas Sowell's A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles. Driscoll says, "Sowell defines the two visions for the transformation of our culture as 'constrained' and 'unconstrained.' The constrained (Republican) vision views human nature as
selfishly sinful and places its hope in restraining our sin through the law. The unconstrained (Democratic) vision is diametrically opposed to this. It optimistically perceives human nature as basically good and capable of perfection in this life through social planning, including public education, government programs, and social services. The one thing these two visions have in common is that their faith rests in institutions; they simply disagree as to whether these institutions should release us or restrain us."

I don't know about you, but I find that very helpful when I think about American politics, because it whittles it right down to the nub of it:

Democrat: 'release' because man is basically good
Republican: 'restrain' because man is basically naughty

Driscoll goes on to express that as Christians, our faith rests in Jesus alone, and not in human institutions, since Jesus is in the business of redeeming people and their cultures. He suggests we get out of the "tired tracks on which Republican and Democrat politics run." I don't think he is saying not to vote; I think he means that though we may vote, and perhaps get even more deeply involved in the political process, our ultimate faith and trust for redeeming our culture has to be in God, not government programs.

I never wanted this blog to be very political, so I'll 'restrain' my commentary on this. But we vote tomorrow. In thinking about the issues and who to vote for (and yes, I think we should vote), let's have a good look at ourselves as a community, as a state, as a nation, and all the way down to what we know about our 'human nature.'

And as we fill out our ballots, let's do it with fervent prayer and a fervent trust in the God who is sovereign over all nations and kings.