To say that one's spiritual life does not influence one's political views is like saying that one's genes do not influence one's life. While our genes alone do not determine what we become, it is ludicrous to think that they have nothing to do with the nature of our individual lives, the color of our eyes, bone structure, disease, whether or not we go bald. In like manner, our spiritual life influences everything about us, our outlook, our worldview, our choices, our values, and how we vote.
My inherent political conservatism is driven to a great degree by my firm conviction that individual choice is the centerpiece of the Christian faith from a practical perspective. We are as humans alone before God, one on one, and there as individuals we decide how we are going to respond to God's truths. This is not a collective decision but an individual one. The individual is all important in spiritual decisions.
Collectivism says the opposite. The individual is minimized for the "greater good." And in spiritual liberalism, the emphasis is not on individual decision before God but on collective social action. Such a thing ignores the personal questions that are directed to each of us individually, "What are you going to do about your sins? What are you going to decide about Christ's sacrificial work for you on the Cross? Will you accept or reject His offer of forgiveness through that sacrificial work? Are you going to take responsibility for your actions or will you instead blame society, your parents, or someone else? Are you going to make sound decisions about your life that shows spiritual, moral, and ethical responsibility?
God comes to each of us individually and deals with us as individuals. This is my firm belief, my core conviction. And that is one of the major reasons I adhere to conservative political ideas. Individual initiative, individual decisions about my life, my personal choices about how I conduct my life, are matters that are left to me and not to the collective whole.
In my spiritual life, the individual is all important. Thus, in politics it is the individual who is all important.
When I tend to me effectively, I will make decisions that deal with others fairly. But unless I start with me, then no matter what I think I am doing for "the greater good" amounts to a hill of beans, and in fact it is quite harmful.
Well said.
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