Sjolander Road Fellowship

Democracy and Evangelical Christianity

In the minds of many, evangelical Christianity is seen as the fountainhead from which American style democracy sprang. This is ironic given the basic tenets of that religion. As is readily seen, the theology of this group recognizes two distinct classes of people in the world, those accepted by God and those rejected. The former are seen as superior in terms of knowledge, moral character, and understanding of proper human governance. Some in this category even believe that they have been arbitrarily "elected" to their exalted state by God prior to being born. At any rate, to be an evangelical Christian by orthodoxy's definition is decidedly not the basis for establishing an egalitarian system of government, such as that which has been historically attributed to this nation.

Some in the evangelical community have even begun to withdraw from the common notion that Christianity and democratic government are somehow intertwined and even inseparable. They readily recognize that a world in which the vast majority is not Christian by their definition is no place to promote "majority" rule. Such can obviously never lead to a "Christian theocracy," which "Christian" dominated politics so blatantly promotes. The new message from some Christian spokesmen is that America, as a democratic republic, is a source of rebellion against God and therefore not Christian at all. See the published Manifesto of Christian Government.

Certainly, in the beginning of this nation, there were two distinct camps with differing opinions about how government policy should be formulated and decisions made. One group favored empowering the "upper class" to influence government to the exclusion of the ordinary citizen. The other group had a much greater faith in this "common man," deeming him quite capable of participating in his own governance. It was largely a disagreement about the basic worth and character of the average human being. One can easily see that a religion which teaches that man is basically depraved and condemned by God cannot hold any great regard for the ordinary citizen's ability. By logical extension then, the morally superior Christians must take the lead, wresting control as necessary from the majority.

This can in no way be a worldview which promotes a democracy of one man -one vote.
Those who propose to speak for God and to claim exclusive rights to His eternal blessing are not by nature true champions of democracy. Their theology prompts a spiritual arrogance and a compulsion to reject and segregate from the rest of the world. This is not the attitude that will foster democratic thinking nor make our country a true benefactor to the world at large, as espoused by many in our current government. There is a basic disconnect between orthodox Christianity and purely democratic ideals, which denies the contention that America is a democratic nation founded on "Christian" principles.