For Christians living in a democratic society, electing government leaders is a stewardship responsibility, giving followers of Christ an opportunity to influence government in the direction of policies that promote virtue and restrain evil.
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In deciding how to cast their ballots, Christian voters may wish to reflect on how the positions of the major political parties align with official church positions on particular issues.
The two main political parties in the U.S. tend to disagree more about means than ends, although on some issues significant disagreement exists about ends as well (most notably on tax policy, the need for military engagement, marriage policy, and issues related to the sanctity of human life).
This post, the first of two parts, compares United Methodist teaching on several major issues with the official platforms of both the Democratic and Republican parties. The side-by-side comparisons below are without commentary, except for two clarifying notes.
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The United Methodist Church positions quoted below have been approved by various sessions of the UM General Conference and are found in The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church 2008.
Democratic Party positions are from The 2008 Democratic National Platform: Renewing America’s Promise (full text). Republican Party positions are quoted from 2008 Republican Platform (full text).
Issues and parties are listed in alphabetical order. Additional issues are covered in part two of this post (link below).
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| ISSUE: Abortion |
The UMC |
| …Our belief in the sanctity of unborn human life makes us reluctant to approve abortion. But we are equally bound to respect the sacredness of the life and well-being of the mother and the unborn child. We recognize tragic conflicts of life with life that may justify abortion, and in such cases we support the legal option of abortion under proper medical procedures.
We support parental, guardian, or other responsible adult notification and consent before abortions can be performed on girls who have not yet reached the age of legal adulthood. We cannot affirm abortion as an acceptable means of birth control, and we unconditionally reject it as a means of gender selection.* We oppose the use of late-term abortion known as dilation and extraction (partial-birth abortion) and call for the end of this practice except when the physical life of the mother is in danger and no other medical procedure is available, or in the case of severe fetal anomalies incompatible with life…. The Church shall offer ministries to reduce unintended pregnancies. We commit our Church to continue to provide nurturing ministries to those who terminate a pregnancy, to those in the midst of a crisis pregnancy, and to those who give birth. We particularly encourage the Church, the government, and social service agencies to support and facilitate the option of adoption. We affirm and encourage the Church to assist the ministry of crisis pregnancy centers and pregnancy resource centers that compassionately help women find feasible alternatives to abortion…. [*MThinker note: A 2005 study found that 74 percent of women having abortions chose to abort their pregnancies because having a child "would dramatically change my life." This suggests, at a minimum, that nearly three-fourths of abortions are for reasons of birth control. A 2002 study found that 54 percent of women having abortions had used contraception during the month they became pregnant, suggesting that abortion is widely seen as a birth control "back-up plan."] |
The Democratic Party
The Republican Party
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| ISSUE: Environment |
The UMC |
| We believe in God, Creator of the world; and in Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of creation….
We affirm the natural world as God’s handiwork and dedicate ourselves to its preservation, enhancement, and faithful use by humankind…. We believe in the right…to property as a trust from God…. ∞ All creation is the Lord’s, and we are responsible for the ways we use and abuse it. Water, air, soil, minerals, energy resources, plants, animal life, and space are to be valued and conserved because they are God’s creation and not solely because they are useful to human beings. God has granted us stewardship of creation. We should meet these stewardship duties through acts of loving care and respect. Economic, political, social, and technological developments have increased our human numbers, and lengthened and enriched our lives. However, these developments have led to regional defoliation, dramatic extinction of species, massive human suffering, overpopulation, and misuse and overconsumption of natural and nonrenewable resources, particularly by industrialized societies. This continued course of action jeopardizes the natural heritage that God has entrusted to all generations. Therefore, let us recognize the responsibility of the church and its members to place a high priority on changes in economic, political, social, and technological lifestyles to support a more ecologically equitable and sustainable world leading to a higher quality of life for all of God’s creation. |
The Democratic Party
The Republican Party
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| ISSUE: Health care / Medical research |
The UMC |
| Health is a condition of physical, mental, social, and spiritual well-being, and we view it as a responsibility — public and private. Health care is a basic human right.
Psalm 146 speaks of the God The right to health care includes care for persons with brain diseases, neurological conditions or physical disabilities, who must be afforded the same access to health care as all other persons in our communities. It is unjust to construct or perpetuate barriers to physical or mental wholeness or full participation in community. We encourage individuals to pursue a healthy lifestyle and affirm the importance of preventive health care, health education, environmental and occupational safety, good nutrition, and secure affordable-housing in achieving health. We also recognize the role of governments in ensuring that each individual has access to those elements necessary to good health…. ∞ The responsibility of humankind to God’s creation challenges us to deal carefully with the possibilities of genetic research and technology. We welcome the use of genetic technology for meeting fundamental human needs for health, a safe environment, and an adequate food supply. We oppose the cloning of humans and the genetic manipulation of the gender of an unborn child…. |
The Democratic Party
The Republican Party
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Part two, covering marriage and military engagement/national security, is here.
This is another outstanding post by MethodistThinker. Most people simply do not know this information. Thus, our political discourse is often based on false premises, and the media are typically too biased or incompetent to provide a lot of insight and guidance.
To those people who say that politicians and political parties are pretty much “all the same,” I would simply suggest that they investigate the differences a little more thoroughly. They may be surprised at what they learn.
Why not just re-title this article: “God is Republican?”
That would be more honest that grossly distorting the platforms of both political parties, as was done here.
Editor’s note: As noted, policy position are quoted verbatim. For those who wish to read further, links are provided above to source documents.
The prior comment from James is illustrative of what our political discourse has degenerated into, particularly as practiced by the Modern Left: sweeping, provocative accusations without specific supportive data.
MethodistThinker regularly links to source documents so that readers can make up their own minds.
I just recently stopped, in the past election or so, voting altogether. I had become convinced by careful observation that both political parties had become one party in two wings.
I am sure MethodistThinker knows full well that party platforms are about as useful as our UM Book of Resolutions, not to mention the Book of Discipline!
We should pray for those in authority over us, we should give honor and taxes to those in charge, but I daresay save your energy and time to redeem the Church — especially our UM Church!
[...] Party platforms and the UMC [...]