Written by Don Byrd
Election season is increasingly a polarizing time. As the BJC’s Amanda Tyler argues in an important new column, the political tribalism that pits Americans against each other need not, and should not, corrupt our religious community. But it does.
…Americans are remarkably diverse when it comes to religion. We can pursue unity in these divided times by recommitting ourselves – Republicans and Democrats – to living up to the principle of religious non-favoritism.
As a Christian, I take heart in Paul’s letter to the churches at Galatia, which were also struggling with tribalism… Paul argues that faith has made these distinctions and differences meaningless “for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. … There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:26-28)
If he were writing to American churches today, perhaps Paul would add, “In Christ, there is no Democrat or Republican.”
Read the whole thing. Her appeal to unity is a powerful message to all of us “both as Americans…and as children of God,” calling people of faith to “[r]eflect[] on all that binds as together in our differences.” An important reminder indeed as we enter the final stretch of political ads and debates.
