The Political Sphere: Sketching an Outline of Kuyperian Political Principles -- Evangelical OutpostEvangelical Outpost

http://www.nykola.com/home.html Ambra Nykol

I don’t think Christians should profess to be members of any political party. Though my vote leans towards Republicans the majority of the time, I refuse to call myself a Republican, and I sure as heck refuse to call myself a Democrat. I don’t think party allegiences are the way to go. My allegience is to God first. Everything else is just man made.

http://www.nykola.com/home.html Ambra Nykol

I don’t think Christians should profess to be members of any political party. Though my vote leans towards Republicans the majority of the time, I refuse to call myself a Republican, and I sure as heck refuse to call myself a Democrat. I don’t think party allegiences are the way to go. My allegience is to God first. Everything else is just man made.

http://lashawnbarber.blogspot.com/ La Shawn Barber

When I registered to vote for Bill Clinton (ugh!) 12 years ago, I signed up “Undeclared” and was thrown in with the Independents. To this day, I’m still registered this way and I’ve never joined a party. I’m an Independent Conservative who votes for Republicans.

http://lashawnbarber.blogspot.com La Shawn Barber

When I registered to vote for Bill Clinton (ugh!) 12 years ago, I signed up “Undeclared” and was thrown in with the Independents. To this day, I’m still registered this way and I’ve never joined a party. I’m an Independent Conservative who votes for Republicans.

http://gideonstrauss.com/ Gideon Strauss

Dear Mr. Carter:
Very exciting! You may want to look at the principles stated by my friend Jim Skillen in his statement on what distinguishes the political approach of the (neocalvinist) Center for Public Justice.
Link: http://www.cpjustice.org/distinguish.html
There is also a list of seven articles on the principles that distinguish a neocalvinist approach at the bottom of “about” page of the Center.
Link: http://www.cpjustice.org/about.html

http://gideonstrauss.com Gideon Strauss

Dear Mr. Carter:
Very exciting! You may want to look at the principles stated by my friend Jim Skillen in his statement on what distinguishes the political approach of the (neocalvinist) Center for Public Justice.
Link: http://www.cpjustice.org/distinguish.html
There is also a list of seven articles on the principles that distinguish a neocalvinist approach at the bottom of “about” page of the Center.
Link: http://www.cpjustice.org/about.html

Puzzled

There was an attempt to create such a party in South Africa during the last years of apartheid, as it was fading away naturally, before the US Left got involved and put a genocidal party in power there.
But the US has a system which is not easily affected by third parties, except in a negative sense. Clinton would have lost both elections if Ross Perot hadn’t run.
The best bet, as near as I can tell, is to form a caucus within whichever party is closer to your views, and work to influence and change the party. A Constitution/Declaration caucus with Kuyperian principles (so very closely related to those of Rutherford summerized in the Declaration) would work more to the good than a separate party giving more margin to the party holding to mid-20th century fascist philosophy – the Democrats.

Puzzled

There was an attempt to create such a party in South Africa during the last years of apartheid, as it was fading away naturally, before the US Left got involved and put a genocidal party in power there.
But the US has a system which is not easily affected by third parties, except in a negative sense. Clinton would have lost both elections if Ross Perot hadn’t run.
The best bet, as near as I can tell, is to form a caucus within whichever party is closer to your views, and work to influence and change the party. A Constitution/Declaration caucus with Kuyperian principles (so very closely related to those of Rutherford summerized in the Declaration) would work more to the good than a separate party giving more margin to the party holding to mid-20th century fascist philosophy – the Democrats.

Steve_in_Corona

I see voting in the realm of stewardship, along the lines of to whom much is given, much is required. And taking the time to vote is not requiring much.
In that regard, I do not practice sure-losing protest votes, but vote Republican in national races, and also since I live in liberal California, I vote (R) in state and local elections…but I recognize there are some pro-life, pro-Christian value candidates from the (D) side in some states in local races. They just are not allowed a national stage by their party.
I would have voted for Specter’s challenger in the primary..but would vote for Specter in Nov. now that he won his primary. Simply because as a (R), barring a Jeffords like defection, he will support President Bush’s judicial nominees, and not be part of the filibuster actions of the Democrats – all of whom with only 1 or 2 exceptions (Miller for example) continue to support the filibuster tactic – even though each and every one of the 48 (D) Senators proclaim a Judeo or Christian faith. There are no professing atheists in the Senate.
Therefore, I feel as a steward, I must continue to vote Republican for now.

Steve_in_Corona

I see voting in the realm of stewardship, along the lines of to whom much is given, much is required. And taking the time to vote is not requiring much.
In that regard, I do not practice sure-losing protest votes, but vote Republican in national races, and also since I live in liberal California, I vote (R) in state and local elections…but I recognize there are some pro-life, pro-Christian value candidates from the (D) side in some states in local races. They just are not allowed a national stage by their party.
I would have voted for Specter’s challenger in the primary..but would vote for Specter in Nov. now that he won his primary. Simply because as a (R), barring a Jeffords like defection, he will support President Bush’s judicial nominees, and not be part of the filibuster actions of the Democrats – all of whom with only 1 or 2 exceptions (Miller for example) continue to support the filibuster tactic – even though each and every one of the 48 (D) Senators proclaim a Judeo or Christian faith. There are no professing atheists in the Senate.
Therefore, I feel as a steward, I must continue to vote Republican for now.

robgeneva

neo-calvinists principles being spread around the blog world – this is a wonderful thing! More, more!

robgeneva

neo-calvinists principles being spread around the blog world – this is a wonderful thing! More, more!

http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/ Joe Carter

Puzzled,
The best bet, as near as I can tell, is to form a caucus within whichever party is closer to your views, and work to influence and change the party.
I completely agree with you. The two-party system is completely embedded in the US’s political DNA. Any attempts to work outside of that structure would be futile. I think your caucus idea is the right approach to take.

http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com Joe Carter

Puzzled,
The best bet, as near as I can tell, is to form a caucus within whichever party is closer to your views, and work to influence and change the party.
I completely agree with you. The two-party system is completely embedded in the US’s political DNA. Any attempts to work outside of that structure would be futile. I think your caucus idea is the right approach to take.

http://yorkieblog.blogspot.com/ Grouchy Old Yorkie Lady

I think allegiance to a particular party is the wrong way to go for Christians — I switched from being a registered Republican 15 or so years ago to being a registered “undeclared” or Independent. My loyalty is to God, and I vote for the candidate that I think best represents a biblical world view.

http://yorkieblog.blogspot.com Grouchy Old Yorkie Lady

I think allegiance to a particular party is the wrong way to go for Christians — I switched from being a registered Republican 15 or so years ago to being a registered “undeclared” or Independent. My loyalty is to God, and I vote for the candidate that I think best represents a biblical world view.

JBP

Joe & Puzzled,
The two-party system is a result of single member district winner take all elections. The dynamics of the contest force parties to aggregate before the election. Jurisdictions with run off elections or multi-member districts typically support multiple parties. Germany is an interesting example because they employ both single member winner take all elections and multi-member districts. The result is what political scientists call a two and a half party system. The nation is dominated by two parties but a third party is able to elect members. The third party can never expect to govern in its own right, but can leverage power.

JBP

Joe & Puzzled,
The two-party system is a result of single member district winner take all elections. The dynamics of the contest force parties to aggregate before the election. Jurisdictions with run off elections or multi-member districts typically support multiple parties. Germany is an interesting example because they employ both single member winner take all elections and multi-member districts. The result is what political scientists call a two and a half party system. The nation is dominated by two parties but a third party is able to elect members. The third party can never expect to govern in its own right, but can leverage power.

Steve_in_Corona

Lest there be any confusion, I do not proclaim any allegiance to the Republican party. However, I do think it is wise to be registered as a Republican (presently) so I can vote accordingly to my Christian convictions in the primaries.
I see no special virtue (or condemnation of course) for a Christian to declare as “independent” in registration – but in doing so, one is limiting their stewardship opportunity.
In a place like California, where we often have very liberal and very conservative Republicans (and some in between) running in the primaries, I want to make my voice heard there as well. There is no chance I would vote for a Democrat here in California in the Fall, because there is no chance that one would be conservative.
Therefore, to secure the best chance of having a conservative Republican who values my Christian convictions to vote on in the Fall…I need to make sure I vote in the primary season as well. Thus, my Republican party registration.

Steve_in_Corona

Lest there be any confusion, I do not proclaim any allegiance to the Republican party. However, I do think it is wise to be registered as a Republican (presently) so I can vote accordingly to my Christian convictions in the primaries.
I see no special virtue (or condemnation of course) for a Christian to declare as “independent” in registration – but in doing so, one is limiting their stewardship opportunity.
In a place like California, where we often have very liberal and very conservative Republicans (and some in between) running in the primaries, I want to make my voice heard there as well. There is no chance I would vote for a Democrat here in California in the Fall, because there is no chance that one would be conservative.
Therefore, to secure the best chance of having a conservative Republican who values my Christian convictions to vote on in the Fall…I need to make sure I vote in the primary season as well. Thus, my Republican party registration.

Steve_in_Corona

Lest there be any confusion, I do not proclaim any allegiance to the Republican party. However, I do think it is wise to be registered as a Republican (presently) so I can vote accordingly to my Christian convictions in the primaries.
I see no special virtue (or condemnation of course) for a Christian to declare as “independent” in registration – but in doing so, one is limiting their stewardship opportunity.
In a place like California, where we often have very liberal and very conservative Republicans (and some in between) running in the primaries, I want to make my voice heard there as well. There is no chance I would vote for a Democrat here in California in the Fall, because there is no chance that one would be conservative.
Therefore, to secure the best chance of having a conservative Republican who values my Christian convictions to vote on in the Fall…I need to make sure I vote in the primary season as well. Thus, my Republican party registration.

http://william.meisheid.com/ William Meisheid

You comments on Ontological Personhood are significant when you approach areas like capital punishment. The fact that “we belong not to others or even to ourselves but to God Himself” is the root argument God makes in the covenant with Noah regarding capital punishment.
The question should not be whether, but under what circumstances and with what burden of proof. I say this because in watching a dicussion of the current trial of Scott Peterson a lawyer and a district attorney argued that most evidence in murder trials is circumstantial. The real question for Christians is does this meet the burden of proof for condemnation (two witnesses) required under Jewish law, from which we should derive our requirements?
There are two ways to dishonor the covenant God made with Noah and which applies to all nations in all places: deny capital punishment or implement it without a Biblical burden of proof.
Just a few thoughts from the rim…

http://william.meisheid.com/ William Meisheid

You comments on Ontological Personhood are significant when you approach areas like capital punishment. The fact that “we belong not to others or even to ourselves but to God Himself” is the root argument God makes in the covenant with Noah regarding capital punishment.
The question should not be whether, but under what circumstances and with what burden of proof. I say this because in watching a dicussion of the current trial of Scott Peterson a lawyer and a district attorney argued that most evidence in murder trials is circumstantial. The real question for Christians is does this meet the burden of proof for condemnation (two witnesses) required under Jewish law, from which we should derive our requirements?
There are two ways to dishonor the covenant God made with Noah and which applies to all nations in all places: deny capital punishment or implement it without a Biblical burden of proof.
Just a few thoughts from the rim…

http://william.meisheid.com William Meisheid

You comments on Ontological Personhood are significant when you approach areas like capital punishment. The fact that “we belong not to others or even to ourselves but to God Himself” is the root argument God makes in the covenant with Noah regarding capital punishment.
The question should not be whether, but under what circumstances and with what burden of proof. I say this because in watching a dicussion of the current trial of Scott Peterson a lawyer and a district attorney argued that most evidence in murder trials is circumstantial. The real question for Christians is does this meet the burden of proof for condemnation (two witnesses) required under Jewish law, from which we should derive our requirements?
There are two ways to dishonor the covenant God made with Noah and which applies to all nations in all places: deny capital punishment or implement it without a Biblical burden of proof.
Just a few thoughts from the rim…

http://gideonstrauss.com/ Gideon Strauss

While I understand the concerns of good folk who want their allegiance to be to God only, I respectfully submit that we human beings express our allegiance to God in the context of all kinds of relationships in which we are members. We are members of a family and a church, citizens of a country, owners or employees in businesses, and sometimes members of political parties. Such memberships need not contradict our ultimate allegiance to Christ, the Lord.

http://gideonstrauss.com/ Gideon Strauss

While I understand the concerns of good folk who want their allegiance to be to God only, I respectfully submit that we human beings express our allegiance to God in the context of all kinds of relationships in which we are members. We are members of a family and a church, citizens of a country, owners or employees in businesses, and sometimes members of political parties. Such memberships need not contradict our ultimate allegiance to Christ, the Lord.

http://gideonstrauss.com Gideon Strauss

While I understand the concerns of good folk who want their allegiance to be to God only, I respectfully submit that we human beings express our allegiance to God in the context of all kinds of relationships in which we are members. We are members of a family and a church, citizens of a country, owners or employees in businesses, and sometimes members of political parties. Such memberships need not contradict our ultimate allegiance to Christ, the Lord.

solar_stronghold

Vote for the side that is most likely to defend the freedoms of the Constitution (the real work was done by the reformers and the early Americans and Founding Fathers, we just have to keep it alive and strong), keep the military strong, keep the economy strong, reform education, and vote for the side that doesn’t have a 16-year-old, comic book, atheist (or worse) attitude towards God.

solar_stronghold

Vote for the side that is most likely to defend the freedoms of the Constitution (the real work was done by the reformers and the early Americans and Founding Fathers, we just have to keep it alive and strong), keep the military strong, keep the economy strong, reform education, and vote for the side that doesn’t have a 16-year-old, comic book, atheist (or worse) attitude towards God.

solar_stronghold

Vote for the side that is most likely to defend the freedoms of the Constitution (the real work was done by the reformers and the early Americans and Founding Fathers, we just have to keep it alive and strong), keep the military strong, keep the economy strong, reform education, and vote for the side that doesn’t have a 16-year-old, comic book, atheist (or worse) attitude towards God.

http://jollyblogger.typepad.com/jollyblogger/2004/06/responding_to_h.html Jollyblogger

Responding to Hugh Hewitt

When I did my post yesterday on “Political Blogging,” I was thrilled to see that LaShawn Barber picked it up and did a post on it. I was thrilled again this morning when I saw that Joe Carter had picked

http://jollyblogger.typepad.com/jollyblogger/2004/06/responding_to_h.html Jollyblogger

Responding to Hugh Hewitt

When I did my post yesterday on “Political Blogging,” I was thrilled to see that LaShawn Barber picked it up and did a post on it. I was thrilled again this morning when I saw that Joe Carter had picked

http://jollyblogger.typepad.com/jollyblogger/2004/06/responding_to_h.html Jollyblogger

Responding to Hugh Hewitt

When I did my post yesterday on “Political Blogging,” I was thrilled to see that LaShawn Barber picked it up and did a post on it. I was thrilled again this morning when I saw that Joe Carter had picked

http://duke27.blogspot.com/ Stephen

Joe and Others:
If you want a scholarly biography of Kuyper, then I will shamelessly plug one of my professors’ latest books.
James McGoldrick wrote “Abraham Kuyper: God’s Renassance Man” in 2000. The biography attempts to present a fair portrait of the man and his beliefs. I have not read all the way through the book, but I think it would be helpful for one and all to read.
The publisher of the book is Evangelical Press. Their website is: http://www.evangelical-press.org
For stereo views of Calvinist theology applied to politics, one could look up http://www.chalcedon.edu and http://www.credenda.org on one side of the application of reformed Christianity or to http://www.christianity.com/ace for a different perspective.
Joe: Good thoughts. I couldn’t have said them better. I hope these resources help bring a far-too-often ignored perspective to your attention and are helpful and useful to you.

http://duke27.blogspot.com/ Stephen

Joe and Others:
If you want a scholarly biography of Kuyper, then I will shamelessly plug one of my professors’ latest books.
James McGoldrick wrote “Abraham Kuyper: God’s Renassance Man” in 2000. The biography attempts to present a fair portrait of the man and his beliefs. I have not read all the way through the book, but I think it would be helpful for one and all to read.
The publisher of the book is Evangelical Press. Their website is: http://www.evangelical-press.org
For stereo views of Calvinist theology applied to politics, one could look up http://www.chalcedon.edu and http://www.credenda.org on one side of the application of reformed Christianity or to http://www.christianity.com/ace for a different perspective.
Joe: Good thoughts. I couldn’t have said them better. I hope these resources help bring a far-too-often ignored perspective to your attention and are helpful and useful to you.

http://duke27.blogspot.com/ Stephen

Joe and Others:
If you want a scholarly biography of Kuyper, then I will shamelessly plug one of my professors’ latest books.
James McGoldrick wrote “Abraham Kuyper: God’s Renassance Man” in 2000. The biography attempts to present a fair portrait of the man and his beliefs. I have not read all the way through the book, but I think it would be helpful for one and all to read.
The publisher of the book is Evangelical Press. Their website is: http://www.evangelical-press.org
For stereo views of Calvinist theology applied to politics, one could look up http://www.chalcedon.edu and http://www.credenda.org on one side of the application of reformed Christianity or to http://www.christianity.com/ace for a different perspective.
Joe: Good thoughts. I couldn’t have said them better. I hope these resources help bring a far-too-often ignored perspective to your attention and are helpful and useful to you.

http://www.joshclaybourn.com/blog/archives/002236.html Joshua Claybourn’s Domain

Political Blogging