Political Neutrality Please! (I mean my brothers and sisters)

Cooky said:

...But we're here on the earth now. So are you saying we should forget about this world altogether, and focus solely on God's Kingdom?
Because in Jesus' time, there was no voting. You had rulers and regular people... So how could he have promoted politics when not everyone could be a politician? ...You see what I'm saying? things have changed.

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Yes, things have changed ( the scene of the world changes - 1 Corinthians 7:31 B)
Please notice John 6:15 because it mentions 'the people' wanted to make Jesus as their king/ ruler. Jesus declined.
In other words, Jesus could have been their king but it was Not the time for Jesus to begin ruling or governing over Earth.
Even some rulers were putting faith in Jesus, but because of the Pharisees (religious leaders) they would Not - see John 12:42
To me, how much better it would be for those ruling or governing to Not put so much importance on what others think.
Rather, think about what Jesus taught. Receiving or accepting honor from one another, and Not the glory that is from God,- John 5:44

Yes, we are here on Earth now, and according to Scripture 'Earth abides forever' and humble meek people will inherit the Earth.
So, No we are Not to forget about this world altogether, but that God's kingdom (Daniel 2:44) is the government to follow as Jesus did.
I suppose one could say by following or being committed to Jesus is already voting for Jesus.
If everyone on Earth followed Jesus they'd already be living by the Golden Rule and Jesus' New commandment of John 13:34-35.
Yes, thing have changed, changed to the point that we are in these last days of badness on Earth and see a selfish distorted from of love as described at 2 Timothy 3:1-5,13 which is in sharp contrast with the Christ-like love defined at 1 Corinthians 13:4-6.

Jesus taught to focus on God's kingdom (Matthew 24:14; Acts 1:8) as he focused on God's kingdom - Luke 4:43
Without kingdom focus people would Not know about the good times coming here on Earth - Isaiah 35th chapter; Revelation 22:2.

oldbadger said:

Jesus was most political.
He was demanding the full reinstatement of all the Laws of Moses, especially the poor laws, I think. That's political.

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Jesus fulfilled the temporary Constitution of the Mosaic Law for the ancient nation of ancient Israel - Romans 10:4
Jesus turned down political office according to John 6:15.
Jesus nor his 1st-century followers got involved in the political affairs of the day but remained politically neutral.
They did Not even get involved in the issues of the day between the Jews verses the Romans.

URAVIP2ME said:

Jesus fulfilled the temporary Constitution of the Mosaic Law for the ancient nation of ancient Israel - Romans 10:4
Jesus turned down political office according to John 6:15.
Jesus nor his 1st-century followers got involved in the political affairs of the day but remained politically neutral.
They did Not even get involved in the issues of the day between the Jews verses the Romans.

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That was Paul's voice and Apostle John's, and later-1st century Christians had an altogether different agenda, imo.

Jesus and the Baptist were both acting against a corrupted Temple system and its Priesthood. That's political.

Heyo said:

Currently it is a bit sad. We had one event last year due to corona and it looks like there will be no events before August this year.

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That sucks. What do you guys usually do when you get together?

Israel Khan said:

That sucks. What do you guys usually do when you get together?

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Mostly enjoying the simple life. Living near to nature, wilfully not using modern technology, working on the equipment without haste. When it's a medieval fair we have visitors to whom we explain what we are doing or perform medieval martial arts or small plays. We teach and learn new skills, sometime working together with experimental archaeologists.

InChrist said:

The government of the time was under the Roman Empire. The Temple was under the authority of the Jews. It was Jews who were taking financial advantage of fellow Jews to make money. That is what Jesus was angered over, not the political system.

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Judea was a client state of Rome. Perhaps you remember reading mentions in the Gospels of some of its kings (e.g. Herod the Great, Herod Antipas) or its religious/legislative/political council (the Sanhedrin)?

Herod was answerable to Rome, and had to ensure Roman taxes were paid and that the people didn't rebel against Rome. Rome generally let its client states do as they pleased on local political issues... such as allowing businesses on the temple grounds.

thomas t said:

Christianity better be neutral on politics.


Jesus wasn’t a politician either, I think.

Christians should focus on evangelizing and doing social work (or both), as I see it. Politics, as I see, is a distraction. Christians should focus of what they are good at.


Especially after Donald Trump turned out to have a dubious stance on democracy, Christians should learn from that and stop openly favoring one party only.

In Germany, churches have supported Hitler in many cases and Christians should learn their lessons from it.

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Political neutrality?
Pish posh!
(Excuse me French, but I was triggered.)
Take sides on political issues when you feel called.
But be civil & objective.
That's far better than neutrality.

thomas t said:

Christianity better be neutral on politics.


Jesus wasn’t a politician either, I think.

Christians should focus on evangelizing and doing social work (or both), as I see it. Politics, as I see, is a distraction. Christians should focus of what they are good at.


Especially after Donald Trump turned out to have a dubious stance on democracy, Christians should learn from that and stop openly favoring one party only.

In Germany, churches have supported Hitler in many cases and Christians should learn their lessons from it.

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You are correct Tom, we Christians are no part of this world, and we seek the Kingdom of God first Mat 6:33. Matter of fact we believe satan has the governments in his control Mat 4:8,9; 2 Cor 4:4. hitler imprisoned us for our faith, but history shows, we are still here, he is not.

Cooky said:

...A Christian not willing to even try to save the life of an unborn child..? That’s just one example of why politics are important... There are many others.

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since this is a thread about political neutrality...
are you saying that the GOP has a convincing concept how to bring the abortion numbers down in the United States?
I don't see this.

thomas t said:

since this is a thread about political neutrality...
are you saying that the GOP has a convincing concept how to bring the abortion numbers down in the United States?
I don't see this.

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I'm not actually saying that, but Political Neutrality involves the rejection of politics, and taking no active part in attempting to effect policy at all in regards to abortion, including electing democrats who oppose abortion.

9-10ths_Penguin said:

Judea was a client state of Rome. Perhaps you remember reading mentions in the Gospels of some of its kings (e.g. Herod the Great, Herod Antipas) or its religious/legislative/political council (the Sanhedrin)?

Herod was answerable to Rome, and had to ensure Roman taxes were paid and that the people didn't rebel against Rome. Rome generally let its client states do as they pleased on local political issues... such as allowing businesses on the temple grounds.

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I am not disputing your explanation concerning the Roman tax system, nor Herod being responsible to collect taxes in Judea for the Roman government. I am simply saying that I don’t believe the point of Jesus’ attack on the money changers was political, but rather against their unethical practice of charging exorbitant fees to exchange money of those who came to the temple during Passover. Jesus clearly stated the temple was to be a “house of prayer”, meaning it was not meant to be a place of taking advantage of others for financial profit.

“Because Jewish law required a temple tax of a half-shekel (Exodus 30:11–16), Jews and visitors from other nations came to pay their taxes when they offered their sacrifices. But foreign coins with the likeness of pagan emperors would not be accepted in God’s temple. So money changers exchanged those foreign coins for Jewish money, but they did so at an exorbitant profit. Rather than provide this service as a business in another part of town, they exploited the religious zeal of the visitors to Jerusalem and did their business on temple grounds. Because they determined their own exchange rate, money changers easily took advantage of the poor and the foreigners pouring into Jerusalem for Passover.”
Who were the money changers in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org

The political engagement I see among many (NOT all) Evangelicals is not focused on what I think Jesus would prefer in a just society, which I'll refer to as Matt 25. I have had Evangelicals explain to me that the government feeding the hungry etc. is socialism and just makes people lazy. They say "welcoming the stranger" doesn't mean illegal immigrants because this is our country and "They" don't belong here. I'm sure many of us are aware of efforts on the part of evangelicals to compel the teaching of their religion in government-sponsored public schools (creationism, young universe); they certainly aren't supporting the teaching of any other religion's creation stories.

All in all, I find the political engagement of evangelicals disturbing. And not "Christian." And focused on dominance rather than service.

GardenLady said:

The political engagement I see among many (NOT all) Evangelicals is not focused on what I think Jesus would prefer in a just society, which I'll refer to as Matt 25.

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I think this is a very interesting interpretation of Matthew 25.
This is called the sheep and the goats judgement and speaking from my experience, evangelicals apply this to the individual level.
Want to know if you (personally) are a sheep or a goat? Look at Mt 25 then.
However, mt 25 is about Jesus judging the "nations".
While it is true that, in Greek language, the word used for nations can also mean people from foreign countries.... it also can literally mean "nations".
Well, and I think that's the better way of translating nations here.

Ironically, countries like Sweden that have a non-Christian government opened their borders and welcomed many refugees.
But you know, there are also many Christian refugees among them, mostly from Africa or the Middle East.
So you can actually say that Sweden accepted more suffering and truely Christian refugees from war-torn countries (per capita) than the Christian USA did themselves. But it's still great that the USA accept at least some of them...

Cooky said:

I'm not actually saying that, but Political Neutrality involves the rejection of politics, and taking no active part in attempting to effect policy at all in regards to abortion, including electing democrats who oppose abortion.

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ok.
But I also see websites like lifesitenews that simply exercise partisanship in this matter and I think that this only leads to more stubbornness on both sites.
These highly political sites use terminology that is aimed to push the emotions up instead of providing true answers, leading to the conflict being more shouty and aggressive.
So, political action in this field can be flawed, too.
And I don't see that these negative effects that political activism by Evangelicals in this field brings along... are more than evened out by the positive aspects of tearing into question if abortion is right as a matter of choice.

I have no concern about whether a refugee is Christian or not. I'm not sure why you think that is relevant?

I would venture to guess that at least 95% of the people in the United States have NO concept of what it is like to live in a place where violence and corruption are so endemic, poverty so intense and unassisted, and life so hopeless that they would leave with only what they can carry to get to a place where they might be able to have a decent life under the radar. I don't care if they are Christian or whether they are white or brown or black or whether they speak English. I find the idea that they should be excluded or abandoned by the wealthiest nation on earth to be morally repugnant. And that their children should be taken from them is horrifying. And I find the complicity of Evangelicals in that perspective also morally repugnant.

Evangelicals often respond with "well, what have you done?" I refuse to engage in halo-polishing, but will say I have assisted both in person and financially, both through organizations and with individuals.

Matt 25 35-40 is about he actions of individuals toward the most vulnerable of our neighbors. it is individual souls that are saved or damned (or rather, damn themselves). There are no nations in heaven.

GardenLady said:

I have no concern about whether a refugee is Christian or not. I'm not sure why you think that is relevant?

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you were citing Mt 25. Mt 25 is about Jesus's brothers and sisters.

GardenLady said:

Matt 25 35-40 is about he actions of individuals toward the most vulnerable of our neighbors.

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"neighbours" is not quite right.
It says: "brothers and sisters".
But thank you for your input, Lady.
Thomas

My fault, I was too imprecise in my reference. Matt 25:35-40

GardenLady said:

My fault, I was too imprecise in my reference. Matt 25:35-40

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I find Matthew 25:40 is in reference to Jesus' spiritual brothers' and how the figurative humble ' sheep ' and the haughty ' goats ' respond to them or how they treat Jesus' spiritual brothers, these are also the ' brothers ' of 1 Corinthians 15:1; 1 Corinthians 15:20-23; Hebrews 6:10
These are the ' brothers ' who have that first or earlier resurrection - Revelation 20:6; 2:10; 5:9-10; Daniel 7:18
Whereas the ' righteous and unrighteous ' have that later or future resurrection as mentioned at Acts of the Apostles 24:15

GardenLady said:

My fault, I was too imprecise in my reference. Matt 25:35-40

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But Matthew 25:40 mentions Jesus's brothers and sisters and not mere neighbours.

“Whatsoever you do to the least if my brothers...”. You think this means brothers literally? Oh, brother!