Welcome again to my popular correspondent Bud Hancock with a very topical article about religion and politics. The two subjects the enemy has deemed to be disallowed in polite company, thus rendering the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ powerless. I am happy to say that my Blog is not retsricted to polite company.

Gibber! Gibber!

Chugley

The Religion of Politics and The Politics of Religion

By Bud Hancock

Introduction

There are two subjects usually capable of producing great and tumultuous debates which sometimes lead to violent altercations: Politics and Religion. Why is that? It is true that, because of their importance to humanity, whether real or not, those two subjects arouse the strongest emotional responses from people of every area of life, both abroad and here in the United States. I can understand why politics causes some violent behavior, but should not religion produce peaceful and loving conversations and actions? Are these two subjects connected in any way that would prompt a look into that connection and examine it more carefully?

Politics

First, the world’s definition of politics from Dictionary.com: “use of intrigue or strategy in obtaining any position of power or control, as in business, university, government etc.”

Power seems to be the ultimate goal of politics, so, what is the definition of power? Again, from Dictionary.com, the definition of power is: “ability to do or act; capability of doing or accomplishing something”.

Since control seems to be the secondary goal of politics, let’s see how control is defined. From Dictionary.com, control is defined thus: “the act or power of controlling; regulation; domination or command”.

It can be easily seen from the definitions above that politics, power and control go hand in hand.

Having searched many dictionaries to obtain the very best and most informative definition of politics, the definition that seems to fit best in this article, especially as it relates to religion is: “The use of underhanded crafty schemes, plots, intrigues anddeceitful plans, methods, or series of maneuvers (machinations and intrigue) in obtaining any position enabling one to do or act (with power), providing the capability of control, domination or command”. Anyone questioning the veracity of this definition has obviously not been paying attention to the political processes that dominate every area of life here in the United States.

Benjamin Disraeli, twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the 1800s, once said: “There is no act of treachery or meanness of which a political party is not capable; for in politics there is no honor”.

Every unethical, immoral act that can be imagined seems to occur either in, or with the approval of, the United States Congress. When those acts are questioned, the immediate cover-up of the acts begins from within the back rooms of said institution.

Religion

Now, about religion; what is the world’s definition of religion?

From Wikipedia,“The definition of religion is a controversial and complicated subject in religious studies with scholars failing to agree on any one definition. Oxford Dictionaries defines religion as the belief in and/or worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods”.

This definition seems to mesh well with the way the world looks at religion: as a ceremonial observance where people gather together to “worship”……something……which they consider to be a “supernatural controlling power”, worthy of worship either by their adoration of that object, or by their mental acceptance of it and their personal belief in it, as being supernatural.

Using that definition, and based on the possibility that many sports aficionados consider their favorite football players to be more or less supernatural, could not the extreme following of the game of football, or a football player or team be considered a ceremonial “religious observance? Since the end result of most sports events is a self-gratification that produces a feeling of euphoria, especially when a certain team wins, it is a very self-serving religion.

However, there is another definition of religion from the Bible, and it has little to do with the ceremonies and rituals that the World connects to their version of religion. That definition is found in the Book of James, chapter one, verses 26 and 27: “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world”. This religion involves serving others, especially those in need, and not self. This is the religion that God has called “Pure” and the only one through which He will accept man’s worship.

In God’s Eyes

Is it possible that, from the way the world sees, and thus uses, politics and religion, God might have a different view of these two volatile subjects? Regarding religion, James, the half-brother of Jesus stated this: “If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world” James 1:26-27. Hmmm, nothing mentioned there about ceremonies, but rather showing the love and compassion that Jesus showed during His ministry on the Earth. According to James, those whose religion consists of having their puny voices heard and being seen as religious, rather than actually being religious, are vain, empty and truly meaningless.

The Religion of Politics

In the United States. there has been a historic cry from one particular political party demanding that there be a separation between “Church and State”, which supposedly has always meant that the government should not be in the business of supporting any one religious group over any other with the intention of setting up one religion “accepted” by the government as opposed to accepting all religions.

So does that mean there is no religion that meshes with politics? If you believe that to be true, you are in for a shock. Remember, the definition of religion from Wikipedia above states that religion is “the belief in and/or worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods”. The word “god” does not necessarily refer to the real and supernatural person most universally recognized as God.

The God most Christians worship is Jehovah, or Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. But there is another, perhaps several, gods that are the foundation of the “belief system (religion) of politics”.

Socialism is first and foremost a political process that grows into a movement that can overwhelm and overtake entire cultures that never would have accepted it had they known the consequences. Antonio Gramsci, Italian Marxist, said this: “Socialism is precisely the religion that must overwhelm Judeo-Christianity. … In the new order, Socialism will triumph by first capturing the culture via infiltration of schools, universities, churches, and the media by transforming the consciousness of society.” We can certainly see that transformation occurring now in the United States.

Using the definition of politics given earlier in this article: “The use of underhanded crafty schemes, plots, intrigues anddeceitful plans, methods, or series of maneuvers (machinations and intrigue) in obtaining any position enabling one to do or act (with power), providing the capability of control, domination or command”, it should be obvious that the very first politician, Satan, or Lucifer, established the practice of politics when he used his powers of deception through lies, to tempt Eve into disobeying God. That system has existed for many thousands of years and has been responsible for the deaths of countless millions of human beings.

Throughout that time, the most successful use of politics (lies and deception) has been to convince Earth’s inhabitants (including, unfortunately, many sadly misguided Christians) that politics is a necessary process in the governing of people on this planet. As long as Satan has authority over the empires of this World, the likelihood of totally erasing politics from governments is slim indeed.

The very basis of politics is the use of lies and deception to gain whatever result is desired by those who not only take part in politics, as beneficiaries of the practice, but who reinforce and promote its practice as the only means of “providing for the good of the people”, which is ludicrous when history has shown that nothing good for the people ever comes from politics.

Politics absolutely leaves out the provisions God made for the governing of people and replaces them with satanic ideas and promises of reward for those who adopt his ideas. In this way, Satan replaces the True God with one that, although seemingly is a supernatural god, worthy of man’s worship, in the end, causes his rewards to his followers to turn to dust, corruption and death.

The Politics of Religion

This may seem confusing to some who would ask, just what is meant by “the politics of religion”? Does the practice and pursuit of religion actually have its own political structure and processes? Is religion actually governed by some form of politics? If so, is it a necessary process?

Since politics is a process by which people use strategies and tactics, to gain some form of control, most of which are either unethical or immoral, and likely illegal, especially in God’s eyes, the use of those tactics by members of the various religious groups around the World to further their own individual careers (think their megachurches), are a total affront to God, and they should also be to every true believer in Jesus Christ.

For much too long, so-called Christians, either CINO (Christians in Name Only), or real Christians who have been led astray by the propaganda that religion uses to pull the wool over their eyes, have accepted the presence of politics, usually for denominational, or perhaps worse, individual gain. Politics has always been a catalyst for acquiring wealth rather than a means of representing citizens in a parliament or congress.

Is there any chance that the presence of any political process in religion is a good thing? That would likely spark some tremendous debates among the more scholarly religious figures and would also likely expose the use of political strategies to increase the revenue of churches. The problem with this scenario is that it totally bypasses the structure of the Body of Christ. Just as the husband is the “head” of the wife, even so is Christ the Head of the Church; politics does not enter into the relationship between Christ and His church. Since Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, the Church must then become and then remain what Jesus was in His Earthly ministry. Was Jesus a liberal or was He a conservative as defined by the politics and politicians of today? To correctly answer that question, one must become familiar with the works that both the liberals and the conservative sides of politics actually do, as well as the works that Jesus did and then make an honest comparison between the two. Such a comparison should make answering that question much easier. I will leave the final answer to the question up to the individual reader, but my personal observation is illustrated by the words of Matthew 6:24b: “Ye cannot serve God and mammon (riches)”.

When organized religion has become so permeated with the World’s political strategies and tactics, whatever the desired result might be from them, and when politics becomes a mainstay in the operation of any religious denomination, the true purpose of the Church, the Body of Christ, is completely nullified and made of no use.

If the Church is to ever regain the power that Jesus imparted to it when He completed His Earthly ministry and issued His command to His disciples to go into all the world and make disciples of them, politics as a means of governing the Body of Christ MUST be removed from the Body. This can only be accomplished by following the words of Paul in Romans 12:1-2, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God”.

The establishment or retention of politics as an accepted process in any part of the Body of Christ will work against any acts of the Church, using God’s power, to reach the lost. Its acceptance in the Body of Christ MUST be resisted at all costs. If left intact there, it will not only accelerate the apostasy now eating away at the truth of the gospel, it will totally destroy any vestige of real religion, that of service to people.

Blessings and Maranatha!

budaroo@twc.com

Born and raised in a small textile town in North Carolina, Bud’s family moved to Michigan in the hope of finding better employment with General Motors.  After graduating from high school, Bud began an apprenticeship with General Motors to become a Metal Modelmaker.  Retiring after a 30 year career, which included an eight year stint as a Metrologist (Science of high precision measurement), he and his wife moved back to North Carolina to be near his elderly parents.  Shortly thereafter, with both of his parents having passed, he began a new career in the bank security/ATM business, advancing from an entry level technician to one of two North Carolina customer service managers for his employer.  Retiring again after 13 years, he and his wife of 51 years relocated to Tennessee where Bud began writing articles emphasizing Biblical teaching and geopolitical issues.  At age 75, he and his wife relocated to South Carolina with their Miniature Schnauzer, Baxter.  Bud continues to study God’s word and write articles on Christian living and geopolitical issues from the Biblical end times  perspective.