WAGNER: Should Christians be political? The case against staying silent

When Adolf Hitler came to power in early 1930s Germany, there were about eighteen thousand Lutheran pastors in that country. Only about three thousand openly opposed Hitler. Roughly the same number openly supported him. A large majority of pastors sat on the fence.In 1935, about 700 pastors opposed to Hitler were arrested. There was a cost to taking a stand.In 2022, Eric Metaxas, the author of a well-received biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer — a German pastor who opposed Hitler — wrote a book drawing parallels between 1930s Germany and the contemporary United States entitled Letter to the American Church. The purpose of the book is to encourage Christians in the United States to become politically active before the situation there becomes too dire.In Metaxas’ view, if a majority of pastors had openly opposed Hitler in the early 1930s, before his grip on power became strong, the course of history could have been changed and millions of deaths prevented. By the same token, if American Christians would actively oppose certain evil trends in their country right now, disastrous consequences could be averted.A common criticism heard today, especially from progressives, is that Christians should keep their religion to themselves and not get involved politically. Instead, politics should be secular, and religion should confine itself within churches.Metaxas, however, points out the hypocrisy of such an argument. Because there is no neutrality when it comes to politics and government, arguments against Christian involvement are actually efforts to exclude the Christian perspective so that another perspective will prevail.As he writes, “to secularize the public square is actually to impose upon it a religion of another kind, albeit in a way that very cleverly and dishonestly pretends not to be religious at all. But on matters that touch on the fundamentals of human existence, especially with regard to such institutions as marriage and the sanctity of life, we are inescapably dealing with religious issues. .So to stand against the views of people of faith is — quite ironically but unavoidably — to take a distinctly ‘religious’ view nonetheless, and to seek to impose it.”All law is based upon a particular concept of morality, so if it’s not the Christian view, it will be a non-Christian or even anti-Christian view. Of course, this is precisely what the secularists want.In 1930s Germany, many of the Lutheran pastors held to a false understanding of the Bible. It teaches in Romans 13 that Christians must obey their government under any and every circumstance. At the very least, Christians should not resist the government. But that’s not what it says.Romans 13 says that a civil ruler is supposed to be a “minister of God” who punishes evil-doers and praises the good. Therefore, when a government acts contrary to its stated purpose in Romans 13 and instead implements evil policies and punishes those who oppose the evil, Christians should not submit. They should publicly stand for what’s right.Christians cannot claim to be motivated by love when they fail to speak the uncomfortable truth people need to hear. Remaining silent in the face of evil is harmful, not helpful.What are the issues Metaxas is talking about in particular? Largely, the highly controversial matters of abortion and sexuality. They are central to the modern “culture war.” Standing up for the unborn and for Christian moral precepts often involves taking political stances, whether we like it or not.As Metaxas asks, “Are we afraid to say that abortion is morally wrong, and that under no circumstances must we equivocate on it? Would we have spoken against slavery in 1850? Would we have spoken against the monstrously antisemitic actions of the Nazis in 1933? Why do we believe we would have spoken then if we are silent now?”.Currently, governments in both Canada and the US claim that men can have babies and actively promote killing unborn children in the name of women’s bodily autonomy. This is not the endpoint of their agenda, as their “progressive” ideology urges them to make further “progress” along the same lines. What comes next won’t be pretty.Metaxas is urging Christians to not let the situation continue to deteriorate until it is too late to make a difference. In particular, he explains, “the Church has always held that life in the mother’s womb is sacred. This is a nonnegotiable, and when the government makes a law declaring the murder of the unborn child legal, it is not possible for the Church to remain silent.”Furthermore, “The Church has always known and always held that marriage is a sacred institution, created by God for a man and a woman. When the state attempts to redefine marriage, it is the Church’s solemn duty to speak out against this immoral and unnatural law and not to accede to the accusations that we are being bigoted or unloving in so doing. On the contrary, we are obliged for the love of God and our fellow man to say what the Bible says and what the Church has for all its history taught.”In short, the message of Metaxas’ book is that Christians need to be politically involved and can’t sit on the sidelines when so much is at stake.

WAGNER: Should Christians be political? The case against staying silent

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