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Biblical Faith and Social Ethics
REASONS WHY PROTESTANTS FAIL TO EXERCISE
POLITICAL RESPONSIBILITY
In view of the importance of the state from the standpoint of
Christian faith and in view of the kinship between Christianity and
democracy, it is somewhat ironical that Protestants in general tend
either to neglect or to deny their political responsibilities. Frequently
this neglect or denial is due to certain very non-Protestant conceptions
of Christian ethics and a certain naïveté concerning the nature of the
political processes. It will help to make our preceding analysis more
concrete if we examine some of the most common reasons why
Protestants in particular neglect their political duties.
THEY BELIEVE THAT POLITICS IS A DIRTY BUSINESS.
Protestants
generally share the common American belief that politics is a dirty
business. Professor George A. Graham describes the traditional at
titude toward politics in this country as one of “mingled pride and
shame.”20 The typical American venerates such political heroes of the
past as Washington, Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln, and Wilson, but he
habitually abuses the political leaders of his own day—just as his
fathers before him did. On the one hand he is proud of his demo
cratic heritage and the democratic way of life which he enjoys; on
the other hand he looks upon government as being inherently evil.
Those who are active in the processes of policy formation are “pol
iticians” ; and both politicians and bureaucrats, as well as lawyers
generally, are held in low repute in their own day. This inconsistency
in the attitude of the typical American toward democracy becomes
most obvious when those who hold it equate “the American way of
life” with “the Christian way,” as uncritical Protestants in particular
are inclined to do.
Commenting upon the effect of this derogatory view of politics,
Francis P. Miller says that, if the persons and the activities which
it describes “continue to be thought of by most Americans in this
way, the future of the Republic is not bright. No republic will long
survive if those charged with its maintenance are regarded by their
fellow citizens with contempt, or if the activities required for its main
tenance are considered unworthy of the ablest and best citizens.”21
20 George A. Graham,
Morality in American Politics,
New York, Random
House, 1952, p. 5.
21 Francis P. Miller, “Our Participation as Christians in Politics,”
Social
Action,
XX, no. 3 (December, 1953), p. 2.