Demonizing political opponents

Some say Christians should just avoid talk about politics. Many Evangelicals think Christians should talk more about politics.

Whether and how much Christians should talk about politics is for a different post. I’m interested here in what Christians say when they do talk about politics.

Let’s start with some uncontroversial propositions. First, Christians should be involved in politics just like Christians should be involved in the arts, athletics, and business. Politics is neither sacred nor profane, and if it becomes your work, you should do it will all your heart.

At the same time, Evangelicals have come to trust too much in politics and too little in the power of God. In the span of my lifetime I’ve watched Evangelicals go from apathy to obession on the issue of politics.

But whether one becomes a politician or just talks politics with friends, and whether one is indifferent or highly charged when ti comes to the political issues of our day, one thing Christians should almost never do when talking politics is demonize political opponents.

An old tactic

There is nothing new about this tactic. Nearly 2,500 years ago in his book, Rhetoric, Aristotle wrote about the tactic of demonizing one’s political opponent to play on people’s fears as a mode of persuasion. It’s an argument designed to appeal to your baser emotions. It’s rooted in fear and bolstered by hyperbole.

You can see this tactic in use every day whether you are watching Fox News, MSNBC, or any other network pandering for profit to those in the left/right game.

Fox News told you Kamala Harris was a Marxist and would destroy the economy if elected. MSNBC told you Donald Trump would destroy our democratic form of government if elected to a second term. Be scared! The sky is falling if the other side wins. This is the most important election of our generation!

Sound familiar? It should. Hopefully you didn’t fall for it. More importantly, hopefully you didn’t engage in similar conduct.

My experience at the 2012 National Prayer Breakfast

I was invited to the 2012 National Prayer Breakfast when Barack Obama was president. Eric Metaxes gave the keynote address. I sat at a table with the very liberal congressman, Al Green. I had never met him before, so I asked him why he got involved in politics. As he talked about wanting to help people, he started to choke up. He was still deeply moved by the gravity of the importance and purpose he saw in his role as a United States representative.

Then there was Nancy Pelosi, a liberal representative, then House Minority Leader, who was even more maligned by Evangelicals than Green, mostly because of her leadership position in the House of Representative. Pelosi gave a short teaching from the Old Testament that was as anointed as I had heard anywhere. She is a devout Catholic and has been married to the same man for 61 years.

Green, and particularly Pelosi, were and still are routinely demonized by people on the right, including believers, when they discuss politics. Of course, I could give examples of the left demonizing those on the right as well.

A dishonest tactic

Demonizing one’s political opponent may be effective but it’s usually dishonest. The person who believes differently than you is not evil because of their political views. That they believe government should solve people’s problems or they think you should pay more taxes doesn’t make them evil. It may make them wrong, but that is an entirely different thing. People are not evil because of what they believe but because of what they do.

The Apostle Paul said this to his disciple, Timothy:

“The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.”

2 Timothy 2:24–26 (NASB)

For Kingdom citizens the ultimate goal is not to win an argument but that those around us who do not know Jesus repent and turn to God. Do we really think that ad hominem attacks against Nancy Pelosi will endear us to non-Christians? All it demonstrates is that just like the humanists, we think political power is more importance than obedience to King Jesus. To the contrary, it is obedience to King Jesus that manifests the kingdom of God on the earth. See Matthew 6:10

A better way

Can you imagine how refreshing it would be to hear a politician say, “I have a lot of respect for _____, and he obviously cares about the welfare of the American people, but he is mistaken about the best way to improve the economy”? People automatically discount what someone is getting ready to say when that person reveals a bias. Engaging in ad hominem attacks on one’s opponent reveals just such a bias. But when one is gracious and gives the benefit of the doubt to one’s opponent, it bolsters one’s credibility in the argument against one’s opponent.

I learned this long ago as a trial attorney. When I am arguing a case before a judge or jury and my opponent misstates a fact, I usually give them the benefit of the doubt: “Ms. Smith just told you, _____. I’m confident she was not trying to mislead you but was just mistaken.” I’ve immediately established myself as someone who is fair and can be trusted in what I’m getting ready to say.

And as ambassadors of King Jesus and His kingdom, we should do the same. GS