Why Biden’s Exit Reflects a Deeper Need for Faith-Based Values in American Politics
If Joe Biden were his party’s nominee for president this fall, he would be speaking at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday. Instead, that honor goes to Vice President Kamala Harris, while Mr. Biden addressed the gathering last night instead. Frequently interrupted by chants of “We love Joe,” he pointed to his joint accomplishments with Ms. Harris as he passed the torch to her.
Have Democrats been unfair to the president? Joe Biden won his party’s nomination through its primary process, then resigned from the race on July 21. According to Robert Draper’s in-depth New York Times profile, he still feels anger and hurt toward party leaders who discouraged him from seeking reelection.
Said negatively: his political allies supported him so long as he was a means to the end of keeping the White House, then turned on him when they felt he could no longer serve this purpose.
Said positively: politicians must be elected if they are to serve. If, as Democratic Party leaders believe, their platform best meets the needs of the nation, it needs to gain power to do so. Running candidates who are most likely to win is a necessary means to this end.
Lest you think I’m being partisan, the same is true on the Republican side. Donald Trump was widely disliked in his party until it became clear that he would win the nomination in 2016. Over the years since many of his political opponents have become his supporters. The same negative/positive calculus is in play.
“The Arc of History Bends Toward Justice”
I often cite the work of sociologist James Davison Hunter, whom I consider the leading evangelical interpreter of culture today. In his new book, Democracy and Solidarity: On the Cultural Roots of America’s Political Crisis, he argues that America was formed within the tension between Enlightenment values—a belief in individual reason, deliberation, and neutral social institutions—and religious faith.
As New York Times columnist David Brooks notes in his response to Hunter’s work:
The Bible gave generations of Americans a bedrock set of moral values, the conviction that we live within an objective moral order, and the faith that the arc of history bends toward justice. Religious fervor drove many of our social movements, like abolitionism.
However, as Hunter reports, America began growing less religious in the 1960s and started privatizing religious beliefs as a result. In response, American public life grew largely secular, especially among the highly educated classes. Moral relativism then supplanted religious doctrine.
How is this working for us?
“Loving Things and Using People”
The so-called sexual revolution of the era, coupled with the advent of birth control, soon spawned the normalization of no-fault divorce, pornography, homosexuality, and abortion. Same-sex marriage and society-wide LGBTQ advocacy followed, along with growing support for polygamy and euthanasia.
What these issues have in common is that they commodify people:
- Birth control enables unmarried people to have sex even with strangers with less fear of pregnancy, even though God created sex as a celebration of marital intimacy and childbearing (Genesis 2:23–25).
- No-fault divorce and polygamy undermine the relational unconditionality that God intends to characterize marriage (cf. Genesis 2:24).
- Pornography obviously objectifies the bodies of others for selfish pleasure.
- LGBTQ advocacy labels people by perceived gender and sexual orientation rather than calling them to celebrate their identity within biblical truth and morality.
- Abortion treats preborn children as objects to be killed and removed from their mother’s body as she wishes, even though God considers them sacred from the moment of their conception (cf. Psalm 139:16; Jeremiah 1:5).
- Euthanasia values life only to the degree that it serves utilitarian purposes to the individual or to society at large.
As you can see, making people a means to our ends is not limited to political parties. From Cain and Abel to today, it is a symptom of our fallen nature and drive to be our own god (Genesis 3:5).
And as the old gospel song says, “Loving things and using people only leads to misery.”
Why “God Will Make Us Good”
If our society is ever to move past the commodification and transactionalism that dominates our relationships, we will need a source beyond ourselves. We will need the power to choose love over lust, sacrifice over selfishness, forgiveness over revenge.
The good news is that Jesus, the one Person in all of human history who most exemplified such attributes, can recreate us in his “image” (Romans 8:29). His Spirit can manifest the “fruit” of his character in us: his love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22–23).
How?
- Settle for nothing less than Christlikeness: “As he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct” (1 Peter 1:15).
- Practice the presence of Christ through your day. Read and memorize Scripture; express gratitude for his gifts; pray for your needs. Imagine yourself in his presence, since you are (Matthew 28:20).
- Submit each day to the Spirit, asking him to make you more like your Lord than you have ever been (Ephesians 5:18).
C. S. Lewis noted:
“The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because he loves us.”
How deeply do you want God to “make you good” today?
*Denison Forum does not necessarily endorse the views expressed in these stories.
Quote for the Day:
“Character is what a man is in the dark.” —D. L. Moody
Photo Courtesy: ©Getty Images/Anna Moneymaker/Staff
Published Date: August 20, 2024
Jim Denison, PhD, is a cultural theologian and the founder and CEO of Denison Ministries. Denison Ministries includes DenisonForum.org, First15.org, ChristianParenting.org, and FoundationsWithJanet.org. Jim speaks biblically into significant cultural issues at Denison Forum. He is the chief author of The Daily Article and has written more than 30 books, including The Coming Tsunami, the Biblical Insight to Tough Questions series, and The Fifth Great Awakening.
The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of CrosswalkHeadlines.
For more from the Denison Forum, please visit www.denisonforum.org.
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