Left -> Right

In my late teens, I was more left wing. In fact, I was big into Leon Trotsky. I wondered if I could somehow mingle Christianity with communism.

I’m sort of in the middle now, perhaps slightly tending to the right. All the rock music stars that I liked, such as Paul Weller and Elvis Costello used to despise Maggie Thatcher, but I used to like her even when I was a communist 😀. And I always enjoyed listening to Enoch Powell and Tony Benn on radio interviews. One was very right wing and the other very left wing.

So, there are left- and right-wing politicians that I respect. But there are many that I just find annoying too, especially street protestors 😀. But it’s tough work for those in government. In the New Testament, we are encouraged to respect the governing authorities, so I try to do that:

Matthew 22:21
….Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.

Romans 13:1-2
Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. ² Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

1 Timothy 2:1-2
I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— ² for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

People sometimes assume that evangelical Christians are right wing, but you get lots of different political opinions in churches. Evangelicals were central to major 18th–19th century reforms, and you get plenty nowadays who emphasize social action.

And I don’t think churches should align themselves with particular political parties or movements. We should certainly pray for those in government, whoever they are. But if someone particularly wicked is in power, we should hope and pray that God would remove them. People sometimes speak of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and how he was involved in the move to assassinate Hitler. But that was an unusual situation. For the most part, I would think that Christians try to be supportive of whatever party is in power, but they won’t necessarily vote for them at the next election 😀. Nero was in power when Paul urged the early Christians to pray for governing authorities.

Here are some hymns that slightly touch on politics. I’ll leave it to you to decide which ones are left wing and which ones are right wing.