WHAT IS THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT?
A Sober Look at Political Reality by
Gary Ray Branscome
In our world, with all of its
ideological conflict, the words left and right are often used to accuse and
condemn. Those on the left accuse all who oppose them, as well as any leftists
that they do not want to be identified with, as being “right wing extremists,
or even Nazis. While those on the right just dismiss such accusations as
childish name-calling. And, when the media adds its voice to the chorus of
left-wing accusation, those on the right often wonder if the world has gone
totally insane. Moreover, their confusion is justified because from a Christian
point of view Hitler and Stalin were both left wing socialist dictators, and
are as alike as two peas in a pod.
Because Hitler claimed to be a
socialist, instituted many socialist programs, and led the National Socialist
party, I could hardly believe my ears when I heard a leftist accuse Hitler of
being a capitalist. Why, the very reason that Hitler hated the Jews was because
he regarded them as capitalists. In the first part of the twentieth century,
Jews owned many of the companies in
After, World War 2 public opinion
held only contempt for Hitler and Mussolini. As a result, communists and other
socialists tried to distance themselves from Nazism and Fascism by accusing
everyone who opposed them of being Nazis or Fascists. As a child I found such
accusations totally confusing. During World War2, when my Father, his brothers,
and many other Americans fought to defend our constitution against Nazism and
Fascism they were called patriots; when they came home, and spoke out in
defense of the constitution, they were accused by the left of being right-wing
extremists, Nazis or Fascists. That made no sense at all. Later I learned that
it was all a left wing attempt to deceive the public.
During the years following
World War2 [and even today] the political spectrum was described by the media
as having Stalin on the left and Hitler or Fascism on the right. However, that
is totally dishonest. Prior to World War2 the political spectrum listed
dictatorship (total government) on the far left and anarchy (no government) on
the far right. All other governments were seen as being somewhere in between;
how close they were to the left or right being determined by how much freedom
the people had. As you can see, that portrayal of the political spectrum was
totally logical. In contrast, the claim that Hitler belongs on the right is
pure propaganda, with no truth to it whatsoever.
From a Christian point of
view, a political spectrum that portrays dictatorship as one extreme and
anarchy as the other extreme makes sense, and has some value as a way of rating
various governments. At the same time it is a philosophical construct, not
something written in stone. And, from a Christian perspective it fails to
distinguish moral freedom from unbridled license. In fact, viewed Biblically
dictatorship and anarchy have much in common. Anarchy places no restraint upon
the criminal behavior of individuals. Dictatorship places no restraint upon the
criminal behavior of rulers. And, Christians are prone to think of government
in terms of good verses evil, godly rulers verses wicked rulers. Ronald Reagan
expressed that viewpoint when he referred to the
That being understood, a
Biblical alternative to the political spectrum places unrestrained lawlessness
(both anarchy and dictatorship) on the far left, and moral government (where
both rulers and people obey the Ten Commandments) on the far right. Freedom is
then be seen as the freedom to “lead a quiet and peaceable life in all
godliness and honesty,” not freedom from moral restraint or anarchy (1Timothy
2:2).
Because conscientious
Christians evaluate rulers and governments in terms of morality, they view
rulers who promote abortion or sexual immorality, while attempting to justify
such wickedness by inventing “rights” nowhere mentioned in the constitution, as
the same sort of criminal rulers that persecuted Elijah, and many other prophets
of God.
Because Hitler killed
millions, Stalin killed millions, and the American left has killed over sixty
three million babies by abortion, Christians view them all as criminal rulers
and bloodthirsty agents of Satan. Once that is understood, it is no surprise
that the states known as the “Bible belt” generally vote against what they see
as government sanctioned criminality. That includes not only abortion, but all
attempts by government to impose acceptance of homosexuality and transgenderism
upon the nation, even using schools to seduce little children into that
lifestyle.
Furthermore, Christians expect
politicians who claim to oppose such wickedness, to vote against it, not to
talk one way and vote another. That is hypocrisy! And, speaking of hypocrisy,
what would you call people who claim to be Christian, yet are willing to accept
that sort of wickedness?