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 Germany. And, because the Nazis were aware of the economic chaos that ensued when the Russian communists murdered all of the capitalists; instead of murdering all of the capitalists the Nazis directed their anti-capitalist hatred at the Jews, confiscated their businesses, and regulated all other businesses.

 

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 Soviet Union as an “evil empire”.    

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?