“Abstain from all appearance of evil.” — 1 Thessalonians 5:22 (KJV)
I’ve been in a conversation about Christianity and politics that I think is worth bringing here.
The core question isn’t “who are you voting for?” It’s: what kind of Christian witness does a movement produce, and does it pass the Bible’s own standard to abstain from the appearance of evil?
Historically, Jesus was a 1st-century Jewish man under Roman occupation, and his life consistently centered the poor, the outcast, and the oppressed. That’s the baseline I’m measuring “Christian politics” against.
Fast forward: over decades in the U.S., an ecosystem formed that blends faith with power-building—media, universities, donor networks, legal activism, and coordinated pulpit messaging. And some parts of the broader movement infrastructure have had documented overlap with networks tied to “scientific racism” and racial hierarchy (e.g., Pioneer Fund–linked circles). Even when the messaging is polished, the fruit can still look like hierarchy-protection more than neighbor-love.
Recent outputs worth examining:
- Black unemployment rose sharply in the latest data. [1]
- Black representation fell at many selective colleges after the affirmative-action ban (AP analysis). [2]
- The EEOC Chair has publicly urged white men to file discrimination claims and the agency has intensified scrutiny of DEI-related practices—Title VII protects everyone, but the posture and priorities are visibly shifting. [3]
- The President is now using “reverse migration” in national messaging, and the President is explicitly tying departures to “more housing” and “more jobs.” [4]
- Project 2025–aligned enforcement proposals spell out attrition and removal mechanisms (expedited removal expansion, worksite enforcement tools, etc.) that operationalize “people leaving” even when framed as voluntary. [5]
- Birthright citizenship is now an open question at the Supreme Court (the Court agreed to hear the challenge) [6]
When pastors adopt culture-war scripts from the pulpit or tie ministry to political mobilization pipelines, it creates the appearance that the church is functioning as a faction. Even with claimed pure intentions, the public witness looks compromised.
Question: when political alignment repeatedly produces outcomes that land hardest on the marginalized, is that aligned with Jesus or the Empire?
Thoughts?
Bro, I'm not really sure what you're trying to accomplish by posting these things here on Stacker News.
First, I don't even know what you mean by "Christian politics." There are Christians of all political persuasions in America and in other parts of the world. I go to a pretty conservative church theologically, but we have both Democrats and Republicans in the church. There isn't an absolute alignment between Christianity and any earthly political party in any country.
Second, although there are Christians here on SN, relatively few are what you could call Christian leaders or influencers. You keep making these posts but who are you even trying to speak to? As a Christian, nothing you attribute to "Christians" in your posts corresponds to anything I would recognize as my own point of view.
Third, the information you present is extremely narrow and obviously politically one-sided. One could just as easily talk about the injustices of the massive number of abortions, including selective abortion of babies with disabilities, or the injustices of child trafficking brought on by lax immigration policies.
Finally, your posts all appear to be AI generated.
So with all that, I'm genuinely confused as to what you're trying to accomplish. I've read some of your comments, and they seem to be genuine and coming from a good place, so I want to understand what it is you are trying to do with your posts.
I appreciate the pushback. When I say “Christian politics,” I mean the organized use of Christian language/institutions as a political project.
I post on SN because there are thoughtful readers here and it’s a good place to link sources and get challenged. I’m focusing on the Christian Right because I don’t see an equivalent multi-decade church-based political pipeline on the left. If you do, point me to it and I’ll look.
And on AI: I use it for research/editing/formatting, but the arguments and responsibility for accuracy are mine. If you spot specific errors, I’ll correct them.
You might get better engagement if you posed it more as a question, like "what do you think about
<this typical position of the Christian right>
?"I think you'd get better discussion. Because stackers have a diversity of opinions on these issues, but not many of us would identify with the Christian political right. (Maybe some do, not sure)