Politics and religion are different terms and they do not mean the same. Religion has things to do with spiritual activities and politics with the state affairs or physical affairs. Long ago, religion and politics were related and co-existed together. The Jews were an instance when religion ruled the territory of Israel. But after 2nd millennium BC, the two terms separated.
On the 3rd of October 1990, when East Germany was annexed to West Germany, the chancellor called the churches to have services of celebration and praise. The eastern churches were so ridiculed and concluded that the chancellor has no business to decide or fix the time of church service. The Americans also did the same thing when the then president George Bush asked the churches t have services of thanksgiving in the name of the victory over Iraq. It was also once said that a state minister hired a prayerful man to pray for him during elections, he prayed for the minister every single day before the elections. Such is the case today, the church and politics are two terms that are controversial. Jesus had no political mission but he took part in society building excluding party politics and dirty politics.
In such a juncture when things are getting extremely extraordinary, unable to harness the wisdom who to trust, the leaders or the masses, the rich or the poor, the powerful or the weak; it is of no wonder that there are preferences sometimes because there is always trajectories and opposition in public opinion. Even the Bible can be interpreted in many bountiful ways, it can also be basically understood for a wrong purpose because it certainly depends on how our intention provoke.
Likewise, in a certain hypothesis, consider a church or a Christian institution when a time happened to pass by with bitterness and absurdity of dirty politics in an election where nothing was to be gained. Politics is an art which is played, not implemented distinctly by will. It is a game that is not played on green grounds with rules and referees but on different arenas with the mind and sometimes evil for assumed outcomes. Therefore, it is completely against the will of God as Christians to play politics in itself.
It was once believed that the Emperor Constantine played on the early Christians, giving them all the advantages for worshipping because all those set days were secretly connected to Constantine’s pagan religion. However, it is not true. But this indication is also germane on the present situation. People are too much influenced by party politics, even the Church seem to take keen interest in it. It may be those leaders like that of Constantine who is bending the rules and dogmas of the Church, or it may be those members who are divided among themselves because of parties with preferences to their respective green parties.
The Pharisees and the Sadducees were the so called leader of the Jews during Jesus’ time. They go around with the Law of Moses but they never utter the truth by twisting it. They were hypocrites. They say one thing and contradict the former with the latter; they were selfish and self-righteous leaders. There are some instances that dirty games and being played inside the Church today. I don’t mean to imply monopoly or favoritism, tribalism or communalism, racism or clanism etc. but political games. Most of the churches are being disturbed with the wave of extreme politics were people are much preserved and getting themselves into a situation of limited worship.
The so called ‘green politics’ for the New Agers is without a doubt ‘a fantasy’ till now. It will never come into existence as far as my knowledge is concerned because the game is still prevalent. I remember a time when I saw a church completely torn apart in utter division. It gives sheer disappointment and absolute mayhem to the person who is willing to reconcile the parties when a gap is dug in the middle of such great compounded crises.
When one gets himself/herself in a position of serious competition, he/she tends to use God and Word to organize, interprets the Bible to make a strong standpoint. God does not take part in politics, especially when there are two sides. He is the either sides of a coin. That is so because we all are now chosen people. He is no more the God that had helped Israel win battles, but the same God in a different world with justice and acceptance for everyone. If a mythical god helps only the rich, educated and the powerful, then the others who are being oppressed will never realize the existence of a god or so. Our God is a God of justice, not injustice in any sense. Therefore, politics is not an agendum in God’s infinite plan for humankind.
One cannot imagine a minister of God sucking a lollipop going around campaigning for his/her candidates in the election. For it is a shame for him/her to even take active part in the family circle for elections and politics, saving the justifications. A child can be debauched when he/she is offered ransom for works often. Or when two adults bribe the child to work for either of them, the child will definitely go for the one who offers the most. Ultimately the child grows up with his/her firm foundations rooted on bribery. The same thing also penetrates a student who is brainwashed by irrelevant philosophies. That student may one day become self-conscious and self-dedicated; a philosopher is what the image in the mirror reflects one day when he grows up, resulting to become a complete skeptic and pessimist. Imagine a man of God who thinks of himself as a good wise philosopher though he is not! Shame is upon the same man who brings separation in the church because of his disgusting political philosophy. If a minister of God does communal riots among his own people and circle of friends, he is a promising becoming of evil in future. These traits lead to dirty politics.
Much of the ministers of God backslide because of politics. They interpret the Christian concept in total contradiction; compare the books in the Bible to find out their rights and measure to attack others. The Bible in any form is not to be used for evil gains but for the good. In a picture, if a leader of the church comes to the meeting with a Bible, read it and prayed in the beginning before getting mad at the congregation or the members present, it shows that his intentions were wrong and disarrayed from the moment he took out that morning.
God is not interested in limited mortal politics; He does not resolve to get involved. Our God is not one of the Titans, but the complete infinite being who rules over the finite material realm of mortality. There is no use praying for deliverance in elections. God is not a contemporary politician! He plays fair and gives justice to all in His due time. All that is needed from Him is patience for that deliverance from injustice. Instead of fighting dirty politics with dirty mindsets, instead of demanding lollipops from frittering people, instead of forming new green parties often with wrong intentions, it is time to form the true green Christianity that is possible because nothing is impossible with God.
Khrievotuo Seletsu
Khrievotuo@y7mail.com
