Below is an excerpt from the book unchristian, an excellent
critique of modern Christianity from the perspective of the outsider to
the faith. This chapter is available for free in its entirety from
the authors website. What are your thoughts about Christianity and
politics? Sound off in the comments, or join the forum to dig into
the discussion.
Have you ever played the word-association game?
Just to refresh your memory, it works like this: someone mentions a word
or phrase, and you must name the first thing or person that comes to mind.
For instance, if you hear the phrase Chicago Bulls, whom or what do you
think of? What about Scientology? Islam? Now, consider Christianity. In
our survey, we asked young people to identify the best-known Christians,
encouraging respondents to mention anyone who came to mind. Among sixteen-
to twenty-nine-year olds outside of Christianity, the top five leader
associations included the Pope (mentioned by 16 percent of young
outsiders), George W. Bush (13 percent), Jesus (9 percent), Billy Graham
(7 percent), and Martin Luther King Jr. (6 percent). Among young
churchgoers, the top three included Mr. Graham (29 percent), followed by
the Pope (17 percent) and the president (17 percent). Young Christians
also mentioned Martin Luther King Jr. (8 percent), Jesus (7 percent),
Mother Teresa (7 percent), Mel Gibson (7 percent), and James Dobson (5
percent). There were smaller levels of awareness for other Christian
leaders. What is your impression of these findings?
Perhaps young people did not think to mention the original. Still, did you notice that GeorgeW. Bush is more likely to be thought of as a Christian leader than are clergy or other influential Christians? In another portion of our research, we found that half of young outsiders said they could think of specific Christian leaders in politics, which means outsiders recognize Christians in politics more readily than in any other sector, including music, movies, sports, or business. Even young churchgoers are more likely to recognize famous Christians involved in politics than other arenas, except music. In some ways, it is not surprising that politicians are so frequently linked to beliefs and to faith. Christians have made a concerted and coordinated effort to engage the political process in recent decades, so their activity in the political realm can be hard to miss. This profile is intensified in part because the faith of candidates becomes a news item during campaigns. Since political decisions affect every citizen’s life, the connection between politics and faith—as well as the link between people’s perceptions of the political environment and their views of Christians—is inescapable. And so for these reasons and others I will discuss in this chapter, Christians are now perceived among Mosaics and Busters as too involved in politics. To be more precise, they think of us as motivated primarily by political goals and as promoting a right-wing agenda. The fact that there is consternation among young people about the role of religion in politics probably does not surprise you. The important questions are why young outsiders believe Christians are motivated by a political agenda, whether any of the concerns are legitimate, and what should be done, if anything at all, about the perception."It is ironic, of course, that Jesus is not at the top of these lists of “famous Christians.” Given the fact that the survey was focusedon “present-day Christianity”