When politics becomes your religion

I bet you think this could never happen to you.

C. S. Lewis, in a book written over 80 years ago — The Screwtape Letters — talked about the dangers of letting politics become your religion. Lewis put the following words in the mouth of his professorial devil-uncle who was instructing a nephew on one way to wreck his human target:

“Let [your patient] begin by treating … Patriotism or Pacifism as part of his religion. Then let him, under the influence of partisan spirit, come to regard it as the most important part. Then quietly and gradually nurse him on to the stage at which the religion becomes merely part of the ‘cause,’ in which Christianity is valued chiefly because of the excellent arguments it can produce.”

Think that could ever be you one day? Or even today?  

I hope not because you’ll be miserable when it occurs. But sadly, at least on the surface, it seems to be happening a lot right now.

Too many professing Christians on both sides of the political aisle seem to be convinced that they’re in the midst of a human life-and-death, global-existential battle, and if the other side (God forbid!) wins, the result will be certain cataclysmic destruction on a national level. Sovereignty of God be, um, “darned.”

They unknowingly descend to the point of defining themselves more by their social justice commitments than by their theological claims. And they have no problem either mentally or physically banishing an opponent should said person get one or more political positions wrong, with the exclusion being harsher than if the same individual uttered some theological heresy.

Even if that doesn’t sound like you today, “… let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). This leads us to the question of, how can we all guard against getting to the place where politics puts God in second place?

The age-old lie

From MAGA and conservative disciples on the right to liberal social justice warriors on the woke left, there’s no denying that shrieking, quasi-religious political activism is everywhere. Cultural commentators debate on why it seems to be so severe and growing.

Some say the ideological social media and news echo chambers have cordoned us off into warring factions. Others point to a growing spiritual emptiness inside of people that they try to feed with politics.

On that point, there’s little doubt that the sense of political connection many find is replacing social relationships that they once found in church. This is especially true for those who completely jettison their faith and seek something with that same satisfying punch.

To them, political conventions can have an identical vibe to raucous and joyous church worship. A candidate’s inspiring speech warms the heart just like a fiery evangelist’s. Doling out funds regularly to politicians’ campaigns replaces tithing.

But from there, things can turn a bit darker. It’s not long before a live-and-let-live mindset changes and “the other side” is seen as an enemy who needs to be put down.

“Whether religious or political, sectarianism is about two hostile identity groups who not only clash over policy and ideology, but see the other side as alien and immoral,” writes Nate Cohn of The New York Times. “It’s the antagonistic feelings between the groups, more than differences over ideas, that drive sectarian conflict.”

And that conflict turns white hot when a group of people genuinely believe they have the only answer for society’s ills. Pope John Paul II described the danger of such a scenario this way: “When people think they possess the secret of a perfect social organization which makes evil impossible, they also think that they can use any means, including violence and deceit, in order to bring that organization into being. Politics then becomes a ‘secular religion’ which operates under the illusion of creating paradise in this world.”

When that point is individually reached, two things have typically occurred inside a person: 1. The primary object of deliverance from societal problems is the government vs. the Creator. People are tired of waiting on God to make things right; 2. Scripture has been discarded as absolute truth and moral authority. When cultural values clash with the Bible, the culture wins.  

This metamorphosis has happened constantly throughout history, both on an individual and societal level. For example, listen to what historian Antonia Tripolitis has to say on the troubled Hellenistic-Roman world: “The general populace no longer placed its hope or faith on the ancient gods, whom they believed could not alleviate their daily encounters with the vicissitudes of Hellenistic life … This was a period of general material and moral insecurity. The unsettling conditions of the time led people to long and search for soteria, salvation, a release from the burdens of finitude, the misery and failure of human life. People everywhere were keenly awake to every new message of hope and eagerly prospecting for a personal savior, someone who would bring salvation, i.e., deliverance or protection from the vicissitudes of this life”.

Sound familiar?

The question is, how can we as Christians stop ourselves from getting to such a place? A first step can be an honest examination of ourselves and asking questions like:

Do I find myself witnessing more about Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, etc., than I do about Jesus Christ?

Do I feel like the country is doomed more if the wrong people are elected vs. if the nation rejects God and His truth?

Do I view those on the opposing political side as enemies vs. people to be listened to and won for Christ?

Do I enjoy thinking about the defeat of my political opponents?

When I imagine how God’s higher purposes can be accomplished, do my thoughts immediately turn to political parties and politicians?

Are my political views, practically speaking, a key aspect of my identity?

Do I think that God is on my side politically and opposed to those who disagree with me?

If so, you may have already been captured by the enemy in the way Screwtape describes to his disciple: “Once you have made the World an end, and faith as a means, you have almost won your man, and it makes very little difference what kind of worldly end he is pursuing. Provided that meetings, pamphlets, policies, movements, causes, and crusades matter more to him than prayers and sacraments and charity, he is ours.”

Journalists Paul Huyghebaert and Bobby Harrington sum up such an unfortunate, end state this way: “… the nature of politics, right or left, is to grow in importance to where it dictates your deepest hopes and fears. Left unchecked, it will claim your ultimate allegiance.”

For Christians, at that point, you’re now committing idolatry. So, let’s not let politics become our religion, keep God in first place, and do as John says: “Little children, guard yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21).