As I write this, we are currently seeing the outcome of an underdeveloped political theology in the US and facing the specter of consequences related to an underdeveloped political theology in my own country of Canada. As a political science alum and Master’s student in theological studies, I’d like to provide a methodology that can be used for faithful political engagement. I will not advocated for any specific party using this method, but will empower you to engage with politics more robustly.
Faith and Politics – The Basics
Before I provide a methodology around discerning where to place your votes or engage politically, I will first answer two more basic question: what role does your faith have to play in political engagement? What role does political engagement play in your faith?
My fundamental contention is that faith and politics are intrinsically interrelated. Both are ultimately concerned with relationships. Politics is concerned with relations between human beings and with relations between human beings and the natural world. Faith is concerned with relationships on both of those levels as well as with relations between human beings and the divine.
The principle of separation of church and state does not mean that faith has no bearing on how one engages politically. What it does mean is that no one religion or denomination has the monopoly on political power and that the state cannot appeal to religion or faith as justification for its legislative and judicial work.
There can often be reluctance for people of faith to engage in politics out of a discomfort with power. There are two fundamental errors in this reluctance. Firstly, there is a difference between politics and partisanship. As stated above, politics is fundamentally about relationships. One way this manifests is in the arena of party politics, driven by partisanship allegiances to governmental parties (ie. Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, NDP, Greens, etc.), but that is only one very narrow expression of politics. Secondly, there is a difference between power and privilege. Power is the ability to influence or effect change – this is something we all have to various degrees, it is something that can be grown, and one person having more power does not mean someone else having less. Privilege, on the other hand, are systemic and unearned advantages over others.
People of faith always have power, as faith is inherently a powerful force. People of faith often have privilege – certainly many white Christians in Canada are privileged in many ways. People of faith, unless they are completely isolated hermits, are inherently political though not necessarily partisan.
It is my firm conviction that people of faith must acknowledge that they have power and are political, and also acknowledge any privilege they have. They must then be intentional with how they use the power and any privilege they have, and how they engage politically. Failure to acknowledge these realities and practice intentionality in relationship to them has political consequences and it is in and of itself an unexamined privilege not to be intentionally political. Which is another way of saying that it is usually only the dominant and privileged groups who have the luxury of not engaging in politics at numerous levels.
Electoral Discernment – A Faith-Based Methodology
While I am calling this a faith-based methodology, the truth is that this methodology can be used, with little alteration, to help anyone discern what to vote for. I developed this methodology more formally several years back as part of involvement in a campus ministry group, but the ideas and approaches underlying this are far from original to me.
Step One: Prepare Yourself
Take a moment to center yourself however you best do so: spend a moment in prayer or meditation; move your body to process any emotions; do anything else to enter a calm and reflective state of being.
Step Two: Identify Your Core Values
Identify 1-3 core values you wish to focus on. Examples include: Equality, Justice, Compassion, Honour, Love, Courage, Joy, Resilience, etc.
Step Three: Identify Your Core Issues
Identify 1-3 core issues that are particularly important to you at this moment in time. Think at multiple levels: ie. local, regional, provincial, federal, continental, global. Examples include: housing, education, transportation, climate, cost of living, health care, etc.
Step Four: Examine the Parties and Candidates
Once you have your core values and your core issues identified, examine the candidates running in your local election and the parties they represent. Determine which most align with your values and which most address the issues you care about. You can find breakdowns through news sources – local newspapers, and national broadcasters usually have handy charts available for side-by-side analysis.
There are two things to keep in mind at this point:
You will not find a perfect match. You are looking for the one most in alignment with your core values and issues; it is highly unlikely that you will find someone completely aligned with you on these. The objective is to take a step in the right direction recognizing that true justice and love will not come this side of history.
Candidates and parties. From a highly technical standpoint you are voting for the candidate to represent you; however, in Canada party control is quite stringent so your representative may not have the freedom to vote against their party very often. Thus, it is important to factor in the parties platforms and the party leaders’ policies and approaches.
Step Five: Ongoing Engagement
The final step is more of a reminder: once your ballot is cast, all the votes are counted, and a government is formed, the work does not stop. Governments must be held accountable by the people they represent; this requires ongoing engagement and there are plenty of organizations to help guide you in this work.
The Dreamers' Corner 