I've been waiting this book from Carl Trueman. Typically, I'm not particularly interested in politics, but many of the observations (and frustrations) I've made concerning the current political milieu are the same that Trueman articulates in his book, Republocrat. Republocrat: Confessions of a Liberal Conservative (P&R $9.99), Carl R. Trueman
Carl R. Trueman, professor of historical theology and church history at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, recently released a book discussing popular politics – as opposed to an academic discussion of political science. In his provocative little book, Trueman briefly looks at those areas he perceives as important in a Christian understanding of the Western political climate. Drawing from his own English upbringing and current residence in one of the United States’ most historically significant cities, Turman offers a proposal for Christians thinking about politics in the intentionally oxymoronic, Republocrat: Confessions of a Liberal Conservative.
Republocrat? That is not a word. And the book’s cover image might accurately be described as artistically nightmare-inducing. What is a liberal conservative? Something like those really orange green walls? Or perhaps icy hot cocoa?
Trueman explains his subtitle by more or less outlining his own political journey. He explains that he formerly considered himself a liberal, because liberals once cared about the same things he does: concern for and care of the oppressed – the poor. But, Trueman explains, when the liberals started promoting the oppression of the unborn, no longer standing up for those who cannot defend themselves, he saw that he might need to leave the group. But because, simply, he was not a conservative politically, he was left (no pun intended) not knowing where to go.
“I bring nothing for the comfort of those Christians who want to stand with the Old Left on issues such as poverty; we have nowhere to call home,” Trueman writes. “We are despised by those who claim to speak for the oppressed but only seem to speak for those whose notion of oppression is somebody, somewhere, telling them they have to take responsibility for their own irresponsibility or that certain self-indulgent behavior is unacceptable.”
Trueman moves through his book explaining how America’s consistent secularization has become a religion in its own right. And then, in a humorous chapter about conservative media bias and its massive Christian following, Trueman tries to show that much of the propaganda-filled rants by certain conservative icons are not helpful from a Christian perspective. He suggests, rather, that Christians should be the most articulate and thoughtful members of political discussion.
“Let us be Greek apologists once more, and show the civil powers that we can be the best and most informed and thoughtful citizens there are, not those whose stock-in-trade are clichés, slander, and lunatic conspiracy theories,” Trueman offers.
Republocrat interacts frequently with how the biblical authors engaged politics, and the book often seeks to repeal certain assumptions common to American pop-Christianity. In concluding his book, Trueman suggests that much of current political discussion in Christian circles if unhelpful because it seems to overlook pragmatic problems to commonly offered solutions.
“You can talk theonomy, theocracy, or Christian nation if you wish, but in the real world of the here and now, Christians have to cast their votes in terms of the situation, as we currently know it,” Trueman writes.
But the most affecting portion of Trueman’s book comes as he gives a critique of Christians’ often one-sided involvement in politics. He suggests that as the religious right will become increasingly disillusioned with the political process if candidates continue using main-stay issues like abortion as a platform for vote-collecting, only to do little or nothing about the issue once elected. A danger, according to Trueman, is that the Christian political perspective becomes marginalized because of Christians lumping in with partisan agendas.
“We need to avoid this marginalization of the voice of Christians in politics by realizing the limits of politics and the legitimacy of Christians, disagreeing on a host of actual policies, and by earning a reputation for thoughtful, informed, and measured political involvement,” Trueman concludes.
