EDITORIAL: Faith: Compartmental or consistent?

Paul Ryan, Joe Biden

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The candidates for vice president of the United States provide case studies in how Christians compartmentalize their faith. When they—and we—allow this to happen, expediency engulfs ethics; pragmatism pummels principle.

Paul Ryan, Joe Biden

Both Joe Biden, the Democrat, and Paul Ryan, the Republican, proudly proclaim their Christianity as members of the Roman Catholic Church. But rather than apply their church's religious principles consistently across all areas of their lives, they each trumpet their adherence to some elements of orthodox Catholic teaching, while walling off traditional Catholic values at odds with their political perspectives.

As you might guess, given the polarity of American politics, the candidates' affirmations and denials primarily take place at opposite ends of Catholic moral teaching.

Ryan stands with the church's historic opposition to abortion and disapproval of gay marriage. Biden advocates on behalf of the church's longstanding concern for the poor, the disenfranchised and the people Jesus called "the least of these."

Editor Marv Knox

Editor Marv Knox

Meanwhile, Biden's pro-choice and pro-gay marriage positions contradict official church doctrine, and many bishops would not allow him to participate in Mass. And the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops called the federal budget drafted by Ryan a moral failure for ignoring the needs of "those who are hungry and homeless, without work or in poverty."

The complementary/contrary nature of both Biden's and Ryan's relationship with their church leads thoughtful observers to ask a simple question: How can this happen?

Although Ryan and Biden are leaders in their own right and aspire to be "one heartbeat away" from the most powerful position on earth, the answer to that question is the same as when kids in middle school turn toward or away from their parents. People embody the ideals of the person or group they allow to shape them. To some degree, both Biden and Ryan embraced Roman Catholic doctrine. To another, they allied themselves with other thinkers and institutions.


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Despite his noted gift of gab, Biden's rationale is rather opaque. But as a working-class Democrat and full-time politician for 41 years, his perspective has mirrored his party's. This explains both his care for the poor and his advocacy for liberal policies on abortion and gay marriage, which he describes as extensions of civil rights on behalf of those he sees as weak and powerless.

Ryan credits both his faith and his economic philosophy for shaping his politics. He took Catholic social teaching on abortion and homosexuality to heart. In economics, he has said his primary influence was objectivist philosopher and writer Ayn Rand, who championed individualism and capitalism. Rand also was a proud and outspoken atheist. Even though Ryan has disavowed her atheism, he still bases his economic theory on the principles of a thinker who embraced an atheistic worldview. That certainly would nudge him away from his church's position on wealth and poverty.

Of course, Biden and Ryan differ from Baptists on two key points: They're public figures who aspire to the second-highest office in the land. Most of us are private citizens. And they're Roman Catholics, whose church hierarchy grants only one correct interpretation of every theological point. We affirm the priesthood of all believers and acknowledge broader latitude of interpretation.

Still, Ryan and Biden illustrate compartmentalized faith, the inherent inclination to pick and choose doctrinal and social positions apart from theological consistency. When self-interest and/or a compelling worldview break from the moorings of our faith, our lives become unanchored. We float and drift.

Baptists and Catholics differ at many points, and we can respectfully disagree. But all Christians should apply the tenets of faith consistently in all spheres of life. If we follow faith when it's convenient and pursue pragmatism when it's not, then we're worse off than unbelievers. We're hypocrites.

Marv Knox is editor of the Baptist Standard. Visit his blog at www.baptiststandard.com.


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