Let the Bishop Speak: Evangelicals and Politics

Evangelicalism can be defined as protestant Christianity that puts an emphasis on personal salvation through Jesus Christ with the Bible as the final authority on all matters of faith and practice (Smidt, 1988).  Over the years, Protestantism has been credited with capitalist economic growth and open democratic societies as witnessed in the early stages of British and United States industrialization while on the other hand, Catholicism has been looked at through the prism of semi feudal economics and authoritarianism (Smilde,2003). However, in Latin America, evangelical leaders were accused of failure to speak out against authoritarian regimes in places like Nicaragua based on the belief that reforms are a product of personal salvation of individuals in authority and not an outcome of social revolution (Smith and Haas, 1997). To them, as men and women seek guidance of the Bible, soldiers will respect human rights, politicians will tell the truth and entrepreneurs will make money honestly.

In their research on Latin America, Smith and Haas came to the conclusion that governments even oppressive ones can attract the evangelical vote by supporting their religion through acts such as attendance of services and by pursuing policies that benefit the working and popular classes while ensuring they do not consistently attack their faith. In Venezuela, Hugo Chavez skillfully adapted Bible verses such as Jeremiah 5:12, Mark 8:18 and Acts 28:27 into his campaign slogan in the 1998 presidential elections: “Let me who has eyes see. Let him who has ears hear” (Smilde, 2004). He won the elections despite a violent past that included imprisonment in 1992 for a failed coup attempt.

One common mistake scholars and political analysts have made and continue to do so is failure to recognize differences within the evangelical movement by treating them as an undifferentiated mass hence the unity and political power of evangelicals can be overestimated but also underestimated (Smidt, 1988). In 1986 America, a majority of evangelicals stated that knowing whether a particular candidate was an evangelical would have no effect on their voting decisions (Smidt and Kellstedt, 1992). A plurality of evangelicals had identified themselves as Republicans during the presidential elections of 1980 and 1984 which were won by Ronald Reagan with the one of 1980 coming at the expense of President Jimmy Carter who is “born again”. Despite some key achievements in foreign policy that were inspired by his faith like the Camp David Accords and Panama Canal Treaty, Carter was accused of taking on too many issues on the domestic front without focus and prioritization (Berggren and Rae, 2006).  In the 2016 Republican primaries, Ted Cruz who is a son of a Pastor was successfully vanquished by Donald Trump as the brash irreligious billionaire ran away with the evangelical vote to the presidency. Touted as the biblical Cyrus, Trump was spared the burden of proving his holiness but was ready to say the things white evangelicals were whispering at the dinner table while promising to implement the ‘difficult’ things Republicans were expected to accomplish in Washington. The current conservative majority in the American supreme court is an outcome of ‘Trumpism’. 

Meanwhile, some Pentecostal Christians believe that nobody should question the President and those who do so especially the opposition are doing the devil’s work by going against God’s chosen leader (Phiri, 2003). In apartheid South Africa, Molebatsi and Ngwenya (1994) bemoan the mis-use of Romans 13 that provided cover for the evil unleashed upon black people to the extent that black Christians were complicit in their own oppression. The view of the world as an eternal battle between God and the devil is therefore not without its contradictions in politics. For instance, the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God –IURD successfully opposed Lula da Silva’s first bid for the Brazilian presidency in 1989 branding him as an agent of the devil only to support his subsequent election with the same vigor in 2002 (Smiderle, Mesquita and Santana, 2016). Some evangelicals eventually got involved in corruption scandals under the Lula presidency such as exchanging votes in the Constituent Assembly for television and radio licenses as well as profiting from inflated sale of government purchased ambulances to municipal governments (Reich and Santos, 2013).

Phiri further opines that President Frederick Chiluba, an evangelical, declared Zambia to be a ‘Christian nation’ in 1991 something that was not only criticized by many churches at the time, his regime that failed to bring an end to corruption, human rights violation and economic mismanagement was later seen to have fallen short of the expectations of those who supported the concept of a ‘Christian nation’. Pastor Nevers Mumba went as far as forming his own political party to run against Chiluba with the aim of re-injecting a measure of faith into the political system. Bishop David Gitari, someone I admire for his stand against Moi’s authoritarianism once reminded Christians about a thanksgiving service held in honor of Idi Amin at the Anglican Cathedral of Namirembe after his overthrow of the Milton Obote regime, attended mainly by Baganda Christians. They viewed Amin as a liberator because Obote had earlier deposed the King of Buganda but they were later proved absolutely wrong (Katoke, 1994).

From a political point of view, Kenya does not have an evangelical bloc. Pastor Pius Muiru, finished a distant fifth in the 2007 presidential elections with less than ten thousand votes despite his popularity among evangelicals at the time. In 2010, William Ruto teamed up with a section of church leaders in their failed bid to oppose the passage of the current constitution. Although Ruto attained the objective of consolidating his political base, nobody knows to date why church leaders opposed the current constitution, eleven years after its promulgation. Renowned for his gospel music, Reuben Kigame has had trouble gaining traction for his presidential ambitions even among the holy ones. However, Ruto continues to do the kind of things that tend to attract evangelical votes like attendance of church services, participating in fundraisers, populist promises and consistently quoting the Bible though sometimes wrongly. On the other hand, Raila Odinga has been pressing the ‘wrong buttons’ by questioning the church’s open arms to receiving money without bothering about the source and his wife’s call for further regulation of churches. This is not expected to hurt him at the ballot as personal political and social beliefs as well as tribal interests remain supreme in Kenyan politics.

Finally, being born-again alone does not necessarily make one a great leader hence personal qualities, leadership ability, past records and ethical considerations should come into play when choosing leaders. In the words of Bishop Gitari, leaders must be capable, must be God-fearing, must be trustworthy and they must be incorruptible (Gitari and Knighton, 2001). Katoke is also of the view that evangelicals need to be involved in political and social development in their countries through teaching social and moral ethics, reminding politicians of their obligations to the people and accountability to God for the powers given to them, defending the weak and promotion of peace. Let me end this piece of writing with a quote from Bishop Gitari;

“there is a lot of hypocrisy in this matter………when you congratulate the President that is not politics, but when you ask him why, that is politics”

References

Berggren, D.J., & Rae, N.C. (2006). Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush: Faith, Foreign Policy, and an Evangelical Presidential Style. Presidential Studies Quarterly, Dec., 2006, Vol. 36, No. 4 (Dec., 2006), pp. 606-632. Wiley on behalf of the Center for the Study of the Presidency and
Congress

Gitari, D.M., & Knighton, B. (2001). On Being a Christian Leader: Story contesting power in Kenya. Transformation , October 2001, Vol. 18, No. 4, Degree of Intercontinental
Partnership Concerning Mission and Development in Africa (October 2001), pp. 247-262. Sage Publications, Ltd.

Katoke, I.K. (1994). Am I My Brother's Keeper? Evangelicals and Politics in Eastern Africa. Transformation, Vol. 11, No. 4 (DECEMBER 1994), pp. 11-14. Sage Publications, Inc.

Molebatsi, C., & Ngwenya, G. (1994). Evangelicals in Politics in South Africa. Transformation, DECEMBER 1994, Vol. 11, No. 4 (DECEMBER 1994), pp. 15-18. Sage Publications, Ltd.

Phiri, I.A. (2003). President Frederick J. T. Chiluba of Zambia: The Christian Nation and Democracy. Journal of Religion in Africa , Nov., 2003, Vol. 33, Fasc. 4, Expressions of
Christianity in Zambia (Nov., 2003), pp. 401-428. Brill

Reich, G., & Santos, P. (2013). The Rise (and Frequent Fall) of Evangelical Politicians: Organization, Theology, and Church Politics. Latin American Politics and Society, Winter 2013, Vol. 55, No. 4 (Winter 2013), pp. 1-22. Distributed by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Miami

Smiderle, C.G.S.M., Mesquita, W.A.B., & Santana, F. (2016). Political Conflict and Spiritual Battle: Intersections between Religion and Politics among Brazilian Pentecostals. Latin American Perspectives, May 2016, Vol. 43, No. 3, SPIRITS, BODIES, AND STRUCTURES: RELIGION, POLITICS, AND SOCIAL INEQUALITY IN LATIN AMERICA (May 2016), pp. 85-103

Smidt, C. (1988). Evangelicals within Contemporary American Politics: Differentiating between
Fundamentalist and Non-Fundamentalist Evangelicals. The Western Political Quarterly, Sep., 1988, Vol. 41, No. 3 (Sep., 1988), pp. 601-620. University of Utah on behalf of the Western Political Science Association

Smidt, C., & Kellstedt, P. (1992). Evangelicals in the Post-Reagan Era: An Analysis of Evangelical Voters in the 1988 Presidential Election. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Sep., 1992, Vol. 31, No. 3 (Sep.,1992), pp. 330-338. Wiley on behalf of Society for the Scientific Study of Religion

Smilde, D. (2004). Contradiction without Paradox: Evangelical Political Culture in the 1998 Venezuelan Elections. Latin American Politics and Society, Spring, 2004, Vol. 46, No. 1 (Spring, 2004), pp. 75-102. Distributed by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Miami

Smilde, K. (2003). Review: Evangelicals and Politics in Latin America: Moving beyond Monolithic Portraits. History of Religions, Vol. 42, No. 3 (February 2003), pp. 243-248. The University of Chicago Press

Smith, C., & Haas, L.A. (1997). Revolutionary Evangelicals in Nicaragua: Political Opportunity, Class Interests, and Religious Identity. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Sep., 1997, Vol. 36, No. 3 (Sep.,1997), pp. 440-454.Wiley on behalf of Society for the Scientific Study of Religion