Faith, Values and Public Policy

[Billy Britt]

It seems in the last several years that we have heard a great deal of talk about faith and values among political candidates. As everyone knows, talk is cheep and it is more about walking the walk than just talking the talk. A person’s actions should speak so loudly that it gives voice to their beliefs not the other way around. There are many who profess spiritual values but this is a charade to deceive the uninformed and beguile the innocent. This begs the question; if a lawmaker says that their faith and values are the guiding principle in their life, we must ask and they must answer how are those beliefs and morals reflected in your public policies they enact?Is it not a lawmaker’s prime responsibility to enact or enforce laws or governance?So, a politician should be able to show, in specific, how they would take a policy position based on their belief system.Sadly, what we usually hear are vague references to broad and incomplete ideas. However, as voters who are electing someone to represent our values, shouldn’t we expect and even demand clear positions?Of course, this is a difficult question for most to answer and even more complex when asked for specifics.Let’s look at an example in the Ten Commandments we are told, “Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee….”Now, the question for the lawmaker becomes, what is your public policy or what laws will you promote that will foster the honoring of one’s parents? Surely, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are not enough.Are we going the teach morals in school? That might be a nice idea but that ship has sailed. So tell me what will you do?Most likely, there is nothing that can be done.While this is a cherished value to me and many others, there seems little a politician can do, policy wise, to promote this commandment.There are, of course, some values that can be used as guidance for laws. Take for instance Paul’s admonition in Thessalonians, “For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.” But even if you apply this to welfare, there are many ways that this command can be used and abused.While these notions are challenging institutionally as well as intellectually, it is still important that we look for our elected officials to answer them honestly or we reserve the right to help them retire from office.We hear much lately about unity, bi-partisanship and, of course, change.Our very form of government is not based on unity it is based on conflict, competing parties hammering out compromise for the best possible outcome for the citizenry.Yes, there is corruption. Yes, there are some bad politicians. But our system was designed with this in mind and the onus is on the voter to be aware and be involved. Representative government does not exempt the citizen from responsibility. Far from it, representative government makes the voter more accountable and places liability by omission on the non-voter.The United States is not a country like Sweden or Germany. These are countries primarily made up of people who share a single, common ancestry. They are Swedes. They are Germans. Now, we call ourselves Americans, but we come from many different ancestries. While I personally do not like the hyphen-American tags that seem to be daily employed with pride, I do understand it. E. Pluribus Unum is a goal, not a fact. But, just what is it that makes us Americans? I submit that it is our common agreement to follow the Constitution of the United States and to obey the laws that are based on it. (And resist and change the ones that are not).So, this leads back to the question of how faith and values can be manifested in public policy.Even Gospel truth can be used as a dangerous elixir by an intemperate mind.It is the sober-minded citizen who must stay informed and involved voting our values to insure that those who represent us are of good character and not just good actors.