I’m not Left, and (Definitely) not Right

The realization has struck me. I’ve grown into a person who doesn’t identify with traditional political rhetoric anymore. Politics has become a hellscape of everyone being everyone’s enemy.

Conservatives are eating each other alive for reasons that the people who founded this country would find ridiculous. Liberals are finding common ground with some conservatives over questionable issues, but also eating each other alive.

I’m not defined by anything, but the closest thing would be something like a classic-liberal, libertarian, as paradoxical as that might seem.

Forgetting the Future at the Expense of People

Conservatism and biblical values are only congruent in the fact that God doesn’t change and His word is immutable. Conservatism is not biblical, nor is the other extreme. I get it. You want to hold on to what works. That’s fine.

But keeping things “the way they’ve always worked” doesn’t always work.

Back when the Republican Party was far more in the interest of the individual, they believed in freeing the slaves. It was the Democrat Party who held the slaves. That made sense.

No one should be a slave, but a slave to Christ alone, who is the ultimate Master over all things (and treats you well with perfect love).

I’m sorry, but keeping things the same isn’t a value we should uphold, unless it benefits others.

We’d still be slave owners if things always stayed the same.

Traditional values are just that. Traditional. Not necessarily scriptural.

I’m accused of being super religious sometimes, but that’s because I view the world through the lens of Scripture–because I have a biblical worldview. Also, this is the faith section of my website, so most things on here will be about faith. In my daily life, I’m actually varied.

Notice I said I have a biblical worldview, not a conservative worldview. Christian nationalism is not a biblical value. While you should love your country as the country God placed you in, marrying “kingdom now” theology with modern politics is a bad idea.

This world is predicted to get worse before the ultimate redemption of the world to come. Only Jesus will end all wars and suffering, and make fair decisions for all people, especially the poor. So instead of changing the world through forcing our ideas, maybe we should act more like servants of Christ, who instead of holding on to the past, embraced the New Covenant of Christ while keeping the lessons of the past in mind.

The world is better in many ways than the past, though, because even though Christ is ultimately the One who will make all things right, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to hone the world into a better place while we’re in it.

Sticking to conservatism is negative, because then we don’t move on; we stay stuck.

Forgetting Where We Came From at the Expense of True Progress

On the other side of the coin, progressive liberalism is also not necessarily biblical. We must progress as a society, and improve living conditions for all people, but not at the expense of genuine progress. But I agree with this philosophy of the government having a role in making things fair for people.

Jesus will be King of the Earth one day, and will judge between the needy fairly. He’s the government, deciding on behalf of the destitute.

In the same way, nowhere in the Bible do we see the notion of “cutting social programs” from people that need them.

Leviticus commands us to leave some of our property for the poor. It isn’t voluntary; it’s a command.

Compassion is a virtue of those who choose to follow Christ.

But I don’t agree with forgetting things that work when they actually work. Hard work will always get you somewhere in this life, whether it makes you wealthy is up to God. That is something some people need to understand.

But simultaneously, saying some wages aren’t meant to be livable is insane. Jesse Topper isn’t correct.

My ideal world is one where people are free to pursue the things that interest them in the fields of business or the arts. Where entrepreneurship and compassion take over the world, not employment and wage slavery.

Because, I must say, while I respect the position of the POTUS because the authorities are established by God (Romans 13), you can’t gaslight me into believing eggs or anything else aren’t super expensive. I always buy massive cartons of eggs in bulk, and they aren’t any cheaper.

For me, it doesn’t hurt me as much as someone who might need those eggs because they work a low-income job out of necessity, but come on.

Then there is the idea of progressive values as far as love and marriage. Strikingly, I believe most of these values are actually found in the Bible, because what conservatives and pastors think about traditional marriage comes from tradition not the Bible (David had a harem, loved Jonathan more than he loved women, and was a strict king in some senses).

LGBTQ people are, shocker, people, too. So let’s treat everyone with dignity and respect. But at the same time, not everyone is going to be attracted to the same gender, so don’t denigrate heterosexual people, either. It’s through those unions that all people come, regardless of whom we choose to love. You can have your progress (which is actually far more biblical than you might think) and still remember that we all came from one original couple who happened to be a man and a woman. Genuine progress is respecting all people of all backgrounds, not wanting to kill every cis, heterosexual person. That’s not a good look.

All Things in Balance

Let’s learn to respect each other, regardless of what we believe. If someone doesn’t view things the same as you do, that’s fine. It’s not the end of the world.

I don’t identify with the right anymore, because of Q, MAGA, and strange behavior mixed with a sheep mentality. Right does not mean morally right. Neither does left mean correct.

I don’t believe in being a victim and don’t think the system is rigged against me because I’m not Caucasian. I’m a Latino who identifies as Hebraic in expression.

I certainly don’t identify with the left either. I’m more of a let’s be as free as possible, let’s have as little government as possible (though support people if needed), and keep the military strong to make sure evil regimes don’t win type of person.

I’m a biblicist, not a conservative or liberal.

I believe in the Bible, which teaches we are responsible for ourselves AND our brothers and sisters.

I believe in a God that teaches the poor are worthy of love, and no one is less valuable than someone else.

Jesus would hang out with people conservatives would deem “unworthy, handout seekers” and “sex workers.” To be blunt.

And to the detriment of conservatives and liberals alike, He is a King above all forms of political discourse, so we can’t “own” him for our causes.

I think Jesus said it best, though.

“They said, ‘Caesar’s.’ Then He said to them, ‘Therefore, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s’” (Matthew 22:21 [ESV]).

We are to live as good citizens under our authorities and still give God what He is due out of our lives and obedience to His ways.

Remember, God is ultimately ‌sovereign over all things. When Pilate faced Jesus, he was terrified of the man before him. Jesus told Pilate that he would have no authority over Him that was not given to him from above. Being a Roman who worshiped Roman gods, there were tales of gods becoming mortals to test humans. Due to his wife having a dream about Jesus, Pilate likely thought he was a god in human form testing him.

But what’s really interesting about this is Pilate asks Jesus, “What is truth?”

In Latin, this is quite interesting. Quid est veritas? This asks Pilate’s question.

But the answer is found in an anagram. Quid est veritas rearranges to: Est Vir qui adest. This means, “the man in front of you.”

I only told that story of Pilate and the spooky anagram to say this:
Follow the way, the truth, and life, not the left, the center, or the right.

Shalom.