At ‘The Power of the Christian Vote’, a public forum organised by the Association of Christian Communicators and Media (ACCM), members of the Christian community assembled to discuss the state of our politics and the extent to which Christians should be engaged in the politics of the day.

Listening to some of the presentations, you got the impression that there is a lack of appreciation for the distinction between politics as a discipline and politics as a partisan endeavour as it is practised in the cut and thrust of the competition for political power. I believe it is necessary to hold these distinctions in mind.

Properly understood, political science is about the collection, testing, and analysis of data often gleaned from studying people’s behaviour in a particular jurisdiction. It is concerned with governance issues and discusses how governments are structured, laws are passed, and power and authority are handled. Viewed in this way, politics plays a very important role in the lives of citizens. Broadly speaking, without getting too technical, it determines how people feel about themselves, the level of poverty or prosperity they experience, the extent to which they are able to participate in the process of determining their own destiny, and their general disposition living in a particular jurisdiction defined as a nation.

Good citizenship demands that people must be aware of the state of the politics to which they are exposed from day to day. The good citizen does not withdraw from these concerns or sit on a fence waiting on others to determine his/her future. The good citizen gets involved by not only making his/her views known or agitating for particular things to happen, but also works hard to influence change that will redound to the good of the country, such as delivery of better health care to everyone. He/she should not be intimidated by the tactics of those in power who may want to preserve the status quo or get their hands on the reins of power. The good citizen’s political behaviour should always tilt in the direction of what is good for the vast majority in the country.

This brings me to partisan politics. Political parties, however important they are, are just one aspect of the political life of a country. We tend to romanticise them and make them larger than they actually are. At the end of the day, they are just one construct in the business of a nation’s political life and cannot survive if they become mere ends in themselves. In democratic countries like Jamaica where the ballot, and not bullets, rules, a party gets elected and moves on to form the Government of the day. Those who now govern ought to make the distinction between themselves as a political organisation and what it means now that they have the leadership of the country. In the tribal politics that we practice, this distinction is hardly appreciated and so you get statements from top honchos in political parties indicating that they know best what is good for Jamaica and, as such, should always be ruling.

There is nothing wrong with a citizen favouring one party over the other. This is how it has always been and forever will be. The parties are mere mechanisms to attain power and people can even run independently of a party in a democracy. So people do become members of a political party.

Is it okay for Christians to join a political party? Of course. Some people believe that they can exercise greater influence if they have a seat at the table rather than waiting around and ending up on the menu. They do not want to be mere spectators, and while they may not want to run for office themselves, they want to influence change for the betterment of the country they love. Most assume this posture, and there should be no problem with this.

They should have no problem determining where their ultimate loyalty lies. They should be aware of Jesus’s dictum to render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s. They do not make an enemy of God and Caesar as some foolishly do. But the moral imperative that guides them and which is born of their faith in God drives them to check Caesar’s excesses and to set up guardrails that lead to social justice for all. It is a balancing act and not an easy task, but one which has to be measured.

Roman Catholic deacon and public commentator Reverend Peter Espeut made the point at the forum, and affirmed it later in his
Gleaner column, that in Jamaica what it tends to come down to is a choice between a greater and a lesser evil. I do not like this characterisation. It sounds pedantic and superficial. Political parties, especially when they are in power, may make decisions that turn out to be downright evil, but which side of the political divide can be adjudged to be more evil than the other. What I would more argue is that Christians ought to judge parties on the basis of their past and present performance and their aspirations for leadership over the country in the future. To bring this down to a mere difference between a lesser and greater evil is, as I said, superficial. There are larger things at stake which the good deacon would appreciate.

What is clear in all this is that it is the Christian’s civic duty to be involved. If you want to be a good citizen, and I would think that all well-thinking Christians would want to be, withdrawal from the process because of a view that they are all evil and corrupt is not on. You cheapen the serious nature of your own involvement by these sentiments. And if you really believe that the state of the politics is as you describe it, what are you doing to ensure a better and more relevant outcome? Is sitting on the fence an answer? If Jesus sat on the fence in his day, the cross perhaps would still be a distant figure, not even a memory.

Yes, the voice of the Church must be heard. The leadership bears a special responsibility in the body of Christ to ensure that the prophetic efficacy of its ministry is well represented in the society. This means speaking out against evil and injustice when it is seen, standing up for the human rights of vulnerable communities, and holding truth to power for the betterment of the society. “Thus saith the Lord” must be just that.

But the Church is not there to foster or build a theocracy. Democracy is often a messy business, and the voice of the Church, though important, is just one construct among many contending views. In democracies like Jamaica, it can, and must be, a very powerful voice for good.

Dr Raulston Nembhard is a priest, social commentator, and author of the books Finding Peace in the Midst of Life’s Storms; Your Self-esteem Guide to a Better Life; and Beyond Petulance: Republican Politics and the Future of America. He hosts a podcast — Mango Tree Dialogues — on his YouTube channel. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or stead6655@aol.com.

Raulston Nembhard