Though I share many conservative values (Pro-life, pro-family, pro-states rights, pro-reasonable taxation), being a city dweller (though I'll admit a suburban city dweller) and as someone who's around a broader swath of humanity on a regular basis (no offense intended to the small town dwellers of the world) than the typical Norfolkian, I like to throw my two cents in every once in awhile, and, honestly, do some good-natured jabbing at some conservative viewpoints.
So, I thought I'd take this, the first of my Fact Check posts to explain how I came to a more liberal position in my faith and in my politics. My father has been trying to avoid too much in the depressing national political arena, so I'll do the same. Instead, I'll focus more on some "issues" in science, history, and theology.
First off, I'd like to comment a bit on bias. In my college journalism and writing classes, "Journalism 101," "Persuasive Writing on Contemporary Issues," and "Creative Writing (which included a piece of creative nonfiction mean to persuade)," we talked a lot about bias.
One thing my father and I definitely agree on is that media bias is not nearly as severe as it was in the past. Take a look back at journalism in the time of the U.S. Civil War, and you'll see that the political parties had their own newspapers, and being the editor of a newspaper was considered a position of political power. Imagine the horror now of having a political candidate and the editor of a major news outlet having a symbiotic relationship (and I know some people do think that's the case as MSNBC and CNN have a reputation for having a liberal bias, while Fox News has a reputation for a conservative bias).
I'll include a link at the end of this post if you'd like to further explore some of the history around bias in journalism, but let me get back to explaining my theological and political liberal bias, and get into what that bias means for my everyday life.
First, the theological bias. I was raised in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. All my education from preschool through high school, along with a good portion of my college education, took place in Lutheran schools. And I'm glad of it. I learned a lot not only about the faith statements and writings of the Missouri Synod and the historical Lutheran Church, but of the greater Christian Church, along with learning some about religious traditions outside the Christian Church.
Now, I'm a member of an Evangelical Lutheran Church, but it's been over a decade since I've called myself a Lutheran. Why? Well, in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the church in Corinth wrote, "For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?" Read 1 Corinthians 1 for the context.
So, was Luther crucified for me? Was I baptized into the name of Luther? No and no. The second reason I've ceased to call myself a Lutheran, is the Lutheran Confessions. While The Book of Concord contains many insights into the Gospel, I believe that statement of the Confessions as a, "true ad faithful exposition of Scripture" goes too far, elevating the Confessions to a status near the Bible itself.
So, when someone asks me about my faith, I tell them I'm a Christian who goes to a Lutheran church (which, by the way, did not start as a Lutheran Church, but was brought into the Evangelical Lutheran Church after experiencing years of growth).
That's the short version of my Christian liberalism. I could go into much more details, but look at some links at the bottom of this post to explore my views further.
As for my political liberalism, living in the Minneapolis St. Paul metropolitan area, going to a "liberal" Lutheran college, gave me a bit of a different outlook. I taught at an East African Magnet school in St. Paul, where the population was almost entirely from East Africa, and was made up of mainly Kenyans, Oromos, Ethiopians, and Somalians. Many student's parents were practicing Muslims, and the teenagers at the school were similar to what you'd see in a Christian school--varying degrees of practice and belief in the Islamic Faith.
This exposure, and seeing all hardships and resilience of these students heavily influenced my views on the Islamic faith and immigration policy. May of the students in a senior English class did their persuasive speeches on the danger of Boca Haram, a terrorist group in Africa.
As for my radical liberal positions such as universal health coverage, teaching evolution in the classroom, and same sex marriage, I'd need entire posts to cover those, but I'll leave some links for those interested.
So there you have it, my liberalism in a nutshell, though I'd really say I'm more moderate than truly liberal. I plan on voting this year for no one with an R or a D next to their names unless I absolutely have to.
Here's some further reading if you want more of an idea of my bias:
A Brief History of Media Bias: An interesting history of media bias along with the claim that the liberal media favors the Democratic Party--an interesting bias of the history considering the article doesn't mention news outlets besides the Associated Press.
Fact-checking Fox, MSNBC and CNN: PunditFact's network scorecards: Links of score cards given to major television news outlets rating their truthfulness.
Errantly assuming inerrancy in history: A conservative Christian breaks down the history of Biblical inerrancy.
Taking God at His Word: The Bible and Homosexuality: What does the Bible say about homosexuality?
Thanks for reading. Paul plans to do his weekly devotionals on SAT from now on.
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