Conservative And Christian Aren’t The Same Thing

The last several years have offered Christians a bit of hope concerning their place in the culture and politics. Conservatives, in response to the likes of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, California Governor Gavin Newsom, and tech giant Bill Gates, have stepped forward to challenge the immorality and legislative dumpster fire sweeping the nation. After years of feeling dismissed and diminished, leaders finally chose to speak up for us. Or had they? American Christians have made a serious miscalculation. Conservative and Christian are not synonyms. These conservatives are not speaking for us.

Christians Are Fed Up

I’ll be the first to say that being a Christian in the United States of America is a blessing. I start nearly every prayer time I have thanking God for the freedom I have to worship Him openly. We don’t have to hide or fear for our safety because we follow Christ. In fact, we can tell anyone we want to about Jesus. That doesn’t mean we’re living in some sort of Christian utopia, either.

Political Moves That Conservatives Oppose

Christians have been living within a culture that hates them and the moral standards for which they fight. America continues to march further away from Christ and the fear of the Lord. Christians and conservatives have spoken out against the liberal shifts in our culture, but politicians have continued to ignore us. Over time, Christians realized they needed to fight against liberal agendas, but we have a long history of losing.

Abortion

The Supreme Court’s decision on Roe v. Wade in 1973 made abortion a federally protected right for women. Anyone who calls herself a Christian must be opposed to the willful act of murdering the unborn, and thankfully, pro-life voices helped overturn the Supreme Court’s decision. However, the battle for the unborn continues at the state level.

Same-Sex Marriage

Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) was a landmark case requiring same-sex marriages to be legal in all fifty states. Conservatives and Christians warned that this Supreme Court decision would open to the door to any number of sexual perversions being propagated in our society. Folks said the naysayers were using the slippery slope logical fallacy. Except…

Sexualizing Our Children

Culturally (and politically) it behooves an individual to affirm that homosexuality is a normal lifestyle to be celebrated and that men can be women and vice versa.

Let’s not forget about how important it is to accept drag queen story hours, comprehensive sexual education, and pushing transgender ideals onto children.

The LGBTQ+ agenda bleeds into our children’s media, too. You can find some kind of representation in so many modern shows and movies that it’s impossible to simply turn on the television and walk away. A few examples include:

Shows: The Owl House, Arthur, Blue’s Clues, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, and Diary of a Future President.

Movies: Lightyear, Strange World, The Prom, Love, Simon, and Onward.

Black Lives Matter (BLM)

The problem conservatives and Christians had/have with BLM is not that there is a concern with the well-being of people of color. No. One of the issues is that the response from the culture was to allow for, and even promote, racism toward White people. Christians don’t condone racism toward any group. So, of course we disliked the BLM movement and the fact that it helped secure a place for Critical Race Theory (CRT) in our daily lives. No one cares how many intersectionality boxes you tick!

The other big issue related to BLM has to do with the “mostly peaceful protests.”

Not only were major cities across the country being looted and burned to the ground while some “protesters” proceeded to physically assault random citizens and police, but the police were also told to stand down and let protesters loot and be violent.

To this day, there are still cities with stores closing because groups come in and take what they want while security watches. BLM was essentially calling for the breakdown of civilized society.

Conservatives And Christians Are Over It

We were frustrated and longed to see America return to some traditional moral values. Christians are constantly praying for a revival. We want to see Jesus legitimately change lives and ultimately change our country. Conservatives, at the very least, desire to move our country back to conservative moral values and decency. We lacked a voice, a leader, a spokesman. Enter Donald Trump.

Conservative And Christian Are Not Always The Same

I don’t want to talk about President Trump…yet. Instead, I want to address the main reason I am writing this in the first place. Y’all, conservatives are not always Christians. I’m guessing you already know this. But if you do know, then why do so many of you listen to conservative leaders as if they speak godly wisdom and biblical truth based only on the fact that they are conservative?

Let’s be careful when discussing conservatives. First, Republican politicians are not necessarily “conservative.” We need to listen closely to the agendas and legislation they support. Moreover, politicians and political commentators may be conservative in some areas and liberal in others. So, we need to practice discernment.

Second, someone may be conservative and Christian, but the two are not necessarily a package deal. Obvious, right? Sadly, it isn’t obvious to many Christians. As they have gotten more involved in politics (Yay!), they’ve also meshed the two worlds together. Christian faith mixed with conservative politics have produced an unidentifiable mess. As for me, I’m happy to see Christians take an active interest in politics, but I’ve been disturbed at the number of believers who have placed their faith in conservative leaders rather than Christ. Some pastors spend more time yelling and griping about politics than they do preaching Jesus. And too many Christians have lost sight of where our home really is and fixate on making America a “Heaven on Earth.”

How did this happen? Well, plenty of events, people, and issues led Christians to return in large numbers to politics, but I doubt any factor was more significant than Donald Trump.

Conservative And (Not) Christian

Many patriotic Christians have found charismatic speakers and leaders in the reenergized conservative movement to listen to, quote, and turn to for assistance in untangling the media spin in every story. That’s fine until those people are given a free pass when they are obviously supporting ungodly policies or when they are given some level of spiritual clout.

President Trump

Former President Trump is a prime example of Christians flocking to a leader because they like his conservative message while ignoring his moral and spiritual failings.

I’ll begin by publicly acknowledging that I voted for him twice. I had to vote for him the first time because Hillary Clinton was not an option in my mind. Surprisingly, Trump impressed me enough to earn my vote the second time around. Yes, I saw the issues, but we have to consider the full picture when voting. One thing I did not do, however, was hold his presidency up as some kind of second-coming moment.

“Julie, no one did that.”

Well, someone spent time writing a book called President Donald J. Trump, The Son of Man – The Christ. So yeah, some people are saying that. It’s more likely, though, to hear Christians defending Trump as a great leader for Christians. I’ve heard people argue that his focus is on Christian concerns, and Trump is a good man. Umm… You guys, c’mon.

Listen to and support Donald Trump for political reasons. Fine. But stop assigning him a Christian status when he has really only demonstrated some conservative tendencies.

Probably Not A Born-Again Christian

We don’t know where anyone stands with God because only God and that person can know for sure. We can look at fruit, though. Let’s give Trump’s spiritual fruit a quick glance.

He presents himself as a narcissist who has been caught lying in order to make himself look better in countless circumstances. If Trump is humble, he certainly goes out of his way to hide it.

His demeanor with women has proven to be appalling time and again. For every good report we hear, we also hear him shaming a woman’s appearance, dismissing them, or making crude remarks when he is challenged by a woman.

Additionally, Trump is known for giving political opponents mean-spirited nicknames. He seems ready and willing to destroy anyone in his way.

None of this resembles Christian fruit. A man can be a strong, confident, assertive, and decisive leader without being petty, hurtful, impulsive, and disparaging to others.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

Galatians 5:22-23

The False Pastor

Conservative and Christian? If you had any doubt, look no further than who President Trump chose as the chair of his evangelical advisory board. Paula White. She is a well-known televangelist who masquerades as a pastor (reminder: women can’t be pastors), and she preaches the prosperity gospel.

Are you a Christian who supports Donald Trump and wants him to be the President of the United States? Do you think he did good for our nation? Were you happy to see him stand up against a political environment that is clearly poison to the American people? Yes? Cool. I see your point, but you need to back off the idea that he is an ambassador for Christ.

Conservative and Christian? Probably not this guy.

Jordan Peterson

Jordan Peterson is a Canadian psychologist, author, and full-blown know-it-all. Conservatives love him. What’s not to love, though?

Things Conservatives Love About Jordan Peterson

He wrote two successful self-help books that sound more like common sense than psycho-babble (i.e., 12 Rules for Life, 12 More Rules for Life).

Peterson has taken a public stand for masculinity and recognizes the biological, emotional, and social differences between men and women.

He is willing to respectfully listen to various perspectives.

Among many conservative voices, Peterson has been among the loudest to speak out against administering “gender-affirming” medications. That is, he strongly rejects the idea of helping youth transition to the opposite sex, especially because you can’t truly do that.

Peterson calls people to live meaningful lives, and he appears to care about the well-being of society.

Conservative And Christian?

Most Christians understand Jordan Peterson is not a believer, but they simultaneously listen to him (and take seriously) his teachings on the Bible and what makes a Christian a Christian.

Below is a video in which Peterson responds to a common question: Do you believe in God?

His response has three main points.

1. None of your business.

A Christian would never say that. We want to share our faith!

2. What do you mean by saying “believe?”

He overthinks this to the level of Bill Clinton needing to define “is” while being investigated during his presidency. Believe means believe, Peterson. It’s not that complex.

3. He might be afraid God does exist.

That’s the first intelligent thing about God that I ever heard him say. If you aren’t saved, God’s existence should frighten you.

His answer later spirals into a lot of thoughts that are wrong, but two stand out. First, Peterson thinks he is acting like he believes in God to the best of his ability which means he thinks he’s a good person. Second, he doesn’t believe anyone has the right to claim he believes in God because truly believing would instantly make a person the best he could be. And no one achieves his absolute best.

Why Listen To Him?

Jordan Peterson fancies himself to be a bit of theologian, and he’s happy to speak on things he knows nothing about. The man has made a career out of processing his thoughts out loud in front of an audience, and people eat it up because it comes with a fancy degree, a robust vocabulary, rapid speech, and a conservative stance.

Know when to listen to Jordan Peterson. Think of the expression “eat the meat and spit out the bones.” There might be meat, but Christian, anything he says about the Lord and spiritual things is just a pile of bones. Chuck it out. Conservative and Christian do not intersect at this man.

Andrew Tate

Why do we even need to discuss this terrible man? (Read about him HERE.) We must because conservative men, including Christians, think he’s smart, successful, and someone to emulate.

Tate said he was a Christian at some point in the past, but he has recently converted to Islam. Pretty much everyone who follows Tate knows this, but they still enjoy listening to his “conservative” advice. Please, hear this. Andrew Tate is not a conservative. He is a misogynist, narcissist, scam artist, and pimp. Christians, what are y’all doing quoting this guy?

The Easy Case Against Andrew Tate

He has been charged with rape and human trafficking. Tate was arrested in December of 2022, but he is currently free while the case is pending. He denies any wrongdoing, but he has literally created content teaching men through a step-by-step guide to do exactly what he has been accused of doing. I wanted to share the videos, but they are too filthy. I couldn’t even finish watching them because the content and language was too foul.

According to a video he took down in February 2022, Tate claimed that he had brought women into the “adult entertainment” industry.

He brags about tricking men into giving large sums of money to the women he makes work online. He’s a scam artist using women’s sexuality to prey on men over the Internet.

He looks down on women, generally speaking. Listen to anything he says about women, and you’ll catch a theme. Women, as he sees them, are easily manipulated and less-than. He’s even referred to them as their husband’s property.

Conservatives Are Playing Into It

Andrew Tate recently sat down with Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson for their shows, and both interviews sounded more like a fan club meeting than true journalism. These two conservatives have legitimized Andrew Tate and allowed him to spin any false narrative he wanted in order to protect his reputation.

Saying you are a conservative doesn’t mean you are one just like saying you’re a Christian doesn’t necessarily mean you’re saved. Andrew Tate is selling an image of conservatism that focuses on money, appearances, sexism, and truly toxic masculinity. Christians should know better than to give someone so morally bankrupt the time of day. If you ever have the chance, share the gospel with him. But don’t take his advice.

Ben Shapiro

Now I’m stepping on my own toes with this one. Ben Shapiro on the Daily Wire is my favorite conservative commentator. He’s funny, he’s clear about his biases, he has true conservative values, and he talks fast enough that I don’t need to speed up the video when I watch it. He’s also Jewish. Like, really Jewish. So, I understand we come from different religious worldviews.

I’ve had to take caution with him because I usually agree with him on his take on society, politics, and media. He discusses religion in a very tolerant way, though. Too tolerant. He strongly adheres to his faith, but he tells his viewers that being a part of any religion is good for society and leads to more people with traditional moral values. Essentially, he teaches that morality for the sake of morality is enough.

I want to see more conservative values in America, but men like Ben Shapiro can make their audience feel satisfied with conservatives winning politically. It’s as if we can take a collective sigh of relief when the Republicans have a majority in Congress or something. But that’s not the point for Christians.

Conservative ideals are not always the same as Christian ones. Ben Shapiro would be satisfied with a conservative America and privately worshiping in the Jewish tradition. Christians need to look at the eternal plan. We can inject all the conservative values we want into the world, but it’s Christ alone who changes hearts and saves souls. Don’t be inadvertently taken off the task of sharing the gospel and displaying the love of Jesus.

Matt Walsh

What is a woman? A simple question catapulted Matt Walsh from very popular commentator to infamous commentator. To say he made people angry with his book and documentary What is a Woman? would be a massive understatement. (Side note: I highly recommend the documentary.)

Walsh’s commentary leans heavily on family values, common sense, and being a bit of a curmudgeon. Therefore, I relate on a very deep level with his show. He also brings in a lot of religion. Catholicism, that is. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it until I’m blue in the face. Catholicism is not biblical Christianity. His spiritual comments, though, often sound pretty good. Take great care when listening to someone giving spiritual advice or commentary because what sounds all right might be the tip of a Catholic iceberg.

Matt Walsh is conservative in every measurable way, and yet, Christians ought not conflate the terms conservative and Christian. Mr. Matt Walsh is a tremendous voice for conservatives but he regrettably belongs to a church teaching heresy.

Final Thought

This felt a bit like a gripe fest, but I mean it as a warning. We’re approaching the election season, and strong conservative voices are going to compete for our attention. By all means, hear them out. But listen closely, and keep in mind that many will throw out the word “Christian” to gain an audience or a vote. There’s one place for spiritual guidance and leadership. God’s Holy Word. Don’t turn to men and women who have an agenda to push. When conservative and Christian are found in one person, that’s amazing! Just don’t count on it. So often we will find that conservative and Christian are worlds apart.

What conservatives do you listen to? Are they Christian?

Image courtesy of Aaron Burden via Unsplash.