Speak Out

MONTGOMERY — Christian evangelicals are proud of the spirit that exudes from the culture of the South. They want to see the spirit of the Christmas season continue throughout the year. They know the ability to celebrate family, traditions and selflessness embodies what makes the South truly unique.

For several years, the Republican Party portrayed itself as the party of values and moral clarity. The Democratic Party was portrayed as a party of liberal values that sought to embrace a secular view of government. At Redeem the Vote (www.redeemthevote.com), we have found that Christians support limited government when government seeks to impose its will on people regarding deeply held moral beliefs. But they also understand the private sector cannot solve all problems and that government can be an instrument of good. Three areas stand out:

• Education. Most evangelicals want governmental policies, such as an affordable college education and quality public education, to help our children reach their full potential so they can fulfill God's call on their lives. We see Christians as wanting improvement in public schools and adequate tax revenue to support local school systems provided there is support from the school system for protection and nurturing of religious liberties and expression.

• Environment. We have found that Christians are very concerned about the environment and want governmental regulations to protect them from environmental damage that may occur from the relaxation of business regulations regarding environmental protection, whether it be protection for clean water, air or industrial ground pollutants.

• Health care. Evangelicals in general heed to the call for us to care for the sick and needy who are most vulnerable. Christians are willing to provide tax support for the health care needs of their neighbors, but want to build incentives for them to care for themselves as well, such as nutrition programs, obesity reduction and pharmaceutical assistance. They also, in general, support increasing tax subsidizes from cigarettes and alcohol sales to combat their health-related complications and to act as an incentive to reduce their consumption.

In today's politics, both major political parties finally have realized the importance of faith as it applies to the voters in the last election. They are doing a better job in building relationships within the faith community. But it is also important that both parties understand the basic tenets of mainstream Christian evangelicals are to protect life, support the family unit and traditional marriage and develop policies that provide tools to develop the spiritual and physical gifts each of us possess, such as education, health care, environmental concerns and the workplace.

Some skepticism remains about the political process among most evangelicals in light of recent revelations among some politicians professing Christian values. But at the same time, Christians are more willing to support candidates who build relationships and show a true desire to help promote Christian values on a wide range of issues.

Therefore, evangelicals need to see more clearly how they can work in a bipartisan fashion to promote issues that deal with faith. The most important thing Christians should always ask themselves, “Does this activity bring more people to want to know Christ or is it a stumbling block to others?” If we are successful in sharing Christ with others without compromising the message of Christ, then we should look to ways that we can extend the love of Christ to others. We should never, however, endorse or embrace the political views of a particular group or individuals that do not exemplify Christian principles in action.

The spirit of Christmas is what Southerners want to see in life and the political process. They want to see a sacrificial spirit of caring and devotion to our land and our citizens just as Christ came sacrificially for us.

Dr. Randy Brinson, a gastroenterologist from Montgomery, is the founder and chairman of Redeem the Vote (www.redeemthevote.com), a nonprofit founded in 2003 to improve voter registration and participation among young people of faith. To read more on this subject, visit the Center for a Better South (www.bettersouth.org).