Book Review – Republocrat
Growing up in the church, you find that, at least in conservative churches, there are very few who register as Democrat. So from my childhood, I always thought of Democrats as the enemy of not only the Republicans, but also as enemies of the church. Sure, there may be one or two good Democrats out there, but they are few and far between. To be clear, my parents never taught me that Democrats were the enemy; I suppose that this understanding may be a by-product of being in a conservative church in the South and under the preaching of Dr. D. James Kennedy, who was an outspoken Republican and a leader of the Religious Right.
Now that I’ve read a bit more and learned what being a Democrat and being a Republican means, I kind of wish I had been more exposed to different perspectives on the world, especially in the area of politics. I admit that I am a registered Republican, and I have been since first registering to vote at the age of 18. However, most who know me would testify that I’m more of an Independent who just wants to be able to vote in the primaries. The fact is that I have found myself siding with Democrats on certain issues while setting up camp with the Republicans on other issues. I don’t vote based on what a candidate’s label is, whether he is Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, or Whig; I try to vote based on my perception of what the candidate’s vision is for their time in office.
Carl Trueman’s Republocrat: Confessions of a Liberal Conservative is encouraging, because I have finally found someone else in the church, the conservative, Reformed camp no less, who agrees with my views on politics. To tell you the truth, I am not surprised. Trueman, who is the professor of history at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, is British. And having spent three years in the UK, I can personally attest to the fact that, while there are political parties, you do not find the type of polarization that you find in the American church. For example, the church I worked with in Scotland was a conservative, evangelical church made up of Tories (conservatives), Lib Dems (moderates), Labour (liberal), Scottish National (crazy), as well as a host of other smaller parties.
As a Brit, Trueman offers a fresh perspective on American politics and encourages Christians to open their eyes to the reality of what politics has become. Republocrat is a short, easy read that is made up of five essays and a postscript. While the essays carry the same theme, they stand alone as different nuances to the point Trueman is trying to make, which is that, as Christians, “[w]e need to read and watch more widely, be as critical of our own favorite pundits and narratives as we are of those cherished by our opponents, and seek to be good stewards of the world and of the opportunities therein that God has given to us.”
Trueman’s writing is refined, though it is not as academic as you would think from a professor of a seminary that is known for its academic emphasis. These are Trueman’s own thoughts and reflections on what he has seen in America since moving here just over a decade ago. Trueman doesn’t repeat himself often, unless driving home his main point, and he is excellent at blending humor in while also conveying important information.
You may not agree with everything Trueman writes, but I doubt you will be able to read this book without thinking seriously about how you vote. Many of you will probably predict this is just another book that complains about the Right and the Left, but Trueman is trying to do much more than simply gripe about each party’s weaknesses. As I said before and quoted from the book, he wants us to think. To be educated and informed. To not just turn on Fox News or MSNBC and formulate our opinions based on what Bill O’Reilly or Keith Olbermann want us to think.
I highly recommend this book for those who are trying to find their place in the political world as well as those who have had their foot in a certain political party for a number of years. Who knows? You may just find your views shifting.
