Mike Pence has joined the race

The former US Deputy Mike Pence has joined the race to be the next presidential candidate for the republican party. This is of note to Christians because Pence is a practising evangelical Christian.

Pence was chosen as the running mate of Trump to woo the evangelical vote. Trump’s pitch to evangelicals included themes like 'I am anti-abortion, anti-euthanasia, and will stand against left-wing progressivism, so vote for me'.

This represents one way the Church-State relationship can play out. Evangelicals are, by nature, activists. They believe that God-inspired truths are true and good for everyone. Christ is the great transformer of culture. But certain themes like anti-abortion and anti-euthanasia act as flagship beliefs for evangelical activism.

And well, they might. God is pro-life. Or to make the same argument in a more contemporary way – we are supposed to stand up for the vulnerable, and the unborn and those nearing death, two groups at the margins – they are the most vulnerable. We should stand up for them most vehemently.

Others will question why being pro-life becomes the flagship for Christian activism. Why don’t we also get passionate about caring for the poor or protecting the vulnerable from abuse? Christians have a breadth of social concerns that arise from their faith convictions.

Pence is from the mid-west – traditionally a Republican stronghold and part of the Bible belt. The middle (often called the fly-over) states are unlike the East or West Coast. Americans have also held on to Christianity longer than other Western countries. Church attendance has declined far more slowly than in Australia, though they have not bounced back well after covid.

Too close a relationship between church and state makes me nervous. While politicians are used by God for the common good (Romans 13:1-6), only Jesus is Lord and Saviour, never Caesar.