Growing up my brand of Lutheranism taught Pastors not to mix politics with theology. Luther said we are to walk with one foot in two kingdoms. But somewhere along the way and to the chagrin of many parishioners, they began stepping on their own toes.
Politics was preached from the Protestant pulpits back in the 1920s. The KKK bribed many pastors to encourage their flocks to join the KKK and to vote for KKK-approved politicians, and not just in the South. Other preachers who were racist, anti-semitic, anti-Catholic and opposed to immigration didn't need to be bribed. Protestant churches in the US have not been forces for "good". A new book called A Fever in the Heartland details much of what these "good Christians" did. Catholic priests have also preached to their congregations about supporting candidates who are anti-abortion.
Growing up my brand of Lutheranism taught Pastors not to mix politics with theology. Luther said we are to walk with one foot in two kingdoms. But somewhere along the way and to the chagrin of many parishioners, they began stepping on their own toes.
Politics was preached from the Protestant pulpits back in the 1920s. The KKK bribed many pastors to encourage their flocks to join the KKK and to vote for KKK-approved politicians, and not just in the South. Other preachers who were racist, anti-semitic, anti-Catholic and opposed to immigration didn't need to be bribed. Protestant churches in the US have not been forces for "good". A new book called A Fever in the Heartland details much of what these "good Christians" did. Catholic priests have also preached to their congregations about supporting candidates who are anti-abortion.