For my money, Stanley Hauerwas (retired professor of Duke University and 
prolific author) is the most important American theologian alive today. And I don’t say that because he was kind enough to write a positive endorsement for my book, I Pledge Allegiance.
No one has a better grasp of the essential relationship between the Church and the Kingdom of God. If only more of us could think and act as clearly as he does.
Below is an excerpt from Professor Hauerwas’ contribution to the recent Christian Century article, “Do politics belong in church?“.
“The only problem with [saying] ‘religion and politics do not mix’ is that the phrase is one of the strongest examples we have of political rhetoric. There is no
escaping ‘the political.’ To refuse to take a political stance is to take a political stance. In particular, the presumption that the church is above politics underwrites the distinction between the public and the private that serves to relegate strong convictions, particularly if they are ‘religious,’ to the private. Private, moreover, is the word we use to describe a fictive political agent, that is, the individual whose political views are to be respected no matter what they may be.
“Moreover, the politics presupposed by the slogan ‘religion and politics do not mix’ is issue politics of election years. ‘Issues’ are what politicians use to distract ‘the people’ from considering the fundamental injustices of our political arrangements. We assume we can concentrate on the issues because given that we are a democracy all we need do is vote. Christians take it for granted that democracies are the Christian form of government, though they seldom ask what makes democracies democratic.
“So when Christians are in church they should be at their most political. But what is essential is how to avoid letting what passes as politics determine the political agenda of the church. Christians must learn again how to reframe issues in a manner that makes clear that the politics of Jesus is different. The church is its own politic, which means Christians cannot avoid being ‘political.’” (emphasis mine)
