Christianity has been getting a lot of play in the mainstream media lately, but only because it is becoming a major factor in that most sacred of pastimes – politics. Recent studies have shown that people’s faith in large part determines how they vote and churchgoers are threatening to be the dividing line in this year’s election. This has made journalists sit up and take notice. The LA Times had two pieces (here and here) on it today alone. The writing shows just how backwards the reporters understanding of the world really is. They see religion as something subservient to politics – a childish aspect of our existence that has bewitched a large portion of the population and therefore must be dealt with, but that is mostly and annoyance to the mature adults among us. The result is that their treatment of Christianity is ridiculously condescending: US News saw fit to use “Why Church Matters” as the headline for its article last week. As if the only reason it might be of some importance is that it is affecting the campaigns. This is insulting at best and dangerously ignorant at worst. Christianity claims to tell us what God and the universe are really like. If it is correct, it is not a matter of how it affects political campaigns that is important – it is a matter of how closely our political system adheres to its teachings.
