Last week we talked about the Republican Party so it would only be fair that this week we spend some time looking into the Democratic Party. Despite what you might believe, there are a lot of similarities between these two parties. As you might remember, these parties were intertwined from their beginning.So to start off, lets dive into a quick history of this Party.

When Democratic-Republican Party split up into two different groups, the Democratic party could be seen as far more successful for several years. In fact, from 1828-1856, they won all but two presidential elections. However, in the 1850’s the party began to divide up over the issue of slavery. Northern Democrats believed that states entering the Union should be able to decide if they were a slave state or not by a popular vote. Meanwhile, Southern Democrats thought that owning slaves was a constitutional right. This divide lead to a weakening in their Party that helped in part elect Republican Abraham Lincoln and a Republican majority in the house for the rest of the 19th century. Over the next several decades, the Democratic Party continued to struggle on the national stage until the stock market crash of 1929 which led to Franklin Roosevelt winning the Presidential election in 1932. He ran on a platform of governmental reforms that gave aid and assistance to people who were struggling during this time. His election led to a another period of relative democratic dominance for the next 60 years. However, up until 1948, this party remained blatantly racist and in favor of segregation. They were the most vocal opponents of the 14th amendment (amendment that abolished slavery) during the 1860’s. Also, it was the democratic party that enacted and supported the infamous Jim Crow laws of the south and opposed the rights of minorities to vote. However, Harry Truman in 1948, introduced a pro-civil rights platform to the party. This caused many Democrats to leave the party for awhile to form their own party called the Dixiecrats. After this pro-civil rights platform was introduced however, the democratic party progressively began to shift more and more towards supporting  organized labor, the civil rights of minorities, and progressive reform. Which leads us to where the Democratic Party is today.

In today’s society, the typical Democrat supports a government that has the power to regulate business and industry, the ability to finance social services or benefits for those who are poor, unemployed, or older. They are also on the front lines of additional rights issues such as LGBT advocacy, Pro Choice and issues surrounding immigration or gun control. Now may of the things that the Democratic party are very good. Issues such as helping those in need and making providing for the elderly and those who can’t help themselves are issues that should unite everyone. However, the difference between the Republican and Democratic party is, who’s job is this? The Democrats believe that this is the governments job, and the way to pay for it is to tax those who have more money in order to help spread the wealth. While, the Republicans think it should be the private citizens job to do this. So, to simplify it, I think the argument between these parties is where does the responsibility of taking care of the rest of society lie? I think it should be with the private citizen, (thus why I’m more conservative) while most Democrats think it should be the governments job. Also, my concern with their preferred style of government is the unsustainability of it. For a government to adequately provide for its citizens, there has to be a massive amount of money flowing into the government (i.e. taxes). And the more you take from your citizens, the less incentive you give for them to create more wealth on their own. So, if you want to keep taxes at a moderately low level, then you have to get that money from somewhere. This leads us to borrowing money at an unsustainable rate. Thus why we are 22 trillion dollars in debt and counting. Now this is a problem that Democrats and Republicans both have a problem with. Because in today’s society, to run a successful campaign, there seems to be a need to promise all sorts of free stuff to the base that you are trying to get votes from. This is one of the reasons we see many of the presidential candidates this year promising everything from free college, free healthcare, increased benefits and even one candidate who promises to give every citizen a thousand dollars a month. Now don’t get me wrong, these would be nice things to have. But a country cannot create all these programs to give things away without paying for it somehow. So if these free things are what you want, than be prepared to pay for them with increased taxes and debt.

Now that is the basic economic argument between Republicans and Democrats. Obviously, there many more aspects to it, and the varying beliefs of people within these parties create a lot of friction and different beliefs. And we haven’t even discussed business regulations and how the government plays a role in that. However, I’m going to assume most of you don’t care as much about that. So let’s look real briefly at some of the other arguments within these parties. Specifically my single biggest problem with them, and that is the right to life for the unborn. The Democrat party has had a history of being on the wrong side of civil rights arguments throughout their history. And seemingly as they finally figured out how wrong they were on the issues of segregation and the rights of minorities, they went the wrong way on the right for life for the unborn. Now this blog post is not here to debate if abortion is right or wrong.My belief is that the murder of an innocent, helpless child within the womb is an evil that is comparable to what the extermination projects carried out by the likes of Hitler, Stalin, and Mao Zedong. These are men who killed millions of people because they believed that these people were an inferior class or holding their country back from what they wanted to accomplish. I believe groups that kill close to 900 children each day fit into likes of such figures like those who I mentioned. So for me personally, I cannot support a party that overtly promotes this. Now I know this is a sensitive subject that people feel very strongly about (obviously I do). You can even see how several Democratic candidates are openly campaigning on the right for an abortion all the way till the moment of birth. Now this post isn’t here to address that issue, but simply to say here is what their party platform says and here is how I feel about it. I think it is wrong, and I think it is the one area within this party that no one should support. Which is the main reason that holds me back from voting for most Democratic candidates.

Now there are other issues such mainly such as gun control and immigration. However, I do not have time to go into those right now, though later on I will try in a different post. But there are many different issues that we can respectfully disagree on or even learn from each other on. The only argument I do not see up for debate is the argument of the right to life for the unborn. But please, tell me why you agree or disagree with me below. Or tell me what makes you support the party you do. Thanks for reading and if you get this far into the post, well I congratulate you.

In today’s world the view of the Republican Party and what it stands for draws radically different reactions depending on who you ask. For many people throughout the US, regardless of their belief, their definition of the Republican Party starts and stops with our current president, Donald Trump. Now this can be a fair judgement, simply because the Republican Party elected him as their candidate for president. So should we as Christians be a part of this party?

Well, first here is a quick look on their history. The Republican Party was founded in 1792 by supporters of Thomas Jefferson as a party who wanted a decentralized government with very limited powers and very pro constitution. Ironically enough, this party was known as the Democratic-Republican Party, which in the 1830’s turned into the Democratic Party (which is know the arch rival of Republicans). Overtime the people who remained a part of the Republican Party started to reach national attention on one of their main platform issues of anti slavery. This led to them electing Abraham Lincoln as their first Republican president. Over the next hundred years, this party remained at the forefront of racial issues including abolishing slavery, giving minorities and women the right to vote, and being instrumental in getting rid of Jim Crow laws in the deep Democratic south. So how does a party that was in part established to combat racial issues, become identified as a white supremacist party, that many would argue supports the wealthy minority of the country, while ignoring the the middle class and or those stuck in poverty.

I think this goes back to an issue of perception. One of the key platforms of the Republican party used to be that they favored limited government. This simply means that the less government the better. Therefore, the less taxes, the less government aid, the less messing with other countries affairs, the better. Now a government that acts in this way, in a way, does benefit the wealthy. It also however, helps out the middle class as well. It takes less of their paycheck and also allows for people to live their everyday life without fear of government intervention. This helps promote business growth, the ability for people to spend more money (which helps grows the economy) because people have more money to spent. Remember, taxes is the government simply taking money that you have worked for and spending however they see fit.

Now the issue with this is, how does less government aid lift up those who are poor or struggling with their life. It all comes down to what do you believe the governments job is. Do you think it is the governments job to take care of those who for whatever reason are unable to care for themselves or is it the people who live in that society to care for those less fortunate than themselves? The majority of the Republican Party, believes that it is not the governments job. Rather people, charities, and charities should take a larger part in helping those in need. Which admittedly, is something that many people seem to not to do in today’s society. And I think as Christians, we should be admittedly ashamed that we have forced the government to help the poor instead of doing it ourselves. There is an over abundance of wealth within much of the Christian church within the US, so why haven’t we done more to help those around us? (Just some food for thought there) Now obviously, the people in this party remained split on this issue, with some thinking the government should take a larger role, while others wish the government would give out less than it does. There are other issues that affect this party as well. Issues such as the right to life within the womb. The republican party believes that a child has a right to its own life, while still in the mothers womb. Now as to when this life begins is an argument that divides many Republicans. Other topics that divide republicans can be related to the USA’s involvement within other countries affairs. Some believe that we should not meddle with them at all, while others think that we need to be active in how we are involved in other countries as it provides a way for us to protect issues that might affect the US. So as you can see, there is no clear cut thing to identify someone as a Republican. People within the party are divided in what they believe on almost every issue there is within politics.

This leads us back to one of the most divisive figures in politics and even the Republican Party. And that is Donald Trump. This is someone with morally abhorrent behavior who openly has mocked or seemingly racially targeted those of different races, demeaned women, and insulted and mocked people with disabilities. There is no excusing this behavior on any level, what so ever. There is also no denying that as President, he has also been successful in growing the economy, stabilizing foreign relationships and introducing solid policy options (at least as far as Republican beliefs go). So what should we as Christians do when viewing this Party? Is it okay to excuse the garbage and definitely unchristian ways that their leader has acted simply because he has good policy options? The short answer is no. I don’t think you can excuse this behavior, which is one of the reasons I did not vote for him and most likely will not in the future. However, I think there needs to be a separate distinction made between the very real Christian and morally ethically good platforms of the Republican Party (such as the pro life, racial inclusiveness, free speech and limited government) and those within the party who do not believe or support those beliefs. Thus to sum up, I think you can be a Christian and support some of the policy options that Trump or the Republican Party have made, while refusing to excuse his behavior and being willing to demand a change during the upcoming election cycle.

Now obliviously, there is much more to the Republican Party’s beliefs, for example their views on how to fix the economy and climate change (though they and the Democratic party have a history of kicking the can down the road on these issues). Another big area of contention currently, is immigration. Personally, I favor a much more streamlined and easier approach for immigrants to get into our country legally. However, these are arguments that I do not have the time or energy to go into currently but might possibly in the future. I will list a few people to go and listen to if you would like to learn more on these or other issues.

Ben Shaprio Show – A conservative, debaterish type, who while somewhat aggressive, has very knowledgeable and up to date opinions on the current political climate. You will never be bored while listening to this.

The Federalist Radio Hour -This is led by Ben Domenech, and they interview and talk with political and policy leaders. It is a great podcast for listeners hoping to jump into the mechanics of policies without having a lot of experience in Washington.

The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg – Jonah Goldberg from the National Review discusses the political and cultural issues of the day. He has unique takes on the presidency and the cultural shift the country is witnessing.

And here are a few other names you can look up on your own. – Andrew Klavan: Michael Knowles: Dave Rubin: Steven Crowder:

If you have any thoughts or concerns on what I said, or would like me to address something I might have overlooked, leave a comment. Thanks for you time and I hope what I said makes a bit of sense. My next post will be explaining a bit about the Democratic Party and once I finish that, I hope to spend some time going over some ways both of these parties can improve and how you can get involved in formatting change, if you are so inclined, for either party.