A Review of "Republocrat"

While I don't have the time or energy to write a review/summary for every book I read, I think it may be worthwhile to do so for a book that (a) isn't quite as popular as Piper's Desiring God or (b) makes a really good point or (c) is very bad. Republocrat, qualifies to (a). I don't find all of Carl Trueman's political points convincing - nor do I think that his intent was to give extensive arguments for many of his political stances. However, I do find his point that evangelical Christians really have no true political party (which historically should be the left) to side with, of particular interest - thus qualifying (b).

The book was very slow to get started...by all means, skip the foreword and acknowledgements. Trueman proclaims that his thesis for the book is "that conservative Christianity does not require conservative politics or conservative cultural agendas" (page xix). I think that this point is very well defended. Trueman is a history professor at Westminster Theological Seminary and from everything that I've read from and of him, his theology has been spot on. Interestingly, unlike many Christians, he is a Democrat, yet one that opposes abortion and gay marriage.

Trueman did an absolutely incredibly job explaining the following point: "the Left has been hijacked by special-interest groups, and is frequently less concerned than even the parties of the Right with those for whom it should really speak up" (page 2). He provides a very good historical outline describing the Left's concern for the oppressed, the person without a voice, and the subsequent abandonment in the 1960's. I loved this part of the book. He explains:

• Gay rights: Pre-1960 the left was a party for the oppressed working class, however "it has often been the case that the most intolerant groups with regard to homosexuality are working-class [i.e. they oppose it]; the issue of gay rights is, by and large, the preoccupation of the middle class. So in advocating gay rights, the Left frequently finds itself opposed to the values of the very people it was originally designed to help" (page 12).
• Abortion: "while the Left in origin was supposed to provide a voice to the voiceless"..."the most voiceless of all - the unborn - are those most vigorously silenced by those who should be speaking for them" (page 12-13).
• War: "The Left's opposition to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq is odd, given that both represented feudal regimes with despicable records on human rights" (page 13-14).

Keep in mind that his purpose was not to build a Biblical case for any political views - he rightly saves that for Grudem - though they do seem disagree on gun control. Rather his point is that just because a guy Boehner calls himself a Christian (a claim that I would seriously question) does not mean that his political views are necessarily Biblical and should not be assumed to be so by Christians. Likewise, Democrats certainly take the true Christian stance on issues such as caring for the poor - though they do manage to royally screw up their execution.

Nonetheless, if you're looking for something different/interesting to read I would recommend the book, but I wouldn't put it very high in the queue.