{"id":37019,"date":"2024-03-22T21:33:17","date_gmt":"2024-03-23T04:33:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=37019"},"modified":"2024-03-22T21:33:17","modified_gmt":"2024-03-23T04:33:17","slug":"politics-cant-be-a-dirty-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/politics-cant-be-a-dirty-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Politics can\u2019t be a dirty game!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:\u00a0<\/strong>As I share what I have gleaned from Dr. Petrusek\u2019s work, I believe his work, like many other bold believers, is very important in encouraging people of faith to step out into a hostile world and engage culture boldly in faith. As someone who has seen a good share of instability due to conflicts and civil unrest, I will add a few comments of my own regarding religion and politics.<\/p>\n

Impressive Work<\/strong><\/p>\n

Looking at Dr. Petrusek\u2019s credentials, his work so far proves he has done a fantastic job studying his craft. Dr. Petrusek specializes in Christian ethics and moral theology, and he received an MA at Yale University and a PhD in religion and ethics from the University of Chicago. He is a professor of Catholic Ethics and Assistant Director at the Word on Fire Institute.<\/p>\n

My Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Evangelization and Ideology: How to Understand and Respond to Political Culture,<\/em> Matthew R. Petrusek has not only done an excellent job of revealing the outstanding work of social good done by Catholics but has also challenged us not to fear but to boldly proclaim the good news of Jesus amidst this hostile secular culture. He is helping us deal with our over politicized culture and hopefully make a difference in how we engage our community with faith rather than fear. Dr. Petrusek reveals to us that the secular ideologies of our day, namely utilitarianism, classical liberalism\/libertarianism, progressivism\/wokeism, and non-theistic conservatism, have much to do with the errors and deficiencies of the current political decay. [1]<\/a><\/p>\n

Bishop Barron says it best referring to the work of Dr. Petrusek.<\/p>\n

\u201cPetrusek shows how catholic teaching while respecting the genuine concerns of these worldviews, responds to their errors and deficiencies by providing a more rational and moral alternative.\u201d[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

Bishop Barron adds a statement that I unfortunately find very true. Many people would rather stay away from anything politics.<\/p>\n

For many, the best way forward for the Church is steering clear of the sociopolitical arena altogether. But there is hope: Our hyper-politicized society is an opportunity for evangelization rather than an obstacle. Evangelization and ideology<\/em> offer readers an understanding of the roots of our broken political culture and a map for redirecting it back to the transcendent God and the authentic human good.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

Politics can\u2019t be a dirty game!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many people have chosen to stay away from politics, calling it a dirty game. Who would then dare join Politics? Christians, especially, are attempting to live pure and holy, serving Jesus as a model of Love, Joy, and Peace.<\/p>\n

There is a quote that I love attributed to Edmund Burke, though others say it is falsely attributed to him, saying that the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. When good men decide to remain uninvolved in politics for a very long time, politics might as well fall back to the opposite side (in the devil\u2019s corner).<\/p>\n

Created to be like Jesus<\/strong><\/p>\n

We were created to be like Jesus, aren\u2019t we? In response to my friend\u2019s question in a recent blog, I mentioned Romans 8:28 as my place of solace. I think that a more difficult task is in the verse that follows (Rom. 8:29). We are to be conformed to the image of God\u2019s Son, and becoming like Jesus on this side of heaven must be the most challenging task. We would instead wait till the time we see him face to face in our glorious mansions, which he promised us, rather than agreeing to identify with him in his suffering and pain. Jesus was and will always be our model, a servant who did not spare life and comfort as a heavenly King taking our sinners\u2019 place till Calvary\u2019s cross.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n

We may not all be called to become politicians, but we might look for ways to engage culture with the salt and light of the gospel than we have done before. If it takes full engagement in politics for some, may the will of God be done, I will cast the first vote. When I took Resilience on the Wings of Joy as my doctoral project, I referred to a need for being vulnerable and possibly getting wounded for authentic relational connection. That is the only place where authentic trust leads to healing. Without this kind of openness and selfless service, progress toward who God created us to be and to maximize our potential in this world for his glory will not occur.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Petrusek, R. Matthew, Evangelization, and Ideology: How to Understand and Respond to Political Culture<\/em> (Word on Fire Institute, Park Ridge, IL 60068, 2023), Kindle.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Bishop Robert Barron, \u201cWord on Fire,\u201d Arguing Religion: A Bishop Speaks at Facebook and Google<\/em> (blog), January 1, 2019, books.wordonfire.org\/evangelizationandideology.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Bishop Robert Barron.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Introduction:\u00a0As I share what I have gleaned from Dr. Petrusek\u2019s work, I believe his work, like many other bold believers, is very important in encouraging people of faith to step out into a hostile world and engage culture boldly in faith. As someone who has seen a good share of instability due to conflicts and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":164,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3032,3152],"class_list":["post-37019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-petrusek-dlgp","tag-matthew-petrusek","cohort-dlgp01"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/164"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37019"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37020,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37019\/revisions\/37020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}