Paul talks with Lisa Sharon Harper and David Innes about their book: Left, Right, and Christ: Evangelical Faith in Politics:
Lisa Sharon Harper, director of mobilizing at the progressive Christian justice organization Sojourners, represents the left, and D.C. Innes, associate professor of politics at The King’s College, stands in for the right.
“Both of us are Christians. And so what we have in common is greater than all our differences,” Innes and Harper write. “Yet differences there are, and in this book we elaborate on our political differences. How can two people who share the same fundamental life-transforming Christian principles think so differently when it comes to politics?”
The authors tell how they arrived at their current political stances, both led by their understanding of Christian teachings. Innes, an ex-pat Canadian Tory turned American Republican, says “the Christian view of man prompted me to move toward the modern Republican view of politics as the most prudent way for fallen people to live with one another politically.” Harper, whose ancestors are African, Native American, and Puerto Rican, says her evangelical faith shapes her liberal perspective on today’s issues: “We the people will be called to account for the effect of our public policies on the least of these in our society. Did we bless or did we curse?”
From their divergent perspectives, Innes and Harper explore how Christian faith shapes one’s participation in the political process. They argue their positions on issues including poverty, health care, immigration, same-sex marriage, abortion, terrorism, and the environment, in a robust yet respectful give-and-take.