Don’t Be An Idealogue: Ideologies Are More Harmful Than Helpful

I’m not a Republican, Democrat, Conservative, Liberal, or anything along the ideological spectrum, because I don’t conform to mainstream political labels. And you shouldn’t either. 

Ideologies are too unstable. Political ideologies have changed in the past. We have seen this with the party switch between Republicans and Democrats. And political ideologies will change again. 

Moreover, individuals today have become ideologically blind. While doing research, we look for the Republican opinion or search for a certain news outlet that leans a certain way. We get so caught up in our ideology that we ignore what is right in front of us. 

While speaking with someone you disagree, do you seek out ways to trigger them? Are you deliberately saying things to get a zinger in? Do you totally disregard an individual’s heart for the sake of your political point?

If you answer yes, then you are ideologically blind. It is OK to discuss politics. However, people should not know your political orientation before they know you are a Christian. 

Ideologies are not inherently bad. They can provide a summary of ideas; however, an ideology is more than an umbrella term for ideas. We see this with both Democrats and Republicans.

As historian Morris Berman said, “An idea is something you have, an ideology is something that has you.” We encounter individuals so ideologically blind they ignore the root issues.

I urge fellow Christians to rise above ideologies. I’ve been asked, am I a Republican? Democrat? Liberal? Conservative? When answered, I would receive questions like, “As a Christian how could you believe that?”

The problem is when the political ideology becomes the focal point of the Christian life. We are called to be Christians first. That duty does not stop where voting begins. There is not an insult that can justify ungodly actions (the provoking of an individual), not even being called a Democrat.

“The most fundamental problem of politics is not the control of wickedness, but the limitation of righteousness,” according to Henry Kissinger.

I will not be offended if you call me a Democrat or a Republican, I will not be offended if you call me a Liberal or a Conservative. I will be offended if you call me an atheist. I will be offended if you say I am not a Christian, because Christianity is the only ideology that defines my life. I am a Christian who happens to have a political ideology that aligns with a political aisle, but I am a Christian first. 

The only consistent ideology throughout time is Christianity.

The government is not God; it cannot fix all our problems because the government is often the root of them. When we give into ideologies, we excuse ourselves from gathering and evaluating information.

According to psychologist Jordan Peterson, “Ideologies are substitutes for true knowledge, and ideologies are always dangerous when they come to power, because a simpleminded I-know-it-all approach is no match for the complexity of existence.”  

MacKenzie is the opinion editor. Follow her from Twitter