How did certain Protestant denominations become associated with conservative politics and other Protestant denominations with liberal politics?

[manualman]

I’d say so when I see Christ’s words in Matt 25 where He says if they serve the hungry and those in need of clothing, they serve Him and are righteous and shall obtain eternal life.

The problem with this line of reasoning should be obvious to any literate catholic not in a coma for the last 20 years! Do some research on the abuser priest scandal and you will very quickly find that many of the priests that molested countless preteen boys ALSO were widely respected in their larger community and in many cases were actively involved in ministries that clothed the poor, fed the hungry, sheltered the homeless…

Demonstrably, moral character is about BOTH doing good and refraining from evil. The moment you begin to allow the doing of good to compensate for the doing of evil, you have embarked on a path that leads to horror. Sin exists and it leads to VERY ugly things.

This quote of Jesus, as always, needs to be understood in context. Who was Jesus’ primary audience in his earthly ministry? Jews. Did Jews of the day typically err on the side of excessive avoidance of evil to the neglect of works of charity or excessive focus on works of charity to the neglect of discerning good from evil? Read the gospels and it should be pretty clear that it was the former. Jesus wasn’t telling them that evil acts made no difference, he was attempting to correct their imbalanced emphasis.

 

[aidanbradypop]

Solely in my opinion, I believe this not to be true. Many Catholics vote on the liberal side will other vote on the conservative side. A good Catholic friend of mine votes liberal every election, state or federal, and does not care to let you know his stance lol. I am a conservative Catholic while my father is a moderate Anglican. My mother is a liberal Southern Baptise and her grandfather was a very conservative Baptist Preacher. SO I believe it merely reflects on the person’s personal beliefs rather than the Church they subscribe to.

 

[AbideWithMe]

There is one fact I came to realize across the Tiber and I don’t think it has been talked about.
Just because the DENOMINATION is liberal, does not mean the LOCAL CHURCH is liberal. Probably more in small towns than in large cities.

That’s true. I’ve been to some UCC churches set in the countryside, and one in a small town, which are quite conservative. I have also been to small town or countryside ECLA Lutheran, Reformed, Union, and United Methodist churches which are pretty conservative and theologically orthodox.

 

[JustaServant]

That’s true. I’ve been to some UCC churches set in the countryside, and one in a small town, which are quite conservative. I have also been to small town or countryside ECLA Lutheran, Reformed, Union, and United Methodist churches which are pretty conservative and theologically orthodox.

Sometimes it seems the pastors of those churches have been “banished” to little towns like that.
One small town in PA pops to mind, and believe me that would have been like going to “the Russian Front”.
One Methodist pastor I knew finally got out of “that town” and the last I heard pastors a larger church in Butler County Pa. Good man, very conservative.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I’m not entirely sure there’s a “rule of thumb” to it.

Sometimes organizations take on a political “tilt” because of the people who head them. Some foundations, for example, started out as conservative but then became liberal due to the ideological inclinations of the people who ended up at the head of them. Some newspapers have been the same way. In that regard, it appears to me the liberal ideological group is much more successful than the conservative group.

Once that happens, people of like minds gravitate to them.

Protestantism, almost without exception, is “mobile” because it posits the primacy of conscience and emphasizes individual interpretation of scripture. For that reason, protestants who become dissatisfied with their particular church or congregation don’t have a lot of trouble migrating to another that they feel is more in line with what they believe is closer to what Jesus would have wanted.

So, if a particular protestant denomination’s leadership veers to the left or to the right, some leave and others are then attracted to it. That’s not entirely dissimilar to the way people do with political parties. If your party veers too far to the right or the left to suit you, you switch parties. “Non-denominationals” are like the person who forms his own political party, in thought and/or in act.

So, for example (and I realize I might be challenged with this example) one is more likely to find a politically conservative Lutheran as a member of LCMS than ECLA. I realize both are Lutheran, and I don’t claim the right to determine who is a “true” Lutheran and who isn’t. But most Lutherans I know are LCMS, and most of them are on the conservative side, both politically and theologically, and not many of them feel very attracted to ECLA. On the other hand, if one is raised Lutheran and doesn’t have problems with some of the more “liberal” tendencies some churches have, he’s not unlikely to gravitate from LCMS to ECLA.

 

[ltwin]

Solely in my opinion, I believe this not to be true. Many Catholics vote on the liberal side will other vote on the conservative side. A good Catholic friend of mine votes liberal every election, state or federal, and does not care to let you know his stance lol. I am a conservative Catholic while my father is a moderate Anglican. My mother is a liberal Southern Baptise and her grandfather was a very conservative Baptist Preacher. SO I believe it merely reflects on the person’s personal beliefs rather than the Church they subscribe to.

That is true when it comes to personal political choices. I think the OP was referring to certain denominations being associated with liberal or conservative views overall. Take for example the Southern Baptist Convention and how it is perceived and compare that to the Episcopal Church and see the difference.

 

[AbideWithMe]

Sometimes it seems the pastors of those churches have been “banished” to little towns like that.
One small town in PA pops to mind, and believe me that would have been like going to “the Russian Front”.
One Methodist pastor I knew finally got out of “that town” and the last I heard pastors a larger church in Butler County Pa. Good man, very conservative.

Here in southeastern PA, it seems to be the opposite. Our cities—Reading, PA being the county seat where I live—are poor and crime-ridden, while rural homes and the farmland itself are expensive. Likewise, the rural mainline (Lutheran, Reformed, Methodist, etc.) churches are old and gorgeous, often set beautifully amidst nice farmland with a view. In many cases, a farmer or two donated the land several hundred years ago, and the fairly prosperous farming families gave their best to build the church and organ. The small town churches are also usually old (relatively speaking, for America) and well kept. My guess would be that these small town and country church positions are more wished-for than the city positions.

 

[JustaServant]

My guess would be that these small town and country church positions are more wished-for than the city positions.

Not the town I’m thinking of.

But not all small towns are alike, and I’m sure what you state is true in most cases.

 

[AbideWithMe]

Not the town I’m thinking of.

But not all small towns are alike, and I’m sure what you state is true in most cases.

I would guess that it varies from area to area, even within the same state. Southeastern PA was such a religiously active area in colonial times, that it seems like the old, prosperous small town and rural churches are real gems in some ways.

 

[JustaServant]

I would guess that it varies from area to area, even within the same state. Southeastern PA was such a religiously active area in colonial times, that it seems like the old, prosperous small town and rural churches are real gems in some ways.

When I was a pastor I used to love filling pulpits in small churches in small towns. One church paid us in vegetables from thier garden. It was more like small social gatherings, everybody knew each other. The old ladies would dote over our then, small child. And they always had some church dinner afterwards. Forced the preacher not to be so long winded.
Not all my experiences across the Tiber were negative. There is a comforting feeling one gets in those small churches, no matter what the denomination.
The town I’m referring to has probably changed (I hope) since I was last there. The area was known for being a haven for the KKK. The local MD churches had to tiptoe around racial issues. I won’t identify the town online, except to say a very famous Pittsburgh Steeler decided to build a youth home for black city kids…just a few miles from that town.
It didn’t go over too well.
I’ll let you Google it.

 

[Izdaari]

I left my Assembles of God church because of the association of American conservative evangelicalism with social conservative politics, which I began to find increasingly repugnant, and could not in good conscience continue, even tacitly, to support. The Rick Santorum campaign in the 2012 Republican brought that to a head for me. Now I’m Episcopalian and Lutheran (my church has both affiliations), and that suits me much better. Not that I’m liberal. I’m libertarian, and believe in maximizing the liberty of each individual. I voted for Gary Johnson on the Libertarian Party ticket.

 

[Gaelic_Bard]

I left my Assembles of God church because of the association of American conservative evangelicalism with social conservative politics, which I began to find increasingly repugnant, and could not in good conscience continue, even tacitly, to support. The Rick Santorum campaign in the 2012 Republican brought that to a head for me. Now I’m Episcopalian and Lutheran (my church has both affiliations), and that suits me much better. Not that I’m liberal. I’m libertarian, and believe in maximizing the liberty of each individual. I voted for Gary Johnson on the Libertarian Party ticket.

Without a healthy understanding of the separation between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of man, conservative activism or liberal activism is going to run rampant in churches because we are, by nature, political animals. If you can’t have a hippie commie pinko and a right wing crusader both come before the Lord’s table as mutual sinners who have no recourse but the shed blood of Christ, in brotherly love and affection for each other, there’s a major problem with how churches are teaching on these subjects. We have to hear this drivel from the powers that be in the SBC every election cycle. Fortunately, our pastor is wise enough to trash the political pamphlets when they arrive at our congregation.

 

[Oldtimer_7]

JonNC, it is actually worse than you imagine. I agree about closeted clergy, but the ELCA in its wisdom decided to make the ruling on gay clergy orientationally neutral. As one unmarried pastor put it," they OK’d me living with my girlfriend."

Repeatedly, in scripture, leaders of the church are called to live to a higher standard than the membership.I am reminded of Judges 21:25 “In those days, there was no king in Israel. Every man did what was right in his own eyes.” (ESV).

 

[meltzerboy]

That is true when it comes to personal political choices. I think the OP was referring to certain denominations being associated with liberal or conservative views overall. Take for example the Southern Baptist Convention and how it is perceived and compare that to the Episcopal Church and see the difference.

That is correct. I was referring to the general perception of certain Protestant denominations as being either liberal or conservative in their political views.