How should Christians engage with American politics? That’s a loaded question, especially in a divisive and politically charged era in which incivility reigns supreme.
And it was the very topic at the center of Thursday night’s episode of “Pure Talk,” a new culture and entertainment TV show brought to you by Pure Flix and Faithwire. Hosts Kirsten Haglund, Dan Andros, Billy Hallowell and Greg Gudorf explored how Christians should best engage in political conversation, while also navigating our contentious cultural climate.
Among other points of conversation, the “Pure Talk” panel agreed that it’s essential to push back against echo chamber mentality. And the panel also agreed that politics, regardless of its societal importance, isn’t the end all, be all.
“It’s very easy to sort of go through the Internet and it becomes almost an echo chamber,” Andros, managing editor of Faithwire, said. “You’re just looking for the things that resonate with you … and you’re amplifying them … you kind of get into a pattern and you sort of lose your empathy gene [and] your ability to think beyond those political walls that have been built up.”
Faithwire senior editor Billy Hallowell added that he believes it’s important that Americans stop letting politics drive them.
“[Many of us] start thinking about political ideas … before [we] think about where [our] salvation and hope lies,” he said, adding that it’s important for people on all sides to “have a little more grace and be fair.”
Watch the “Pure Talk” panel tackle the intersection of politics, culture, ethics and faith below:
“I really think we really don’t have the two parties anymore,” he said. “We have issues that we call out that each try to stake out and claim as their own. … Jesus didn’t play into duality.”
Andros added that he believes “voters were put in a tough spot” in 2016 when they were faced with two options that many Americans found unpalatable: Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican rival Donald Trump.
Watch the previous episode of “Pure Talk” below: