“The Bible teaches we are ‘subject to authorities.’ In the United States, the people are the authority and elected officials are subject to the people. This makes a Christian’s response to politics tremendously important in the United States,” said Dr. Hal Poe, vice president for academic resources and information services. Poe was recently named Professor of Faith and Culture. Since the ninth grade, Hal Poe has had a thirst for politics. His earliest political venture was service as Vice-Chairman of the Greenville (SC) Teenage Republicans. By age 15, he had become treasurer of the state-wide organization, the South Carolina Teenage Republicans . The next year, at age 16, Poe served as a congressional page for Senator Strom Thurmond. It was the fall of 1967, Poe recalls, and he had the opportunity to meet "just about everybody, from Hubert Humphrey to Richard Nixon." In fact, he had his picture taken with Nixon right after the presidential candidate had locked up the endorsement of Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen. While a student at the University of South Carolina, Poe was chairman of the campus College Republicans group. Soon after, he became treasurer of the state group. By the 1972 presidential election he was Youth Director of the South Carolina Committee to Reelect the President. However, a now-famous event changed his political plans. "The Watergate break-in took place in June 1972," he observes. "Knowing the people in the Washington office, I was convinced they were involved," so he resigned his post in July. Lee Atwater — who later managed George Bush’s 1988 presidential campaign — succeeded Poe as state youth director. Poe remembers this as a period when he was "really struggling with a call to ministry. I was like an alcoholic looking for another drink!" That compulsion drew him back into South Carolina politics in 1974, when he accepted a post as State Finance Director for the Republican Party. In a year when Republicans "were routed all over the country" in the aftermath of the Nixon resignation and pardon, Poe and his co-workers helped bring about the election of the state’s first Republican governor since Reconstruction. In December following the election campaign, Poe again sensed God’s calling to ministry, and the next June (1975) he enrolled at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. Since graduation with an M.Div. and Ph.D. degrees, he has been on the faculty of the seminary twice, with faculty service at Minnesota’s Bethel College in between. In fact, the Minnesota sojourn provided his only substantial political activity since 1975. "I was interested in seeing how the political process worked there, so I carried my five-year-old daughter to a caucus, and was elected to the state party committee. I could feel myself getting sucked back in so I escaped!" Poe and his family became part of the 51ÉçÇø family in 1996. (His wife, Mary Ann, teaches social work.) Most recently, Poe was invited to attend Amsterdam 2000 and to serve on the task team for evangelism. The event, which involved Christian leaders from more than twenty nations, was sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
Poe emphasizes the need for American citizens to become involved in government matters before the general election. “Citizenship is more than a political party. In this country, literally anyone can be elected to a public office. To have an impact, it is a matter of willingness,” he said. “American democracy and America as a whole is in a crisis right now because of the lack of leadership. People don’t get involved and they defer to those who take a role out of self-interest. It is the responsibility of each individual Christian, not each denomination, to be involved,” Poe said. So is there a place for Christians to seek to influence the political process? “Christians can influence Congress with legislation. There is no area of life where the Gospel does not have implications. Jesus may not tell us specifically but his teachings have profound implications as to how to solve those problems,” Poe pointed out. However, he warns that Christians should not fall into the danger of believing their viewpoint is the only way Christ would have seen an issue. “Committed Christians can disagree on civic problems, just like they may disagree on the color of carpeting in a church.” There are also potential dangers for anyone who enters the political arena. “A certain humility needs to be present for Christians getting involved in politics. Christians think they are immune to the ego-inflating tendencies of politics. To avoid these downfalls a person should maintain accountability with other Christians. Have those close to you tell you what you are doing,” Poe said. Until recently, Christians of different denominations would publicly discuss the Bible and take different positions on various topics. This was accepted as normal, because religion was seen as a part of life and a part of conversation. “When I was a teenager, all political candidates put where they attended church in their campaign material. In the Southern culture it was seen as important and something was wrong if it was not there. This has changed in the United States,” said Poe. “It is nationally no longer a benefit to be seen as religious or attending church. We are reaching a stage where people go because they want to, not because it is expected.” The challenge for a Christian in politics is speaking from a faith perspective to a culture that has no faith. “Christians in the public eye have a responsibility to model Christian faith in a way that makes it desirable” he said. “There has been a radical shift in understanding the First Amendment, free exercise of religion. It was originally viewed as freedom of religion; it is now interpreted as freedom from religion. This idea is very similar to thoughts expressed in the constitution of the Soviet government, which stated individuals may have faith but they must keep it to themselves and it is not to be a part of public conversation. This is the greatest challenge of the 21st Century for Christians in public life,” Poe believes. While Christians – those who are politicians as well as average American voters, have a great deal of responsibility, Poe is optimistic about the future. “We have an exciting future because we are in the midst of the greatest cultural change since the Industrial Revolution. No one knows where to go and the Gospel provides the answers.” “We no longer have cultural rights to guide the nation. Every generation has a responsibility to make the Christian faith credible in their own time. People who can do that will make a tremendous contribution to their country and world and will have a bright future.” Article by Kelly Ross, ‘99. |
