A Christian "Fast" from Politics? May it Never Be!

One of the hottest topics in the blogosphere right now is the idea that evangelicals should actually remove themselves from the sphere of politics and disengage from the activity in the public square. David Kuo writes,

Beliefnet.com’s post-election online survey of more than 2,000 people revealed that nearly 40 percent of evangelicals support the idea of a two-year Christian “fast” from intense political activism. Instead of directing their energies toward campaigns, evangelicals would spend their time helping the poor.

Creating false dichotomies such as this helps neither the poor nor the political climate in our nation. This sort of suggestion compares to the hegemony that says that women can't be intelligent contributors to society as well as nurturers to their families. Of course evangelicals can and should continue to direct their energies toward political work, just as they should continue to work in any profession. This is not an either/or but a both/and.