People on both sides of the party line are beginning to make noises about the moderate candidates. Sen. John McCain and Sen. Hillary Rodham-Clinton are both getting a facefull when it comes to criticism for seeming to hold contrasting liberal and conservative views.

While I’m not supporting either of these candidates, I’m certainly more inclined to throw my support behind a candidate who is willing to free people up from the tactics of oppressive governments dedicated to only one set of ideals, but is dedicated to the pursuit of the values which made this country great.

So how can you be conservative and liberal at the same time? Well, you generally pick one as your focus, then utilize the other as a necessary tool for leading and governing.

This is a vital concept for those who are Christians. Why? Because Jesus was the ultimate liberal-conservative. Jesus liberated the poor, the hungry, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned from the oppression of the Temple authority. He preached conservation of the most basic tenets of God’s message for the people of Israel.

So when the pundits say that people who are espousing liberal and conservative views, remember that there is a distinct precendent.

You can do both. Its possible. Trust me.

What you can’t do is to say one thing then do another. That’s called flip-flopping. And unless there is a darned good reason for changing the opinion or stance, that candidate should be called on it.

I think its time that we challenged Democrats to be more conservative in their stances on moral issues. And its time we challenged Republicans to be more conservative on their moral stances in areas related to economics.

Jim Wallis is the founder of the Christian group Sojourners. He’s also a nationally recognized author and speaker on religion and politics. Wallis says Republicans and Democrats who claim to be Christians have strayed from the teachings of the Bible. And he says that poverty, AIDS, global warming and genocide are moral issues, too.

“We want a return to Jesus’ words to correct the politics that have become so skewed by a partisan application of them,” Wallis says. “Christians are supposed to be, first of all, known by obedience to Jesus Christ. We haven’t seen or heard that in proclamations by those who claim to be Christian and are so active in public life.” [from NPR.org]

That said, I think we can note that, while they were in power in the House and Senate, the recent Republican efforts to undergird our moral structures were limited at best. Yes, there were several bills passed around the country that prohibited same-sex unions and further limited the options on abortion as a birth-control method. But as Micheal Happ said last October:

Politicians often tell us that voting for “Christian values” means supporting certain views on abortion or sexuality.  But are those really the priorities of Jesus?  Is that the extent of his message for us?

Personally, I think Jesus spent a lot more time on the poor than he did on the sexually immoral of His day. But you don’t hear that preached from many pulpits. I would put it to you simply: Our current tax-law is just as much a moral issue for Christians as abortion.

So you can be liberal and vote for a repeal of taxes as long as folks are all paying a fair share and still cast a conservative to prevent abortion when its being used for birth control or gender selection.

Challenge your pastor to talk more about these issues. Challenge your friends to think about these issues in light of Scripture. While I won’t be posting support for any of the candidates in particular, I think its important to talk about how we perceive the issues–and how the candidates plan to address them.