Witness gets vulnerable on the challenge of working in politics

Hector “Witness” Dominguez, a hip-hop artist based in Chicago, told Rapzilla at Legacy Conference 2016 that he’s heard people say Christians should avoid political involvement because “we’re not from this world.”

He disagrees with their rationale.

“We are responsible to be the light inside the darkness,” Witness said, “not just in your church, not just in your neighborhood — as a lawyer, as a judge, as a cop, as a firefighter, as a politician, as a teacher, as a garbage man, as a janitor. Those are jobs you’re supposed to fill.”

Witness fills a job in politics, and he admitted that, as a Christian, fulfilling his job requirements have been burdensome at times.

“I have been in positions where my faith could’ve been compromised,” he said. “And I did compromise before on my beliefs. That’s something I’m going to have to take to the grave. I regret it. I regret it with all my heart. I can’t believe I did it.”

Witness explained that he’s a graphic designer for politicians, and he’s been tasked with creating content that conflicted with his beliefs.

“I’m asked, ‘Hey, can you make a flyer saying this? Can you make a flyer promoting this? Can you make a flyer bashing this person?’ I make propaganda,” he said. “They’ll take a picture of someone talking to someone, but it looks like they’re yelling at someone. ‘Hector, can you make this flyer and say, ‘Why would you talk to a constituent like this?’

“It’s just rough, man. They ask me to compromise a lot, so I’ve gotten to the point where I’m like, ‘Nah, I can’t do that.’ But I’ve done same-sex propaganda. I’ve done same-sex flyers. I’ve done same-sex certificates — all kind of crazy stuff — and I regret it. I regret it so much. At the time, I justified it by saying, ‘Hey, it’s my job. I got to feed my kids.’”

Although painful, Witness’s mistakes serve as evidence why Christians should be involved in politics because they could be put in positions to make different decisions than what would’ve otherwise been made.

“If we have Christians in politics, we can make better policies, we can make better decisions, we can make better legislation, better laws,” Witness said. “And my pocket wouldn’t be the defining point, like, ‘Is this gonna make me money? Then we’ll do it.’ No, that’s dumb. Is this gonna help the public? Then we’ll do it… I’m a public servant. You elect me, and I work for you. You don’t work for me. I work for you. But that’s not how they think here. They think, ‘You guys pay my bills, and I’ma do what I want to do.’”

In his interview, Witness expounded on how he looks to impact lives in politics and addressed Chicago’s violence.

David Daniels
David Daniels
David Daniels is a columnist at Rapzilla.com and the managing editor of LegacyDisciple.org. He has been published at Desiring God, The Gospel Coalition, Christianity Today, CCM Magazine, Bleacher Report, The Washington Times and HipHopDX.
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