Undecided

I love this time of year with the leaves changing, the cool crisp air, the smells of fall, and political signs. I believe over the last several months my emotions have been high as well as low concerning this election. I started off with a very joyous feeling as one political candidate stood for the ideals that embodied everything that I wanted to see happen in this country. I knew he really didn't stand a chance against the bigger candidates in his party, but I held out and thought that he may drop out of his party and run third party. It didn't happen and so I was forced to look at two candidates that were left.

Never in my life have I been so undecided. The last several months since my choice dropped out has been a rollercoaster. I watched both the RNC and the DNC and after I watched one of these I really thought that I had made the right decision as to who I would vote for. A couple of weeks later, I changed my mind again and thought about not voting at all.

After awhile, frustration sets in as I become confused more and more. I am not only confused on who is telling the truth, but I am also confused on which issues I feel most strong about in this election. Prior to this election it was an easy answer, abortion. What happens though when Jesus starts to open your eyes to other issues that are equally important? The whole thing gets really awful when both candidates are slinging mud at each other and acting rather childish.

I really am disappointed with some of my favorite authors, activists, and fellow sojourners who have continually shared in their writings in the past about the caution that Christians must have when dealing with American politics. They remind us of the horrors of the Religious Right and the marriage of Republicans with the church. Why is it any different then, when these same people now have substituted one political party with another? The strategists of these parties are smart. When the church becomes disenchanted with their party, politicians then have the opportunity to tell us that they have the better party; the party that is most like Jesus.

Is it manipulation or do these politicians really care about Jesus? I guess the better question is, what does Jesus care most about or how would he vote?

There might be a deeper theological question though, that must be asked. How has the church been an advocate for civil religion? Have we taught that a person can have a separate life from Jesus and still be a follower? It is ironic to me that there is this section of Scripture where Jesus says, "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and unto God what is God's." We use to think that this was a section of Scripture that stated that God only cares about your soul. This is a lie. Think about it in this context. What exactly is God's? Would not Caesar's empire actually be all God's?

My dad tells this story of a businessman that attended his church. My dad said that he did a contract for this guy and things got really shady in his dealings with him. My dad became really frustrated that a leader of the church could act the way that he did and on Sunday greet him as a brother. My dad finally confronted the guy and this businessman said, "This is business, it is different."

Civil religion

I voted before for the candidate that was a Christian. Of course, his running mate also claimed to be a Christian, but nobody believed him. Civil religion doesn't just exist in politics, but it is a great example. The church has taught society that you can have a Jesus-in-a-box and have the rest of your life. I guess that is why a Christian t-shirt company can still buy material made in sweatshops.

Going back to politics, there is no Christian party and this is not a Christian nation. To equate a certain party with Christianity is like equating a television to a donkey. They may share attributes, but they have way too many differences.

The story goes about a protester who stood outside the Whitehouse with a candle to protest the war. A guy stopped him and asked, "Why are you doing this? You are not going to change anything." The protester said, "I don't do this to change them. I do it so I am not changed."

Yesterday Emily told me she was going to write in her vote. She told me that she would rather stand for ideals than to settle for the "Lesser of two evils". She said that she knows that the person she will vote for will not be in office, but she feels that maybe if she voted for the popular vote that maybe it wouldn't be a disappointment when the next president screws up because at least she can say, "I didn't vote for him." I thought that was great.

I have been thinking a lot lately of this scenario of two neighbors. On the one side of the fence lives Mr. Jones who drives his SUV into the city everyday as the corporate executive of a major corporation. He lives in a huge house filled with the latest new electronics. He doesn't pay attention to his next door neighbor except the ole' tip of the hat before going to work. On the other side of the fence lives Mr. Johnson who is a progressive liberal who is an advocate for the working class. He rides his bike to work and lives for life after work. They both are political and both have their candidate. One morning, Mr. Johnson goes outside before work and plants a sign for his political candidate. Meanwhile, his next door neighbor Mr. Jones is doing the same thing but for the other candidate. They both glare at each other with hate in their eyes. The two of them never form a relationship with each other. If they would have met, they would have discovered that they share a lot of the same passions. For example they love the outdoors, enjoy the same foods, and are both followers of Jesus.

I don't like my choices. I do believe that the political situation we are in right now is a lesser of two evils scenario. Not that I think either candidate is "Evil" per say, nor do I think that either one is "Good". Besides, I think both the donkey and the elephant have done a good job at trampling the cross.

So which issue am I going to fight for? I guess it is all of them. What candidate do I want to be President? I don't know. N.T. Wright once said that Western politics are very strange. He said that it isn't about the right man for the job but it is about the man doing the right job. Whoever is President let us pray for him to do the right thing.