Some Things I Don't Understand

Well I've been on quite the sabbatical from the blogosphere. It's one part busy schedule and one part apathy that have kept me from blogging but I am working diligently to get back at it. I have been trying to post this particular blog for a few weeks now as it has been heavy on my mind. I have to post it today because it will be outdated after tomorrow's elections.

Having watched this particular political process unfold I have come across some things that I don't really understand as it relates to Christians and our rationale for choosing political candidates and for taking particular stances. I just wanted to throw a few out there and see if anyone else can explain how we justify those things that we support.

• I've heard it said many times over the years that our current president is a "godly" man. I assume, by referring to him as godly people mean that he exhibits characteristics of Christ in his life, and particularly in his presidency. While I'm not close enough to critique his private life, I can certainly see things in his presidency that raise red flags. For example, last month he signed a bill into law that allows him to personally authorize torture in order to ascertain information he believes necessary to maintain national security. Now, torture in an of itself is not a particularly Christ-like characteristic and I don't know how we reconcile of view of a president as godly and his very vocal support regarding the need for such a law. Furthermore, the extent of this law is so far reaching that any "non-citizen" can be held indefinitely, coerced to share information that they might not even have, and then have absolutely no means of relief from such treatment. They don't have to be terrorists, they don't even have to know terrorists. So, while accomplishing some good in the area of national security, this law also allows for the potential torture of innocent people. Furthermore, the law is retro-active, which is only necessary if we, as a country, were already taking these actions prior to it being legal. So, how can we call the president a godly man as he champions such things? Where does this fit into the scheme of turning the other cheek and blessing those who curse you? How does this stand up to the litmus test of becoming a servant to all and esteeming others more highly than yourself?
  
• Second, I'm fully convinced that political party trumps all else when it comes to Christians picking a candidate and I don't understand why that is. Within our own state we have a governor who has successfully led the state through the worst budget crisis in history, worked in a bipartisan way to enact the largest tax cuts in state history, and worked to bring teacher pay to the regional average in order to stop the hemorrhaging of quality educators to other states that has been going on for years. Beyond that he's an active member of the First Baptist Church of Shawnee, a Sunday school teacher, and a deacon. His opponent has continually supported the president in racking up HUGE budget deficits at the national level (despite calling himself a fiscal conservative) and voted to allow the president to authorize torture. What about his religious background? He is a practicing member of the LDS church. While not passing judgment on him myself I have been a Southern Baptist my whole life and I grew up being taught that his church got lumped into the category of cults. Southern Baptists consider the Mormon faith to be aberrant and non-Christian. So, they can't worship with this guy, they can't spend eternity with this guy, and yet he's the prime pick of Christians all across the state to effectively lead us. And why is that? Simply because he's a Republican. That bugs me. I don't understand how we can make Christian and conservative mean the same thing. I don't understand why all else is irrelevant in picking a candidate. I got my weekly letter from Jerry Falwell the other day, basically attempting to challenge, shame, and guilt me into heading to the polls tomorrow and vote for the Conservative Republican candidate who so closely shares my values. No talk of specific issues, just a blanket endorsement of every candidate with the Republican party affiliation. When and why did that become the only issue?
• Finally, I'm sure many of you share my great distress over the level of negative campaigning that everyone seems to be doing. I saw that negative ad spending outweighs positive spending by a 2 to 1 margin. Unfortunately, I've seen several examples of candidates who play the Christian cards being the worst offenders. Being critical of a person's public actions is one thing, ripping their private lives apart so that you can get elected is quite another. Beyond that, candidates are taking all kinds of opportunities to distort the facts or to knowingly and willfully misrepresent the truth so that it paints the opposing candidate in a bad light. There were several examples of that yesterday on Meet the Press. How can Christians justify doing such things? It would seem that they believe the need to win overrules the need to treat your opponent with dignity and honor.
  

Well...there is still a great deal more that I don't understand, but I'll just leave it at these few for now. If you're out there and you've got any insight feel free to share them. Sadly, I am counting down the minutes to when this political season is over. I don't know how much more of this I can take. The media is hyping up this stuff up to make it a battle of the ages (it's the only way to get the ratings up in a non-presidential year). If you believe what they tell you then the eternal fate of our country hangs in the balance!! Somehow I doubt it's quite that important.