Tag: presidential campaign

Crazy times

I gave in and joined a couple discussion on Facebook over the weekend about faith and politics.

Several folks whom I consider good friends (and still do) made comments that basically said if you vote for any candidate that supports abortion, you need to really question your salvation and faith.

That really bothers me. But I really don’t want to delve into that here.

For the record, I’m pro-life. Always have been and likely always will be. And I also hope that my pro-life stance doesn’t end with birth of a child. I hope that it goes from conception to the grave. Am I caring for that baby after it’s birth? Am I advocating for quality of life and freedom and justice for that baby as he or she grows into adulthood? Am I advocating that the child will be free from oppression?

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

I will also add that my pro-life stance doesn’t always agree that “life” is the ultimate answer. We tend to think it is. We tend to think that prolonging life is the ultimate goal of medicine. But just because we have the technology to keep a person alive via machine – doesn’t always mean that we should.

But I digress.

Anyways, I wanted to share a couple different views on the election. Two different “Christian” authors have shared some of their thoughts on the election.

This first video is a video of John Piper who shares his thoughts on the unusual challenges this election presents. Such as Sara Palin as VP. Can a woman be “commander in chief?” And what about race and what about abortion? Shouldn’t Barack Obama be concerned about the 12 million unborn babies who have been killed in the U.S.?

Beyond the initial comments, I think Piper makes some great excellent points.

We don’t live for politics. We don’t base our confidence about the future on who gets elected… Let those who vote or do politics do it as though they were not doing it. Which means there is a type of engagement that is not all consuming… We’re not here fully. We have a foot in heaven and a foot on the earth. We are citizens of two kingdoms. This is not our main home. This world is passing away… We know this system is disappearing. We shouldn’t be so worked up about our opponent getting elected that it will undo his life.

The second point of view is from Don Miller. He shares his journey from being a Ronald Reagan Republican to a Barack Obama Democrat.

My Journey from being a Reagan Republican to an Obama Democrat.

I grew up in a Southern Baptist Church along the Gulf Coast in Texas. It was a suburban church nowhere near a bus line, protected as it were from most demographics that didn’t have our common interests. Those interests were embodied in the Republican Party, then led by President Ronald Reagan. Reagan captured our attention with an anti-communist, anti-atheist message, that was easy to understand, emboldening the American people against a clear threat , that of nuclear war and a godless communist regime. Reagan rode that same horse his entire career, even as an actor while President of the Screen Actors Guild, taking stands against blacklisted actors and directors thought to be sympathizers with communist ideology. The Democrats, on the other hand, were squishy, hard to understand, and believed life was complicated. They sounded intellectual and suspicious.

So take some time and dig into these thoughts, these world-views. Do they line up with yours? Does it matter?

I keep going back to Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw’s thought, “What matters more is not who you vote for on Nov. 4 but how you live on Nov. 3 and Nov. 5th.”

Another world is possible!

And one final thought, especially for those of you who haven’t voted yet, “Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.” — John Quincy Adams

UPDATE: @kevinhendricks adds to the Piper conversation on his own blog :: should we pray for the church to suffer?

Chuck Baldwin for President

Still not convinced but I like this ad.

And this youtube one ::

I’m tired of being told who not to vote for. As the election day draws closer, the emails claiming “this puts the final nail in the coffin” “this is all the proof you need to not vote for…” continue to increase.

Wish someone would give me reason to vote for someone rather than against someone else.

Still wishing Mike Huckabee or Ron Paul were in the race. Still wishing Michael Bloomberg would have run. Still wishing I felt like I knew where a candidate really stood and I could vote for them for more than just two or three “talking points.”

I’ll probably go vote tonight and I couldn’t tell you right now who I’m voting for.

It will probably end up being more of an anti-vote than a pro-vote.

It will likely be a vote against the two-party meta-narratives that get shoved down our throats every 4 years.

It will likely be a vote that many folks will say, “well you threw your vote away.”

So be it.

“Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.” — John Quincy Adams

McCain’s acceptance speech


(word cloud of mccain’s speech)

Didn’t watch McCain’s speech last night. Figured there’d be nothing new he’d say — figured it would be more of the same “I was a POW” stories that I keep hearing over and over and over again — especially from other folks at the GOP convention.

Don’t know if he tells it as much as I hear it — but I hear it a lot. Makes me wonder if he’s done much of anything since then.

Either way (as I expected) there was plenty of coverage from various talking heads this morning.
I tried to skip most of that and tuned into C-SPAN for a while and then listened to coverage on NPR this morning.

Great coverage by both.

Here are some links and stories I found helpful ::

NPR :: the week that launched the mccain-palin ticket
NPR :: mccain challenges obama, GOP To ‘change’
NPR :: mccain eases convention attendees’ skepticism
NPR :: mccain vows to reach across party lines
C-SPAN :: mccain bio video
C-SPAN :: palin’s acceptance speech
word cloud analysis of 2008 rnc
word cloud analysis of 2008 dnc

I haven’t listened to the whole speech yet but I’ve skimmed it. Will read it all a bit later. You can too.

Read it or listen to it.

I think if either candidate lives up to their promises as president we could see some great changes coming to America. The problem is that both candidates would be forced to work within the same system of checks and balances that all presidents face. And in reality, the President doesn’t make the laws – they simply sign of veto them.

What are your thoughts?


(word cloud of obama’s speech)

Lingering Questions

Tripp Fuller shared a great thought today via his blog:

Listening to both parties each night has made me confident that the church really needs to quit outsourcing its vocation.

Makes a world of sense to me. Seems like the less the church does, the more the government feels it needs to step in to care for people. I can agree with much of the Democratic view of things because they see the need to step in and help the helpless. Yet, I still have to question if that’s really the government’s role. If the church really did their job, I think we’d be a lot closer to solving the world’s problems – than depending on the American Government to do so.

Kevin Hendricks and I seem to be asking some of the same questions as well and trying to decide how someone who claims to be a follower of Christ also claim to put country first. Seems backwards to me.

Tripp also shares several questions raised by Warren Carter (who is on the Homebrewed Christianity podcast last week – with part 2 to be posted this week):

Here are Carter’s questions:

What does it mean to be…..

  • rich Christians in an age of hunger?
  • well fed Christians in an age of poverty?
  • vacation-homed Christians in an age of homelessness?
  • overclothed Christians in an age of nakedness?
  • highly entertained Christians in an age of militaristic violence?
  • Sermon-on-the-Mount-shaped Christians in our age of empire?

Finally, thought this was an interesting contradiction in Sara Palin’s speech last night…

First she rips on Obama because “Al Qaeda terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America … he’s worried that someone won’t read them their rights?”

Then she applauds John McCain because “To the most powerful office on earth, he would bring the compassion that comes from having once been powerless … the wisdom that comes even to the captives, by the grace of God.”

Got answers? The world is listening.

related ::
tripp fuller :: preaching the sermon on the mount and some more substantive lingering questions
barack obama’s acceptance speech
sara palin’s RNC convention speech
kevin hendricks :: country first
SSL :: question for today

Focus on the Family prays for a blessing on Obama

http://flickr.com/photos/publik18/2549501861/

Church Marketing Sucks reports that the political arm of Focus on the Family, Focus on the Family Action (a registered 501-C4), is asking folks to pray for rain during Obama’s acceptance speech in Denver.

While rain sounds like a horrible way to kick off a campaign, a co-worker suggests that she’s always heard that rain is a blessing. After a dry spell here in North Texas – I can definitely say that today’s rain is a blessing.

When you think about it, how often do we sing songs and read Scripture where folks praying for God’s blessings to flow like rain?

Even the Hebrew Talmud says, “The day when rain falls is as great as the day on which heaven and earth were created.”

Perhaps Focus on the Family is praying for something they may not really want.

Of course – I’ve found that true in my life as well so many other times :-).

What other ways/times have you found rain to be a blessing?

related ::
Church Marketing Sucks :: Praying for Rain on Obama & Saying No to Money
KOAA.com :: man prays for rain
Focus on the Family
Focus on the Family Action
My Jewish Learning :: Rain as a Blessing