Jesus was NOT a Republican...
This Blog was originally posted somewhere else on Sunday, June 18, 2006. Some things just never change though and I've been thinking about this topic again lately. I admit that I'm not too happy about either presidential candidate the more I find out about them and their policies.
Jesus was NOT a Republican...
My liberal friends are convinced that I'm really a liberal and just don't know it yet. My conservative friends probably just worry about me. I actually am a moderate conservative in most areas. But I find myself disenfranchised by the republican party in this country and appalled at the state of the national government currently.
I know I'm not alone. It's been hard to stand by and watch our personal rights eroded in the name of national security. It's painful to watch all the partisan politics stalemating the possibility of anything being accomplished in Washington. I must confess I'm about one step away from getting a "who would Jesus bomb?" sticker for my car.Within the Christian subculture there's almost an unspoken rule that we shouldn't be negative against the government. It's OK to criticize any democrats in power, but we need to just "prayerfully support" the republicans.
Last time I checked Jesus wasn't a republican... or a democrat. He didn't get sucked into the corrupt system that was functioning at the time. I think we need to wake up and use our minds and not just get sucked into politics as usual. We should be willing to question stupid decisions that come from either side.
A couple of weeks ago was the primary election. Once again I found myself to be disturbed by the whole process. When I was young I was excited to finally be able to vote. I wanted to be a part of the whole process. Now that I'm older and more cynical, I realize that most politicians... democrats, republicans or any other variety, are not to be trusted. Too many years working in media and seeing the ugly yellow underbelly of American politics up close left me with the realization that to be a good politician in this country you basically have to be a good liar.
What do I want? I want to just once in my life, vote for someone I can really believe in and support instead of voting for the lesser of two evils. I want to see elected officials who will put aside partisan politics and put the real good of the nation above their own private agendas. I want us as people of faith to not just buy into politicians rhetoric, but hold them accountable based on their actions and not just their propaganda.
What am I going to do? I'm not sure yet. One thing is for sure I don't want to just give lip service to conservative politics. I need to stay informed. I need to be willing to question bad decisions no matter who are making them. I need to be willing to speak up against troubling trends... whether they've been propagated by the left or the right. I need to be careful to not be like the Christians in Nazi Germany who ignored what was going on around them. And I need to dialogue with others and not be afraid to question authority. I'm guessing that there are legions of people who are in the same boat as me. Any comments?
Jesus was NOT a Republican...
My liberal friends are convinced that I'm really a liberal and just don't know it yet. My conservative friends probably just worry about me. I actually am a moderate conservative in most areas. But I find myself disenfranchised by the republican party in this country and appalled at the state of the national government currently.
I know I'm not alone. It's been hard to stand by and watch our personal rights eroded in the name of national security. It's painful to watch all the partisan politics stalemating the possibility of anything being accomplished in Washington. I must confess I'm about one step away from getting a "who would Jesus bomb?" sticker for my car.Within the Christian subculture there's almost an unspoken rule that we shouldn't be negative against the government. It's OK to criticize any democrats in power, but we need to just "prayerfully support" the republicans.
Last time I checked Jesus wasn't a republican... or a democrat. He didn't get sucked into the corrupt system that was functioning at the time. I think we need to wake up and use our minds and not just get sucked into politics as usual. We should be willing to question stupid decisions that come from either side.
A couple of weeks ago was the primary election. Once again I found myself to be disturbed by the whole process. When I was young I was excited to finally be able to vote. I wanted to be a part of the whole process. Now that I'm older and more cynical, I realize that most politicians... democrats, republicans or any other variety, are not to be trusted. Too many years working in media and seeing the ugly yellow underbelly of American politics up close left me with the realization that to be a good politician in this country you basically have to be a good liar.
What do I want? I want to just once in my life, vote for someone I can really believe in and support instead of voting for the lesser of two evils. I want to see elected officials who will put aside partisan politics and put the real good of the nation above their own private agendas. I want us as people of faith to not just buy into politicians rhetoric, but hold them accountable based on their actions and not just their propaganda.
What am I going to do? I'm not sure yet. One thing is for sure I don't want to just give lip service to conservative politics. I need to stay informed. I need to be willing to question bad decisions no matter who are making them. I need to be willing to speak up against troubling trends... whether they've been propagated by the left or the right. I need to be careful to not be like the Christians in Nazi Germany who ignored what was going on around them. And I need to dialogue with others and not be afraid to question authority. I'm guessing that there are legions of people who are in the same boat as me. Any comments?
posted by Raw Faith Real World at 1:30 AM
4 Comments:
Thanks for this post. I struggle with the whole political thing in the Christian sub-culture. I think we've been used as a pawn by the political machine for years. I want to be able to be able to look at the issues critically and not just go along with the Christain party line. Rick Warren's faith forum helped to give me a better idea about the two main players in this presidential race.
I agree. I am basically a moderate conservative. This upcoming election I would have been willing to vote for a good moterate in either party. The more I've spent time reading stuff by and about McCain and Obama, the more I'm disturbed by both of them... especially Obama. It will be interesting to see how things turn out.
Great thoughts.
I've been trying to keep up with whats happening in American politics. As i'm australian obviously i don't get a vote but it does effect us as Australia tends to follow america's leading on a lot of things. I'm not sure what to think. To be honest i'm not sure i would want to see ether of the 2 sides in power!
Hi Joanna... I don't blame you. It has to be strange for the rest of the world watching the whole process.
I try to be as informed as I can each time elections roll around... I've been watching the media, as well as reading books by and about both McCain and Obama. I've watched the forums and the conventions... the speeches and the hype on the conservative and liberal tv. The bottom line is that I wish there was a different choice. There are things about both of them I just plain despise. So once again it's going to be the lesser of two evils. At least the good news is that I think it's causing a lot of people to become more politically aware.
Unfortunately the conservatives are very demoralized more or less after the disappointment of the last 8 years.
Sometimes I wonder what difference there would have been without the events of 9/11 and the major shift in the world. Perhaps that would be a good topic for another blog.
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