I've heard my whole life that the two things that you don't dare discuss are politics and religion. Well, I've never really been one to steer clear of controversy so why start now?
Last night I had the thought for this post while I was lying in bed. I honestly could not go to sleep because my mind wouldn't stop racing. Here's what I want to do. I want to have an honest and open conversation about the two forbidden topics. I would like to have discussion on some of the following questions:
Should our faith or lack of faith have an impact on our politics? Should followers of Christ be concerned with political powers? - As a follower of Christ what are your hot-button issues? What would make you vote for one presidential candidate over the other? As a person who is not a follower of Christ, what are your hot button issues? I'm sure there will be many other questions that arise as we begin this discussion.
I would like to start with having anyone who reads this post to comment with either a specific issue or a list of top issues that you feel are important when deciding who to vote for in the presidential election. I will use these comments to drive the topics of future posts. We have five months before the election, I'm sure we can cover quite a bit during that time. haha.
Note: if you are reading this on facebook notes you can join the discussion by going to www.lifewiththeriggs.blogspot.com
Let's do this!
-Randy-
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Wanted: Honest Opinions
Posted by Hannah Riggs at 8:54 PM
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16 comments:
Hi Randy - I'll have lots more later but I wanted to link to a series of speeches that Barack Obama gave regarding this very subject at a Sojourners event. I'm not endorsing Obama but his speech adds to the conversation. There are 5 parts to the speech.
Part 1
Thanks for the link Troy! I'm interested to hear your other thoughts too.
Randy - I'll have some more on this too, but in the meantime, here's another link. It's an article about a survey commissioned by my alma mater.
http://blog.mlive.com/grpress/2008/06/calvin_college_poll_finds_main.html
Thanks Andrew. I also am interested to hear your input. I thought of you when I was writing the post.
Randy,
I think this is a good conversation topic. It's one I've thought about before, and when Troy touched on it briefly during his sermon yesterday, it got me thinking some more.
I do think it’s important for Christians to be involved in politics, as should all members of a society. I also think that your faith should/will have an impact on your politics. With Christ as the center of your life, it is impossible to separate Him from anything else. To that end, your faith should be the lens through which you view all decisions, including political ones.
One of my hot-button issues is the size of our government. I feel that it has become too big, and that it has its hands in too many places. What I would really like to see is an honest evaluation of the proper role of government. One reason why I like McCain is his strong stance on pork barrel spending. If half of the American people knew what some politicians were attaching to bills, sometimes just moments before they’re voted on, I think they would be quite angry. I like the idea of greater accountability among politicians. Forcing them to own up to the spending will help to control it, in my opinion.
That's all for now - this conversation took my thoughts a hundred different directions, so I did my best to keep it short and concise.
Andrew- I'm with you on feeling a little overwhelmed with this subject. I'll have to download Pastor Troy's sermon to hear it for myself. I just finished listening to one from a couple weeks back about 5 minutes ago. I agree that less government is a positive thing. You also mentioned that all decisions should be made through the lens of your faith. Can you talk more about how that lens of your faith brings you to the conclusion that there should be less government?
Randy-
I agree with Andrew that faith should impact politics. I don't know how we ever convinced ourselves otherwise.
As followers of Jesus, we follow a way of life that informs how we function in society. This way of life is larger than, but includes, our 'stance' on 'issues.'
But, for the purposes of discussion, here are some areas where following 'the way' has informed:
-I truly believe we are all created children of God. We're given value not by status, tax bracket, race, or gender but because we're God's child.
-We follow the prince of peace who brings a kingdom that enables the peaceful resolution of conflict. We anticipate the day when 'swords will be beaten into plowshares.'
-The way is the way of love.
Of course, there is so much more and I'm trying to learn everyday.
I do get frustrated when politics becomes an abstraction filled with labels, rhetoric, and party division.
Hey ya'll,
Politics, as you know is something that I try to stay away from just because I'm not that informed and don't want to put my credibility out there to be proven dumb in this area...but after listening to Troy's message on Sunday, it reminded me in a lot of ways to Shane Claiborns book Irresistable Revolution.
Troy's message really made me stop and think about the essence of love. You do need to listen to the sermon because it was THAT good. (By the way Troy, I talked to a lot of people this past week at the church during the disaster relief stuff; about the direction of the church; and how they felt about bringing in a new pastor and stuff like that and I got a resounding, "I love Troy" response. Just want to let you know again that the people of our church LOVE to listen to your words. Gary Kibby is one of those supporters who gain so much from your point of view--so keep it up).
Anyways--sorry about the diversion.
With Shane's book, and some of what Troy said, it made me stop and think about how we declare War in Jesus's name. It made me say to myself, how do we kill these innocent people oversea's and then expect them to say, "Oh, it's ok, you were only killing us for peace." It just doesn't make sense, and if our faith in politics isn't lived out, then what is our faith worth? What is a faith that isn't lived out?
The violence isn't going to stop with more violence. There has to be a break in the chain. There has to be a point where we say, "We love you and you my brother and sisters."
Andrew- I couldn't find the site that you listed in your earlier post, could you check that?
Troy- Thank you for your input and for the link from your blog.
Brett- Glad to see you getting in on the conversation. I'm interested to see how your recent reading has impacted you.
I will have much more to say later this evening.
Okay, Randy, here are a couple of thoughts I'll throw out:
1) What is the role of government?
2) What are "moral issues"?
***************************
1) I believe that government has a God-ordained role in society but many of us may well disagree on what that specific role is. The way we define the role of government has a significant impact on what we view as significant political issues. An earlier comment mentioned a frustration with what was described as the unnecessary intrusion of govt in our lives -- the conservative/republican philosophy (i.e., smaller govt, empower the people). We often hear those individuals argue against government subsidies such as welfare programs, broad healthcare coverage, etc because they are viewed as being indicative of an over-reaching government. However, those "across the aisle" would argue that larger government and subsidies are absolutely essential to ensure the under-priviledged and less-fortunate in our society are not overlooked. This, essentially, represents what is generally considered a more liberal political perspective.
It's perplexing (or is it?) that most evangelical Christians tend to align themselves with the conservative political perspective even though biblical priciples clearly call us to take care of the down-trodden, sick, less-fortunate, etc...which are more often endorsed, in the form of government programs, by those prescribing to a more liberal political point of view. Is this inconsistent? (I have an opinion, but will leave it out for now.)
2) I ran out of steam to address the second issue...maybe more later.
To respond to Dave R - I agree that the Bible calls us to take care of the sick, and the poor, but I don't know where it tells us that this has to come from government.
In my opinion, this type of support should come from private organizations, and churches, who can provide it more effectively and efficiently, and from a Christ-centered perspective.
I know that you did not say anything to the contrary, but I want to throw this out there - simply being against larger government and against government social programs does not mean that you are against helping those less fortunate.
I know that this is a standard conservative argument against government social programs, but I think it's one that rings true. - - They do not work. The people who they are meant to support eventually become dependent on them, thus limiting their choice of candidates to those who will continue the programs. In my opinion, this is the opposite of freedom.
Anyway, I would encourage you guys to read Clarence Thomas's book, "My Grandfather's Son" - although the book is not focused on this, in part of it he discusses why he converted from a Black Panther to a staunch conservative. He has similar reasons for my argument.
That's all until probably Monday - I have to write my speech for my brother's wedding so I can't be trifiling with things political :-)
I completely agree with Brett about the issue of our Christian faith when it comes to war. Violence begets violence.
And I also believe that it is important to remember the true essence of our Christian faith when it comes to politics: Love one another. Our faith has been lambasted in recent years because "Christians" have become one of the most violent parts of society. And we are hateful and spiteful. We have to remember that no matter what someone believes or how they live their life, Jesus still loves them. Treating them with contempt is just plain wrong.
And this is a very instrumental part of politics, because it goes back to how we develop domestic and foreign policy. If our government is being selfish and only wanting to better our society (which it often is), eventually our society and societies around the world suffer. But if we take into consideration the poor and the oppressed, and develop policy with them in mind, I truly believe that we will have a stronger and more efficient government.
-emilee
Randy - here's that link again:
http://www.mlive.com/elections/index.ssf/2008/06/calvin_college_poll_finds_main.html
if you can't find it again, it's on www.mlive.com - try searching: Calvin Survey Protestant
First, Emilee, great comments. The only thing I'd point out is that if the government were to actually take into account the oppressed that wouldn't necessarily make our government more efficient. Things are the way they are because our system values efficiency and does so at the expense of the poor and oppressed.
In thinking of the larger topic here it seems that if we're to become engaged politically we have to move into that world in order to have a voice. Can the church go about its business (seeking to be faithful to God in everyday life) and still be a "political" presence? Do we have to adapt our language and habits in order to fit into the larger political arena?
This might be a better link than the one I provided earlier - to the survey on protestant voters -
http://www.calvin.edu/news/2007-08/henry-study/
I confess that I am a blog snoop, often reading and rarely participating. Staying informed about the lives and thoughts of others gives me a tramendous charge. Randy's topical challenge has prompted a change in my blog behavior. Faith and politics...I will return after a little homework and a lot of thought proccessing. See you soon!
-Rachel Detamore
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