Voting is hard. Let me re-phrase: deciding whom I should vote for is hard. Determining the big races such as President, Governor, US Senate seats is usually a relatively painless job; but who knows if I would rather have an ethnically named Democrat or a no-name Republican for the 7th District Justice of the Peace. And don’t get me started on the Libertarians…
To top all that off, I am a Christian. To be more precise, I am something of a neo-evangelical, moral conservative, social liberal guy who loves Jesus. I happen to attend Christian churches and am a member of a United Methodist congregation. All of this means that I bring extra baggage to the voting booth each cycle.
I cannot justify, for myself, voting straight ticket. I think a government run completely by Democrats or Republicans would be trouble; and don’t get me started on the Libertarians. So I like balanced government, largely because I am a liberal-conservative-moderate.
This last election brought up more of the religion v. faith talk than others I can remember. I live in a state that is solidly red – solidly; so, most of the talk was rather one-sided. “Obama’s a secret Muslim!” (If he is, he’s a really bad one.) “Obama supports abortion!” (So does McCain.) “Democrats are evil!” (Maybe...) However, I live in a metropolitan area, so there is a significant blue-ish population as well, providing for lively coffee shop and workplace discussions to be overheard.
For me, it comes down to this: there are moral issues and there are civic issues. Homosexuality is a moral issue; whether gay people have medical visitation and joint property rights is a civil issue. War is a moral issue; when a nation should resort to war is a civil issue. The national financial status is a civil issue; where those funds go is often a moral issue.
As a Christian citizen, where do I draw my line of demarcation? I do not think it is a clear point like so many do. I personally find abortion abhorrent, but we have had eight years of a rabidly more conservative President than this cycle’s Republican nominee. The status quo on abortion has not changed one bit. Why would anyone think McCain would have changed it? If that is one’s only delineating issue, then I think she/he is a bit mis-guided.
For me, the weighing back and forth of all these issues took a significant amount of time, thought, discussion and … prayer. I heard no ethereal voice telling me to vote for Obama, McCain, Barr or Nader, but I was ultimately confident in my choice.
Regardless of your vote, we – as Christians – can rejoice knowing that our nation has progressed to the point that we had the guts to elect a person from an ethnic minority. Whether that is change you can believe in, change you voted for or even change you can tolerate, we as a nation got there. We missed Dr. King’s attributed prophecy of a black President by about twenty years, but we got there.
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5 comments:
I really hope (and doubt) that many people are "pro-abortion." We can all pretty much agree that each abortion -- whether it be the ending of a human life or the uncomfortable and often traumatizing procedure a woman goes though -- is a net loss for society. Unfortunately, that's not how the issue has been spun and will continue to be until people start talking about what really matters.
I'm "pro-life" (which I take to mean being against the death penalty), but I don't necessarily think outlawing abortion is the way to achieve what should be society's goal: reduction in the number of abortions. To put it in your terms, abortion is a moral issue; how we effectively decrease it, however, is a civic one. I voted for Obama in part because I believe his values -- community, education, unity -- will effectively lower the number of abortions and society's corresponding loss.
And I, most definitely, call myself a Christian.
And more thought, this from Senator Chuck Hegel (R, Nebraska) as quoted in the Nov 3, 2008 edition of "The New Yorker"
"There was a political party in this country called the Know-Nothings. And we're getting on the fringe of that, with these one0issue voters -- pro-choice or pro-life. Important issue, I know that. But my goodness. The world is blowing up everywhere, and I just don't think that is a responsible way to see the world, on that one issue."
For me, it came down to who I thought would benefit America the most. I chose McCain without giving it a second thought. Not that I'm a huge McCain fan (would have rather seen Huckabee), but I felt he was better than Obama on security, health care, Iraq war, and economy. I know there are people who disagree with me, and that's fine. They're entitled to their own opinion. There is NO other country in the world that can peacefully shift policies and direction without a single bullet being fired. That is the beauty of democracy.
We can go back and forth on the pros and cons of each candidate, but let’s move forward and postpone that debate 4 more years. I am American, but I am first a Christian. Regardless of who won the election, it’s our duty to "give to Caesar what is Caesar's"...let's not lose track of that.
Dave
PS-This is my FIRST ever blog comment!
Great post. Voting was hard. Alison and I were up well past our bedtime scouring magazines, blogs, and the Scriptures searching for guidance on Nov 3rd. To use the voting booth as a tool to fight injustice, proclaim righteousness, etc. is a frustrating task because it is not the best tool to use in order to accomplish said tasks. As you pointed out, the moral and the civil intermingle in ways that are not simple, not black and white, not easy to sort out on a ballot... Your distinction between civil and moral is nicely nuanced and would have been helpful...I'll store it away for next time. Speaking of next time, here are some issues I am still wrestling with:
I. Can it be that some things that are best for a country are not best in an eternal sense? While I believe that all Truth is God's Truth, and that "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy" it is because it reflects a perfection found in its fullness only in God and His original purpose for that thing. It seems that the more truly Christian principles we added to our laws/philosophical underpinnings, the weaker our government would be. Yet, thinking only about what is best for your country can lead to Nazi Germany which promised to improve the lives of post WWI Germans.
II. Dual Citizenship: There seems to be tension between reciting "I pledge allegiance to the flag..." and "Come, Lord Jesus". I know Christians do not see eye to eye on what exactly the Kingdom of God looks like, but my own perspective is that Jesus is referring to a literal kingdom. What do we do with that? Heb 11:13-16?
a. Sub Issue: While Jesus and the Apostles (Peter mostly) write about how to interact with governments, the model that exists at the time is run by a tyrannical emperor, which utilized an outdated democratic process that did not really look like 21st century American democracy. So how is what Jesus said directly about interaction w/ gov't relevant to this modern form? How does democracy reconcile itself with the promised absolute Monarchy of Christ? Is monarchy inherently better than democracy b/c it is the chosen model of GOD's gov't!?
What about H. Richard Niebur's five posutres of theological traditions regarding Christ and Culture:
1. Christ against Culture- church in the world, not of it; separatist, non-participatory (1st century church, modern Fundamentalist mvmt)
2. Christ of Culture- the church adapts and defers to culture in matters of praxis (19th Cen. Liberalism)
3. Christ above Culture- theocracy; view that church and state must be bound together (Catholicism, Anglican, and E. Orthodoxy)
4. Christ and Culture in Paradox- separation of church and state, but both necessary for the other, and thus both "good" (Luther)
5. Christ the Transformer of Culture- world is reformed by adherence to Christ and Christian principles (Calvinist/Reformed)
Niebuhr concludes that the Church Universal used these views over the years creating a mosaic of ideas regarding how Government and Christianity interact.
Hope to hear some thoughts...I have plenty more where this came from.
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