CoffeeSwirls Part Too

Sung to the Tune of “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by The Who October 15, 2008

Over the last few years, with rare exceptions, I have tried to keep this blog as apolitical as possible. Today will be an exception to that policy. I also try not to rant in CoffeeSwirls. Few things are uglier than angry or frustrated blogging. Tomorrow I will kick myself for publishing this.

I grew up in a post Roe v Wade evangelical home. Ask around, and you can bet for sure that this means that I grew up with very Republican ideals. Mind you, I do not think this is all bad, and I still tend to lean to the political right due to my ideals and to my upbringing.

In many ways, Christians have been single-issue voters for most of this time. All a candidate must do to swoon the church is to proclaim life values that are less inconsistent with Focus on the Family than their opponent and Christians will vote for that person. If they have any sort of a record, that does come into play, but Christians have largely voted for the lesser of two evils for far too long. And when we get someone in office who is “one of us” we will either defend that person to the death or will just pray that we are not embarrassed any more than we already have been.

Why? Why do we claim that the gospel is the hope for the nation, then put all of our eggs into a political basket that has been a disappointment for 35 solid years? Do you think I’m off base? This country has now slaughtered 50 million babies, and 10 million of these babies died during the watch of “one of our own.” Keep in mind that our president had a solid majority in the legislative branch of the government earlier in his presidency. I am not so naive as to believe that all of these Republicans made the sanctity of life a primary focus of their campaigns to be elected, but enough of them did. Instead, the executive and legislative branches of the government (the two branches responsible for introducing and confirming laws) have both agreed that a ruling made by the judicial branch (the branch that can only determine the constitutionality of laws) is indeed a law.

Folks, I’m no civics instructor, but this scenario is one that baffles me to no end. I believe that the original declaration of our independence was structured in a coherent manner. Promising life to the citizens of a nation is paramount. You cannot have liberty without life. Likewise, you cannot have the pursuit of happiness without a measure of liberty. It all begins with life, even for the least of these.

America is less than three weeks from an election to determine new leadership in the executive branch of our government. If you vote for Obama, at least you know that you’re going to get a wolf in wolf’s clothing. If you hold your nose and vote for McCain, you know you will be sadly disappointed. If you vote for a third party, you know that your candidate will have no reasonable chance of even being mentioned in the news as a distant runner up.

The church has painted herself into this corner. The Republican party has dangled carrots in front of us for far too long and we continue to pull the cart. And unlike an organization that is free to openly discuss politics, the church is either afraid of the greater of two evils or is unable to make a realistic effort to remove those who fail to do the will of those who placed them in power. That is why the Republican party does not respect the wishes of the church. They need only say the words we long to hear and avoid voting against our wishes too blatantly and they will continue to have our support.

I’m not going to waste my time watching tonight’s debate. Obama turns my stomach and there is little doubt in my mind that he will do everything he can to further his agenda once he is sworn in. And mark my words, he will win this election. The McCain/Palin ticket is floundering because the two mavericks have been reigned in and I think deep down they know it. McCain will say whatever he thinks the base of the party needs to hear to get us fired up for the election without saying anything that will alienate too many of the undecided people out there. He will try to sound pro-life, but if a fetus is alive from the moment of conception, than McCain supports killing innocent life for the sake of saving the lives of others. I still don’t know how I should vote next month, but I am confidant that this debate would not solidify anything.

All I know is that I don’t want to vote for either of the two major candidates, but that a vote for anyone else is essentially a vote for the most murderous man ever to run for the highest office in our country. The church has lost her salt, preferring the flavor of political relevancy. Because we have done so, we have a history of accepting the lesser of two evils for far too long and I suspect that I am not alone in this conclusion. Perhaps I should follow the lead of our next president, show up to the polls and just vote “present.”

Romans 2:17-24