Monday, November 10, 2008

A Savior on Capitol Hill?

i've avoided discussing politics on this blog but found this post from a friend to be thought provoking. i appreciate those of you who have respectfully expressed your views, on both sides, and therefore challenged my own. read on to be challenged...

The most recent election was historic to say the very least. It was by far the election campaign that I paid the most attention to and heard the most debating among Christians about.

I think it would be helpful just to give a bit of my political history. With the election in 2004, I was at Texas A&M, a university with more ties to the Bush family than any other university in the nation. Everyone around me, with exception of a few “weirdos” voted for Bush, and I was told in not so subtle of means, that the only choice a Christian could make would be to vote for Bush…so I did. No real thought put into it, just voted. Shortly after that, I moved to Philadelphia for 2 years and saw a vast difference in the political climate. I started to see that maybe George Bush had not been our Savior on Capitol Hill - perhaps even he was just as flawed as anyone else. Maybe he had lied too and made lofty promises that he could not keep. Could this really be true? I began to meet deeply compassionate Christians who were Democrats, a species that I was sure did not exist. My entire worldview started to come crashing down. Somewhere along the way Christian and Republican became synonymous, and the supposed number one issue behind that was the sanctity of life.

As a Labor & Delivery nurse, I have the unique privilege of taking care of women, mostly teenagers, in the most difficult, painful, and life-changing time of their lives. My job is the most rewarding job I can imagine and I love it immensely. I am about as pro-life as you could possibly be, but I feel that this term is deceiving. When it is used most of the time, it is meant to mean anti-abortion, but is that the only aspect of life we are concerned with? It seems to me to be a contradiction in terms and faith to call one self pro-life but for the death penalty…or war…or against welfare…or to not care deeply about the environment. All these help to bring life, but there is no political party that embraces all these….so what does that mean? To me, it means that there is no “Christian” party.

All the issues have to do with being unwilling to sacrifice self. If we are unwilling to sacrifice all that we hold dear, even our lives, then we are being very selective in our definition of pro-life. Am I willing to put aside what I want or feel that I need, so that the needs of those most frequently overlooked are met? Am I willing to do all that it takes for someone to experience Christ, even if that person is viewed as my country’s enemy? If I am not, then I am not seeking the greater good.

One final thing, at election time, so much value is placed on parties or candidates, and that first Tuesday in November appears to be the most important day of the previous 4 years. I want to challenge you to not let your vote for president be what matters, but to vote each day with your life. By no means am I saying that you should not vote, but rather that your vote should be 1% your ballot and 99% your life. Each of us has the ability to make a profound impact in changing lives, not merely through legislation, but by the way that we conduct ourselves. I am sorry if any of this comes across as harsh, because I have no reason to be prideful at all. I am simply trying to pull the plank out of my own eye, and share my experiences with you. Let us be people that speak words of life rather than slander and who are willing to rescue those in danger rather than condemning. In short, vote for Jesus, not the government.

5 comments:

  1. That was an amazing perspective--thank you for sharing that discussion.

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  2. How do innocent unborn children compare with the death penalty? Isn't the death penalty for actually commiting a crime? What crime have the unborn committed?

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  3. Thanks for this post. I am in full-hearted agreement with your friend!

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  4. Very interesting and challenging. My prayer is that Our awesome Savior would work mightily in the heart of the man that has been appointed to this position. How very like the Lord would it be for Him to use the most "unlikely" in the eyes of evangelicals to do a great work in this country?

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  5. Hey, I have an award for you over at my blog!

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