A little under 4 years ago now, I wrote a
thing (on Facebook) about what I saw at the time as a dangerous devotion to then-candidate Barack Obama in his bid for the presidency for the United States. And then, once he won that bid, I had some
other thoughts (also on Facebook) about what that meant for the future of America.
The biggest thing that worried me when Obama was running for president was the rabid support he was getting, the almost cultic devotion, the pervasive attitude that when Obama became president, everything would just be
better.
So when he won (which, yeah, was kinda inevitable, especially up against John McCain), I was not surprised to see the massive celebrations, the incredible overreactions (nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize after two weeks in office, won the award after eight and a half months), or the continuation of the "Obama can do no wrong" train of thought...
And then reality set in.
People thought they weren't going to have to pay taxes anymore, or deal with the financial mess our nation has been in for the past decade, or grapple with the questions of morality in a time of war.
The man is only a president, not Almighty God, reshaping reality at the merest whim.
He's only a man.
No more, no less.
So... where do I stand on all that stuff when it comes to the guy I actually
want to see as the next president?
I cannot possibly overstate how much I want to see Ron Paul win the 2012 presidential election. I spend more time on his
official campaign website than I do on my email. I'm constantly looking for new videos to share the message, like
this hour-long documentary on the grassroots movement behind Dr. Paul, or
this 13-minute discussion about US troops and their support for his foreign policy.
I hate talking about politics... unless I'm talking about Ron Paul.
But the thing that I'm worried about is falling into the same trap that I warned against in 2007 when Obama was running. Have I become a cultist? Am I just chanting the name because I'm hypnotized by the charisma?
Well... I sure don't
think so... I mean, really... Watch ANY video of Ron Paul. Charisma isn't his defining trait. He's not polished, he's not rehearsed, he's not dropping sound bites... He's genuine. He's sincere. He's passionate. I just happen to think he's right.
I don't think I'd care if it was Ron Paul as president or not so long as whoever does become president will do the things he's talking about, like ending all the wars we're in, bringing all of the troops home, eliminating the IRS, ending the Federal Reserve, cutting one trillion dollars (that's $1,000,000,000,000) out of the budget in the first year, returning the powers of government to the states, strictly following the Constitution... Yeah, I'd vote for Obama if he was actually going to do that. I'd vote for Chuck E. Cheese if he was actually going to do that.
But Obama ran on closing down Guantanamo, which hasn't happened. He ran on withdrawing from Iraq and Afghanistan, which has kinda happened - we've ended official combat operations in Iraq, but we're still leaving thousands of military contractors (nice word for mercenary) over there and building the world's largest embassy to house our fake troops. He also ran on repealing the Patriot Act, which he actually extended.
I think I'll vote for the guy who has been saying the exact same thing for 30 years, because I really, really, really like what he's got to say.
So what's all this got to do with Jesus?
Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?”
But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.
Matthew 22:15-22
Is my vote Caesar's? Or is my vote God's? If I am to "eat or drink or whatever" to the glory of the Lord, does voting fall into the "whatever"?
I went to Harding University, a small-ish private Church of Christ affiliated school in Searcy, Arkansas. My first semester was the fall of 2001. I hadn't been in school for a full month when the 9/11 attacks hit. I can't exactly say I'm proud of the way I thought about politics back then - but I'm not proud of the way I thought about love, God, or a great deal many other things, either. I've grown up a lot in the past decade, and I find myself more willing to espouse views of international diplomacy that don't involve carpet bombing.
As I'm sure you can reasonably infer, the political climate at Harding is overwhelmingly Republican, or at least right-wing. Democrats/left-wingers were not given the fairest of shakes, largely due to a perceived approval by Democrats at Harding of such un-Christian things as abortion, gay marriage, and giving money to poor people.
Whenever discussions of politics came up (which was far more often than I'd like to admit), the inevitable question came up of how these Christian people, dear friends of mine, could vote for politicians who supported such un-Christian things. The answer I heard over and over again (although not exclusively) was that they did not vote their Christianity. I heard one professor (who I thought was a total jerk) state that he is not a Christian in the voting booth.
And that, dear reader, is MESSED. UP.
I cannot personally envision a worldview in which one can separate his or her faith from any aspect of his or her life in good conscience. If you're not a Christian in the voting booth, why would you still be a Christian at work? Or on the highway? Or in a bar?
Christianity isn't a thing you do, it's an attempt to change who you are. In following Christ, we are making strides towards being Him, allowing the Holy Spirit to change us more and more as we continue to focus on the Love of the Father for all mankind.
So am I saying that all good Christians have to vote Republican?
Holy crap, no. Not at all. Goodness. That's a horrid idea.
What I am saying, however, is that if you have to turn off the Jesus part of you to justify voting the way you want to, maybe you just shouldn't vote that way.
I'm voting for Ron Paul because he's crazy libertarian, especially compared to the rest of the GOP candidates. I like libertarianism. I believe God created us with free will, and I can't see why we'd let the government take that away.
Now... that's me. That's my view on politics through the lens of faith. I personally believe that the world (or at the very least, the United States) would be a whole lot better off if we could just get the government to leave things alone, here and abroad.
I don't know who you're planning on voting for in the 2012 election. I
hope it's Ron Paul, because I genuinely believe he's the best man for the job, especially with the condition the nation is in. I also hope that I can do some small part in making you aware of who this man is and encouraging you to
check out his website, watch the interviews, read up on his stance on the issues, know what he's saying and decide how you feel about it, because
the mainstream media certainly isn't going out if its way
to tell you anything about him - and if they
do, it's only because they're telling you (
or even Ron Paul himself) he has no chance of winning.
But no matter who you're voting for, if you can't reconcile your beliefs with your ballot, please, just
don't vote. It's OK. If your vote is not to the glory of God
at the very least in your own conscience, why on earth are you even voting? What can possibly be more important? Does it matter -
in the slightest - what other people do in relation to your walk with God?
And if you already do vote your faith, I'd like to encourage you to do something I had to do in the last election. Sit down and look at everything you believe about politics. Look at what the guys you support believe. Now look at what Jesus believes.
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Matthew 22:34-40
Love and Love.
Bombing Pakistan (or any other country) is not Loving, in my view of Love. Locking people up for decades because of non-violent victimless crimes is not Loving. Restricting the God-given ability to make our own mistakes and learn from them is not Loving. But hey... that's just me.
I'm not questioning anything about where my priorities lie. Jesus is still Hombre numero uno in mi corazon. But hot skippity dang if Ron Paul ain't just a fascinating man. I want him to be the next President of the United States. I want that to be a thing that is.
But should I really even care? After all... "This world is not my home, I'm just a-passing through..."
Talk to me, people.
