Hey everyone!
I got started on a new post nearly two weeks ago (part 2 of what I learned in Rome… as promised) and I haven’t been able to actually finish it. The topic just isn’t speaking to me now like it did when I first got home from Italy. That said, I still totally plan to finish it… it’s just that these days my mind is occupied by other thoughts that are taking precedence. So, sorry if anyone got their hopes up about that. Haha
The burden of posting has fallen on me recently (hence the lack of posts haha) as W and T have been enjoying a summer free from work, full of vacations, fun times, and, oh yeah, moving across the country. They’re mostly unpacked now, so hopefully W will be back to updating again shortly.
Anyway, what’s on my mind this week may be a bit controversial, and I typically don’t get into that stuff on here (or in public or with people I don’t know). So, I ask for your grace up front because, really, I need to just process my thoughts more than anything. I’m not trying to come to conclusions.. just trying to figure it all out, you see!
These days my facebook news feed is a battleground. Does anyone else feel that way? Each and every day I scroll through facebook and see a dozen or more impassioned postings from both sides of the political spectrum. Moreover, something tells me that my facebook friends may be a bit more disparate than the average user. Generally speaking, all of my theatre major and Teach for America friends are WAY on the left and all of my Christian conservative friends are WAY on the right. And it boggles my mind how these groups of people can be equally educated (Bachelor’s, Master’s, JDs, and a few PhDs in progress) and equally passionate about ideas and values that are wildly different. It is exhausting to me.
However, what has been bothering me the most recently is this… the many, many voices I hear on facebook that equate Biblical values with hate. This makes me so sad. SO sad. Don’t get me wrong, I’m aware of plenty of Christian people who are hateful and display a disgusting lack of grace to certain people groups in this country. Westboro Baptist comes to mind, but it is certainly not the only one. I am aware that sometimes Christian people are hateful… radicals of all faiths and creeds tend to be, don’t they? But what makes me sad is this growing idea that standing for Christianity means automatically assuming a posture of hate. That is simply not true for the great majority of us.
Right now there is a big firestorm in the media about ChickfilA and their "hateful, anti-gay stance and sentiments." Now, for those of you up North, this might be totally irrelevant… but here in Atlanta, the ChickfilA capital of the world – literally, this is a big deal. Moreover, it’s become an issue for me personally as several friends and my BF work for their corporate headquarters. My experience has been this: ChickfilA is an unapologetically Christian organization. I’ve posted about it before on this blog, actually. They operate professionally on Christian values, they hire solely Christian believers, and they use their philanthropy branch (Winshape Foundation) to support Christian causes. Despite their size, CFA is a private, family-owned company, and as such they can do what they want. And they do – they close the stores on Sunday, they share prayer requests at meetings, and they have Bible verses all over the corporate office. And – ChickfilA has arguably the very best food and customer service in the fast food business. The people who work there are the sweetest and most genuine that I have ever met… the corporate culture is so healthy and wholesome. There is not an ounce of hate in the building. Well, except maybe from the cows. =)
So, it hurts me to see the media and many of my facebook friends railing about how hateful the organization is. Standing for Christian values (which includes marriage for life and the traditional heterosexual family unit) does NOT necessarily mean harboring hate for the alternative. And, it’s funny that the very people who often criticize the Christian community for being intolerant, narrow, and hateful are the ones hatefully labeling us as such, often unfairly. I wish I could ask some of them, "Do you feel that you’re being tolerant of my values right now?" Of course, the answer would be no. So then, why such self-righteousness about your supposed tolerance and our supposed hate?
Sigh. I don’t know the solution here. What I do know is that I’ll continue my thrice-weekly habit of ordering a regular chicken sandwich, extra-crispy waffle fries, and/or a chocolate chunk cookie. One, because the food is outrageously delicious, and two because I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being unapologetic about what you think is right. If people don’t agree… well, they can continue to unapologetically stand up for what they think is right, and enjoy a mediocre meal and service at KFC. But why not leave their hate at the door, especially if that thing they stand for is tolerance?
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
Politics, by M
As election season is almost upon us, I find myself talking about politics kind of a lot these days. (Now, "kind of a lot" is relative, as it’s actually like half an hour a week as opposed to… well, mostly never). I’ve been doing a little bit of reading about the Republican candidates, through the headlines of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (ha!), random friends’ posts on facebook (ha! again) and various articles in Newsweek (which mom and dad kindly gifted me for Christmas). To be perfectly honest, I’m kind of over the whole deal already.
…which, I suppose wouldn’t be all that terrible if not for one thing. My super sweet and awesome boyfriend is a professional editorial cartoonist. Ie: he gets paid to know what’s up in politics and have a super strong opinion about it. (If I may brag on him for a second, you should check out his website here or see some of his work in The Best Editorial Cartoons of 2012 on Amazon here.) His undergrad degree was Political Science and he absolutely loves thinking and talking about current events in politics. This is something that I like about him because it makes him really great at what he does. However… let’s revisit my point about how I’m tempted to just really not care about the presidential race, current events, foreign affairs, etc. Haha
We’ve spent some time talking about this, and the conclusion that I always come to is that my desire to not care comes from feeling like caring is a fruitless pursuit. It seems to me that wars will always continue, the poor will always exist, inequality will never be fully eradicated… and no country or government or army or president is going to fix that. Different political parties have different ideas for how to fix these problems, but I’m hard pressed to believe that any party or person actually will. We live in a broken world and no US president is going to be our Savior. Fact.
So, I end up feeling defeated by the whole thing (very Ecclesiastical haha) and it makes me want to throw in the towel. Moreover, something inside of me feels like maybe I'm secretly a better Christian for not caring... like I should just get a "Jesus for President" bumper sticker and be done with it already.
Well, this little theory was challeneged recently when I came across a couple of quotes from Henri Nouwen, a Catholic priest and world-renowned theologian. I've been reading his book The Return of the Prodigal Son (it's great, by the way) and in Part III, he examines the attributes of the father in that famous parable. Naturally, he's talking about God and this is what he has to say about God's response to the world's brokenness:
“God rejoices. Not because the problems of the world have been solved, not because all human pain and suffering have come to an end, nor because thousands of people have been converted and are now praising him for his goodness. No, God rejoices because one of his children who was lost has been found.”
And thus, here should be our response:
“I have to learn to ‘steal’ all the real joy there is to steal and lift it up for others to see. Yes, I know that not everybody has been converted yet, that there is not yet peace everywhere, that all pain has not yet been taken away, but still, I see people turning and returning home; I hear voices that pray, I notice moments of forgiveness, and I witness many signs of hope. I don’t have to wait until all is well, but I can celebrate every little hint of the Kingdom that is at hand.”
Well, shoot. I'm thinking that this means that I can't just thow up my hands and walk away from the whole politics scene. Though we are not to take our government as our Savior, perhaps we have a godly responsibility to participate nonetheless. I can't let the depth of the brokenness stop me from participating in God's plan for this world's redemption. I can't let the pain and suffering I see steal my joy at God's promise of a better hope and future for us. I guess that means I need to keep on doing my research about which person is going to be the best choice to help us get there. Dangit.
…which, I suppose wouldn’t be all that terrible if not for one thing. My super sweet and awesome boyfriend is a professional editorial cartoonist. Ie: he gets paid to know what’s up in politics and have a super strong opinion about it. (If I may brag on him for a second, you should check out his website here or see some of his work in The Best Editorial Cartoons of 2012 on Amazon here.) His undergrad degree was Political Science and he absolutely loves thinking and talking about current events in politics. This is something that I like about him because it makes him really great at what he does. However… let’s revisit my point about how I’m tempted to just really not care about the presidential race, current events, foreign affairs, etc. Haha
We’ve spent some time talking about this, and the conclusion that I always come to is that my desire to not care comes from feeling like caring is a fruitless pursuit. It seems to me that wars will always continue, the poor will always exist, inequality will never be fully eradicated… and no country or government or army or president is going to fix that. Different political parties have different ideas for how to fix these problems, but I’m hard pressed to believe that any party or person actually will. We live in a broken world and no US president is going to be our Savior. Fact.
So, I end up feeling defeated by the whole thing (very Ecclesiastical haha) and it makes me want to throw in the towel. Moreover, something inside of me feels like maybe I'm secretly a better Christian for not caring... like I should just get a "Jesus for President" bumper sticker and be done with it already.
Well, this little theory was challeneged recently when I came across a couple of quotes from Henri Nouwen, a Catholic priest and world-renowned theologian. I've been reading his book The Return of the Prodigal Son (it's great, by the way) and in Part III, he examines the attributes of the father in that famous parable. Naturally, he's talking about God and this is what he has to say about God's response to the world's brokenness:
“God rejoices. Not because the problems of the world have been solved, not because all human pain and suffering have come to an end, nor because thousands of people have been converted and are now praising him for his goodness. No, God rejoices because one of his children who was lost has been found.”
And thus, here should be our response:
“I have to learn to ‘steal’ all the real joy there is to steal and lift it up for others to see. Yes, I know that not everybody has been converted yet, that there is not yet peace everywhere, that all pain has not yet been taken away, but still, I see people turning and returning home; I hear voices that pray, I notice moments of forgiveness, and I witness many signs of hope. I don’t have to wait until all is well, but I can celebrate every little hint of the Kingdom that is at hand.”
Well, shoot. I'm thinking that this means that I can't just thow up my hands and walk away from the whole politics scene. Though we are not to take our government as our Savior, perhaps we have a godly responsibility to participate nonetheless. I can't let the depth of the brokenness stop me from participating in God's plan for this world's redemption. I can't let the pain and suffering I see steal my joy at God's promise of a better hope and future for us. I guess that means I need to keep on doing my research about which person is going to be the best choice to help us get there. Dangit.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
On Faith and Politics, by M
Okay, this may be somewhat of a controversial post. You have been warned with this preface… Sorry if that bothers you!
I’ve decided lately that with the increasing media coverage of the Republican presidential hopefuls that I should maybe start paying attention and/or thinking about how I’m going to vote next year. I don’t believe that I’ve really made much of an informed voting decision in the past (given that this will only be my third presidential voting period and for the first two I wasn’t a real adult who cared about real adult things). True story: W and I voted for the first time at 17 (scandal!) in the 2004 primaries because we were going to eventually be 18 by the time the general election rolled around. Do you know enough at 17 to be a legitimate voter? Hmm. I’m tempted to say no.
Anyway, I haven’t at all made up my mind for how I’m going to vote, and I realize that there are still many, many, many months of campaigning and propaganda and hateful TV commercials and speeches and Newsweek articles left before I need to make up my mind. That said, I have a couple of random thoughts floating around my brain regarding the subject, which I figured might be beneficial (if only for myself) to get out there. Please note that these thoughts are heavily informed by conversations, sermons, books, research, etc with friends, my dad, Andy Stanley, Philip Yancey, and The Bible. I’m not taking too much credit for any of this. Haha
Thought #1: I am intrigued by how conservatism in the south is a cultural thing.
I have attempted to explain my thoughts about this to various southern friends with little success. Probably because it’s all they know, and how are they supposed to know or understand otherwise if it’s all they know? My experience in the North has been this… people have their religious beliefs, they have their political beliefs, and they have their experiences related to both. There seems to be a general consensus that everyone is entitled to their beliefs, but these thoughts and beliefs are very rarely wrapped up in the self-definition or identity of the person. Not so here in the South. Here, religion and politics seem intimately tied to who people consider themselves to be. I think that’s part of the reason that southerners typically aren’t super forthcoming with their thoughts about it. And because religion is an integral part of that southern identity (here we are in the Bible Belt!), conservatism swiftly follows. This intrigues me. I’m not entirely sure what to do about it or how to approach it. Sometimes it seems to me that southern people are conservative "just because we’re southern"… like that’s all the justification that one needs. It’s like southern people grew up on conservatism like I grew up on Ohio State football. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s also not something that I really understand.
Thought #2: I am bothered when conservatism is marketed as being congruent with Christianity
I'm going to tread lightly on this one and attempt to stay off of my soapbox. Bottom line: Republican agenda and that of the religious right is NOT Jesus's agenda. It is not the same as the "Christian agenda" (if you can say that there is one). I'm highly bothered and concerned when political conservativism and Christianity are treated like they are one and the same. They are not. Based on my reading and understanding of the Bible, here's my guess about where Jesus "aligns" and where He doesn't with some hot-topic issues in contemporary politics:
-Jesus would agree with conservatives that we shouldn't murder babies and that marriage is between a man and a woman.
-Jesus would NOT agree with conservative thought that it's okay to murder murderers and that gun possession is a necessary and personal right.
-Jesus would agree with liberals in that we all have a responsibility to care for the poor, that humankind wasn't designed to have a handful of "haves" and nations upon nations of "have nots."
-Jesus would disagree with liberal thought that a bigger government is the answer to our worldly problems.
Hmmmm... It looks to me like if Jesus were around today, He wouldn't pick sides. He couldn't pick sides and stay true to all of His teachings. It concerns me when people are quick to pick up the flag of conservatism and carry it in the name of Jesus. It's not the same and I fear that Christianity's alignment with any political party (regardless of that party's platform) ends up doing more harm to the greater work of building the Kingdom of God than it does good.
Thought #3: The Issue of Free Will
Here's a conundrum... God is a God that believes in free will. He values humans' free will mightily; if He didn't, why would He have given Adam and Eve the choice to turn away from Him? Why would He have created them with the ability and the option to choose another way? God values free will because He wants His children to choose Him... not out of coercion, but out of love. In this vein, God gives us the option today, every day, to choose to accept Christ's sacrifice, to choose to believe what He says to be true, and to choose obedience to Him.
The conundrum is this... both of the reigning political parties in America force American citizens into some part of God's agenda. Conservativism forces Americans into a moral code that is decidedly Christian. Liberalism forces Americans to give economically for the poor, the sick, the imprisoned - also decidedly Christian. In this way, participants from either party can claim (and frequently do claim) to be acting on behalf of God...
...but God doesn't force us into anything...
So, if any political party is acting "on the behalf of God" (whether they admit to it in that verbiage or not), but they're actually acting contrary to the foundational nature of God in their pursuits, are they truly aligned with God's will or are they not? Many pastors argue that God doesn't hold non-believers accountable to the same standards of behavior that He does His children. As such, are we right to force God's standards on American citizens today? I don't know... The tricky issue of free will. Hmmmm.
So anyway, those are about all of my thoughts for the day. You can clearly see that I have many more questions than I have resolutions or answers. That's okay. Just a few things to think and pray about in the coming months! I also welcome your thoughts and comments - leave them if you have 'em!
I’ve decided lately that with the increasing media coverage of the Republican presidential hopefuls that I should maybe start paying attention and/or thinking about how I’m going to vote next year. I don’t believe that I’ve really made much of an informed voting decision in the past (given that this will only be my third presidential voting period and for the first two I wasn’t a real adult who cared about real adult things). True story: W and I voted for the first time at 17 (scandal!) in the 2004 primaries because we were going to eventually be 18 by the time the general election rolled around. Do you know enough at 17 to be a legitimate voter? Hmm. I’m tempted to say no.
Anyway, I haven’t at all made up my mind for how I’m going to vote, and I realize that there are still many, many, many months of campaigning and propaganda and hateful TV commercials and speeches and Newsweek articles left before I need to make up my mind. That said, I have a couple of random thoughts floating around my brain regarding the subject, which I figured might be beneficial (if only for myself) to get out there. Please note that these thoughts are heavily informed by conversations, sermons, books, research, etc with friends, my dad, Andy Stanley, Philip Yancey, and The Bible. I’m not taking too much credit for any of this. Haha
Thought #1: I am intrigued by how conservatism in the south is a cultural thing.
I have attempted to explain my thoughts about this to various southern friends with little success. Probably because it’s all they know, and how are they supposed to know or understand otherwise if it’s all they know? My experience in the North has been this… people have their religious beliefs, they have their political beliefs, and they have their experiences related to both. There seems to be a general consensus that everyone is entitled to their beliefs, but these thoughts and beliefs are very rarely wrapped up in the self-definition or identity of the person. Not so here in the South. Here, religion and politics seem intimately tied to who people consider themselves to be. I think that’s part of the reason that southerners typically aren’t super forthcoming with their thoughts about it. And because religion is an integral part of that southern identity (here we are in the Bible Belt!), conservatism swiftly follows. This intrigues me. I’m not entirely sure what to do about it or how to approach it. Sometimes it seems to me that southern people are conservative "just because we’re southern"… like that’s all the justification that one needs. It’s like southern people grew up on conservatism like I grew up on Ohio State football. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s also not something that I really understand.
Thought #2: I am bothered when conservatism is marketed as being congruent with Christianity
I'm going to tread lightly on this one and attempt to stay off of my soapbox. Bottom line: Republican agenda and that of the religious right is NOT Jesus's agenda. It is not the same as the "Christian agenda" (if you can say that there is one). I'm highly bothered and concerned when political conservativism and Christianity are treated like they are one and the same. They are not. Based on my reading and understanding of the Bible, here's my guess about where Jesus "aligns" and where He doesn't with some hot-topic issues in contemporary politics:
-Jesus would agree with conservatives that we shouldn't murder babies and that marriage is between a man and a woman.
-Jesus would NOT agree with conservative thought that it's okay to murder murderers and that gun possession is a necessary and personal right.
-Jesus would agree with liberals in that we all have a responsibility to care for the poor, that humankind wasn't designed to have a handful of "haves" and nations upon nations of "have nots."
-Jesus would disagree with liberal thought that a bigger government is the answer to our worldly problems.
Hmmmm... It looks to me like if Jesus were around today, He wouldn't pick sides. He couldn't pick sides and stay true to all of His teachings. It concerns me when people are quick to pick up the flag of conservatism and carry it in the name of Jesus. It's not the same and I fear that Christianity's alignment with any political party (regardless of that party's platform) ends up doing more harm to the greater work of building the Kingdom of God than it does good.
Thought #3: The Issue of Free Will
Here's a conundrum... God is a God that believes in free will. He values humans' free will mightily; if He didn't, why would He have given Adam and Eve the choice to turn away from Him? Why would He have created them with the ability and the option to choose another way? God values free will because He wants His children to choose Him... not out of coercion, but out of love. In this vein, God gives us the option today, every day, to choose to accept Christ's sacrifice, to choose to believe what He says to be true, and to choose obedience to Him.
The conundrum is this... both of the reigning political parties in America force American citizens into some part of God's agenda. Conservativism forces Americans into a moral code that is decidedly Christian. Liberalism forces Americans to give economically for the poor, the sick, the imprisoned - also decidedly Christian. In this way, participants from either party can claim (and frequently do claim) to be acting on behalf of God...
...but God doesn't force us into anything...
So, if any political party is acting "on the behalf of God" (whether they admit to it in that verbiage or not), but they're actually acting contrary to the foundational nature of God in their pursuits, are they truly aligned with God's will or are they not? Many pastors argue that God doesn't hold non-believers accountable to the same standards of behavior that He does His children. As such, are we right to force God's standards on American citizens today? I don't know... The tricky issue of free will. Hmmmm.
So anyway, those are about all of my thoughts for the day. You can clearly see that I have many more questions than I have resolutions or answers. That's okay. Just a few things to think and pray about in the coming months! I also welcome your thoughts and comments - leave them if you have 'em!
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