toddthomas.net

Why I probably won’t vote for McCain or Obama…

Posted on September 18, 2008 Updated on September 18, 2008

Yes, I am actually considering the unthinkable. I am probably not going to cast a vote on November 4th this year.

*Sigh* I do that a lot these days (sighing) when I start trying to pick through the morass that is America politics and the spin of words, meanings and intentions. As someone struggling to follow Christ and discover the many ramifications of that following in the world, I have to admit that politics are just coming up short.

And talk about a mess… I heard an author underscoring a good point just a couple of days ago: we have four people, all very admirable and diverse in their public service, all claiming to be followers of Christ, and all of them divided into teams bent on the ridicule, defeat and public destruction of the other. Nice! If only all the Christians could rip each other like that! Oh wait…

There are also all the other Christians, the “daily Jesus” across our nation, lining up on teams and propagating some of the most hateful spin and soul-rending, accusatory gossip I’ve never asked to see or hear. *sigh*

While I’m on my soap box… where has the moral high ground gone? I listen to both sides, and they both say the same things! The other side is bad, evil, racist, stupid, elitist, ignorant, liars. The other side wants to kill children, neglect the elderly and wreck the economy. And both sides think I’m a fresh cucumber who will just nod and chuckle and be so grateful they’ve enlightened me. I switch channels back and forth on the radio and the only thing that changes is who is doing the talking.

*Sigh* So, here are my party platforms as they currently stand… and yes you too can join my party, every Saturday night at 8pm in the front yard until it gets too cold.

1. I accept, without question, all four candidates’ profession of faith, and I celebrate that they all call on the name of the only One I believe is actually capable of making the world a better place.

2. I am going to pray my faith to tatters for these four people! I am going to be praying that they find a way to bring more peace to our country and the world. I’m praying that they can find a way to bring more harmony and civility to our discussions and political arenas. I am praying that each one’s faith grows and deepens and enlivens them as it brings all the wisdom they need before and after November 4th.

3. I don’t really have a third thought for the list. But since there should probably be a third in any list, I threw the number in for grins.

So, am I just “thumbing my nose” at the glorious American political process and all those who literally died to provide me such an opportunity? Nope. In fact, I’ll be doing my part to propagate the mess. I have been accepted as an election judge in my district, and I’ll be right in there smiling and helping folks do their thing, casting those votes! But, I’m choosing only a servant’s posture for now.

As I read the scriptures, I can find no reasonably implicit or explicit expectation to be a faithful participant in the voting process. Surely, you can quote a famous American historical figure or highly talented Rock Star to the contrary, but I just feel the need for some “change.” If I truly do place my faith in a King who transcends politics and if I place my faith in a transforming gospel which can never be bound or blunted by the governmental and political winds that blow… then maybe I need to put my ballot where my faith is.

Here’s how my growing perspective on the future looks: What will I be doing on November 5th, if we even know that soon who won? The same thing I’m doing today. I’ll be praying for our nation, for it’s leaders and people. I’ll be praying for the world’s leaders and peoples. I’ll be speaking and living the life-giving, hope-driven peace of God to the best of my abilities in every venue I find it possible. I’ll be working hard and paying my taxes. I’ll be faithful to my wife, my children, my whole family and to any and all to whom I carry my various responsibilities. I’ll be seeking and finding a transformation in Christ, along with my church family, which enables us to further grow in ministry and service to everyone within our reach. No president, Republican or Democrat, makes these things possible. No president can cause them to cease.

And I also recognize that when I begin to feel that pull, that planetary-like gravitational pull of the power and adrenaline of politics, I personally have more to lose than to gain.

I fully understand this might not be your road. I in no way mean to represent my faith musings as a template for you. Your going and voting can be as faithful as my abstinence. In fact, that’s all I would presume to ask of you, my friends and families. If you vote, vote with faith, with hope, with love and with pleas for heavenly wisdom.

My amazing, beautiful wife says I should write in a vote. Maybe I should sell my vote on eBay!? Surely that’s been done.

Right now, I’m not feeling it. I don’t think I’ll be voting. But, who knows? That gravitational pull just might overcome my defenses. Or Teresa might step it up, slap me around a little and change my mind.