The Friday before the election while working in Houston, I turned on the radio to try and find some music to help keep my pace up. The alt country station I had been listening to back home (92.1) had become a gospel station. The music was energetic enough so I let it play on. This particular station was doing a remote broadcast from an early voting site and was interviewing local pastors as well as various people who were exiting the polls. Two things were immediately clear, everyone I was hearing was black, and everyone was voting for Obama. After nine months of listening to talk radio and reading my favorite conservative columnists, this was exactly what I needed – a different perspective.
The joy in their voices began to affect me and I found myself growing quite attached to these people on the radio. “Come Tuesday,” I told myself, “I will find myself thinking about these guys. If their candidate loses, my elation will be tempered by their sorrow; and if their candidate wins, my disappointment will be nearly washed away by their joy.” These folks were my brothers and sisters in Christ and that is a bond that trumps all political belief, regardless of how deeply held those beliefs are. Quick aside: I am a small government economic conservative in the tradition of Adam Smith first and foremost, and I believe that this view of government is key to raising the greatest number of people (of any color) out of poverty and bondage. So even though I feel that their vote was counterproductive economically, the point is practically moot as McCain was no economic conservative himself.
No matter what your politics, you would have to have a heart of stone to not be moved by the excitement running through the black community this past week. So it was Tuesday night that although the guy I voted for took a beating, I found myself happily caught up in the emotion of the night (made all the easier by the exceptionally uninspiring McCain). My brother, Josh, and I got to talking and decided we would wipe the slate clean, at least give him a chance. After watching the shameful ways the left has treated Bush the past eight years, we are faced with a choice: give it right back to’em or treat the left with the grace neither they nor we deserve. Choose grace, it feels fantastic. Sitting there in front of the tube on Tuesday, I could feel all the anger, distrust, and pessimism wash away. I feel at peace, happy, and full of optimism and all this without budging an ideological inch. Hopefully, the Republican Party will purify itself over the next four years and actually bring something inspiring to the table in 2012. In the meantime, I’ll at least give Obama a fighting chance and give him the opportunity the left never gave Bush. So, off to the honeymoon, it might be a short one, but by golly, I’m going anyways.
5 comments:
Hey there, friend! :) Hope all is well in Texas!
I agree; though we had a different choice in candidate, that certainly doesn't negate the fact that much good was going on around the country.
Wishing your family the best!
Benjamin - Represent on the West Coast! Your right in the thick of it. I hope your job is going great and that Stephanie loves it out there.
Well said.
-Todd Ketterhagen
I’m sorry, I find it impossible to participate in political discussions that do not gravely pivot on the fact that we are living in a nation that is slaughtering its unborn children in the name of sexual freedom. The fact that people, calling themselves Christians, voted for a person that endorses this is just another indicator that the Bible is not being taught and as a result, the fear of God is not weighing heavily on the consciences of a vast number of people who darken the doorways of churches in this country. I’m not going to dance around like an idiot with the mindless fools who claim the name of Christ and yet ignore the staggering disconnection between who they voted for and what the Bible plainly teaches.
If anything this deepens my conviction that we are living in a vast mission field that isn’t clearly separated by church walls. This reality demands a Christianity that goes far beyond casual church attendance, it screams of a need for Christians (the real ones) to live convincingly, to live passionately, to think critically and allow that to be self evident in the way they live and vote.
Sorry Jer, but this honeymoon sounds weird, twisted and confused, just because the abortion topic is largely avoided in our culture doesn’t change the fact that it is a crime against humanity and is tantamount to the holocaust.
Wow! I like your thoughts Jeremy. Though I appreciate Walter's enthusiasm and convictions, I guess I don't find them necessarily at odds with your seemingly big-hearted approach of respectfully and optimistically supporting our new pres, even if you didn't vote for him. At the risk of sounding like a moral relativist, I don't see abortion as the only relevant moral issue, and I didn't see McCain as a real champion of babies' rights. Anyway, I had only planned on saying I appreciate your thoughts on the matter. Hope you and your fam have been well.
Cheers,
Kelly
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