At his conclusion, he mourns the loss of gracious but vigorous political discussion between dissenting believers.Who will I vote for in November? I honestly don't know yet. I was deliberately waiting until the nominations were sewn up (since, I confess, I didn't participate in Colorado's cumbersome caucus process), before spending a lot of time reading up on each possible candidate. Of course, I've followed the main stories in the news, but they reveal extraordinary little about really substantive matters. Between now and November I will become better informed and then make my choice. But it won't be on the basis of one, two or even three issues. It will be on the entire platforms of each candidates, and it will be based on what my best sense of biblical priorities is, consulting the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27). [emphasis mine]
Voting as a Christian thus also means that I do not think primarily in terms of what is best economically for my family or for Americans, and not primarily what is in our "national interest" (to use the popular political phrase) when it comes to foreign policy. Politicians for both main parties will be claiming to do all of that, understandably, since they are representing our country. But as a Christian I have to take into account information that no political speech will ever include-information like the rapid growth of the underground church in Iran. Christians in that country tell us the Iranian church would be jeopardized more by American military action than by anything else.
I wholeheartedly agree. I hope that you will take the time read the entire article.I remember during my public school years, growing up in Illinois, how Christians could have a vigorous political conversation, disagree as to which party or candidate they would support at a given time, and still be friends. Churches could even host forums in which civil debate along these lines occurred. My eighth-grade history teacher, herself a former local Republican politician, used to intone the refrain so often that I still hear her words in my head: "The far left and the far right, avoid them both, like the plague!" My, how Christians have become so much more polarized over the last 30 years! Thoughtful, well-meaning Christian friends send me e-mails with made-up material pasted from internet sites that reinforce their personal convictions on political issues without even a quick check of a website like www.snopes.com to check their accuracy.
Others that are primarily factual contain such sub-Christian invective against those who would disagree with them that I just want to cry. Some of us are old enough to remember when not a single political advertisement on TV was allowed to smear the opponent the way almost all such ads not routinely do. But my grown children, alas, have no such memories. May some of us take the lead in this fall's campaigns to elevate the conversations to more thoughtful and gracious levels.
