Politics is the only competition I know of where people will back a losing candidate without fail and without a second thought, just because he's on their "team". There are no bandwagons in politics, no switching sides, and if your candidate loses, it's your obligation to insist that he really should have won.
I was going to say a lot more about politics, but this isn't a political blog, and the other funny thing about politics is that everyone loves to argue, but no one is ever convinced. So I'll try to keep it short here.
I hate the fact that everyone is pushing voting as some kind of moral obligation. The worst offenders in my book are the Christian authorities. (Isn't that an oxymoron?) Everywhere I turn, some preacher or other is telling me to vote "or else". I have heard people actually say that not voting is lazy and sinful behavior. I can't believe someone could be so misled as to believe this. First of all - going back to the original source - during the writing of the New Testament, Jesus and his followers were persecuted in just about every way possible. Most of the time, this was perpetuated or at least permitted by the government. So, what did they do about it? Nothing. From what I understand, the only thing Jesus ever said about the government was to do what they asked of us ("render unto Caesar" - basically, support your government). And elsewhere, we are encouraged to pray for our political leaders. (Note that it does not say "pray for your leaders only if you agree with them.") The point I'm trying to make is: Jesus didn't vote for anybody. He was not a political activist. In fact, I would argue that he was the exact opposite of the word "political". If you get hung up on politics, you're losing sight of the big picture. Especially if you are a leader in the Christian community. Who told you that Christians are supposed to stand up for their rights? Who told you that the laws of a country should enforce the moral code of the Old Testament? I know for a fact that the Bible didn't tell you that. Especially not the New Testament. We're talking about a set of laws - THE set of laws - that were fulfilled by the life and death of Jesus. Why do the Ten Commandments need to be displayed in public? They've been fulfilled. We don't need to worry about that anymore. (1 Cor 6:12 in case you were wondering. It doesn't get any clearer than "everything is permissible.")
Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox. Sure I'm going to vote, but not because anyone tells me to. Maybe I'll write in John McCain. That guy is awesome. There's so much BS in politics that when somebody is actually honest and forthcoming, they really stand out, and that's the impression I get from McCain.
Check out the transcript of the first presidential debate. I would encourage you to draw your own conclusions based on how the candidates responded to their questions. It was interesting and seemed to get beyond the standard rhetorical garbage that is usually thrown back and forth between candidates.
Here's to ending on a humorous note...
I was going to say a lot more about politics, but this isn't a political blog, and the other funny thing about politics is that everyone loves to argue, but no one is ever convinced. So I'll try to keep it short here.
I hate the fact that everyone is pushing voting as some kind of moral obligation. The worst offenders in my book are the Christian authorities. (Isn't that an oxymoron?) Everywhere I turn, some preacher or other is telling me to vote "or else". I have heard people actually say that not voting is lazy and sinful behavior. I can't believe someone could be so misled as to believe this. First of all - going back to the original source - during the writing of the New Testament, Jesus and his followers were persecuted in just about every way possible. Most of the time, this was perpetuated or at least permitted by the government. So, what did they do about it? Nothing. From what I understand, the only thing Jesus ever said about the government was to do what they asked of us ("render unto Caesar" - basically, support your government). And elsewhere, we are encouraged to pray for our political leaders. (Note that it does not say "pray for your leaders only if you agree with them.") The point I'm trying to make is: Jesus didn't vote for anybody. He was not a political activist. In fact, I would argue that he was the exact opposite of the word "political". If you get hung up on politics, you're losing sight of the big picture. Especially if you are a leader in the Christian community. Who told you that Christians are supposed to stand up for their rights? Who told you that the laws of a country should enforce the moral code of the Old Testament? I know for a fact that the Bible didn't tell you that. Especially not the New Testament. We're talking about a set of laws - THE set of laws - that were fulfilled by the life and death of Jesus. Why do the Ten Commandments need to be displayed in public? They've been fulfilled. We don't need to worry about that anymore. (1 Cor 6:12 in case you were wondering. It doesn't get any clearer than "everything is permissible.")
Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox. Sure I'm going to vote, but not because anyone tells me to. Maybe I'll write in John McCain. That guy is awesome. There's so much BS in politics that when somebody is actually honest and forthcoming, they really stand out, and that's the impression I get from McCain.
Check out the transcript of the first presidential debate. I would encourage you to draw your own conclusions based on how the candidates responded to their questions. It was interesting and seemed to get beyond the standard rhetorical garbage that is usually thrown back and forth between candidates.
Here's to ending on a humorous note...
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posted by Brandon at 1:58 AM
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