Peter King words of wisdom...

Leave it to a sportswriter to provide one of the most insightful political comments I've seen in awhile...




"There's a fairly significant decision coming in this country in 2008. We in New Jersey and New Mexico and New London and New Wherever have one simple request as you mull over the candidacies of a black man, a white woman and many white men in the coming presidential debate: Treat them as candidates, not black candidates or female candidates or white candidates."

I agree in principle with King's comments, because it's almost suffocating to live in this politically correct society sometimes.

I think it's downright lazy to vote for Hillary solely because she's a woman, and downright lazy to vote for Obama solely because he's black. With that being said, I don't think that flavor of downright lazy is any worse than voting for a candidate as a Christian solely because they're "pro-life" or "anti-gay marriage," as if those are the only moral issues on the table to figure out if a candidate is "really" Christian or not. I hate abortion (because I believe I'm called to value all life from conception to death), but I just may vote for a candidate who's pro-choice but much more consistent with my beliefs across the board: how the gospel's deep respect for life touches on the environment, the poor, war, marriage, etc.

As a result of that thinking, I'm a pretty big fan of Sen. Brownback from Kansas, who's a social conservative (with significant reasons to back up his positions; most Republicans use abortion, etc as election ploys and pay no attention to the issue in their job), is committed to reformation of the twisted aspects of government, and is opposed to the war in Iraq (though this is more likely a one-time thing). I think the guy's got his ducks in a row in a way that George W. couldn't even sniff at. I like Obama, even though I'm not a big fan of his social liberalism; I think he's a breath of fresh air.

p.s. Let's not forget Michael Jesus Archangel and Rev. Edward Allen Buck...legitimate candidates in my book. *cough cough*

With the warning of single-issue laziness being said, I certainly would LIKE to see a woman in the presidential office some time in America, and I would especially like to see a black person in office...given the social struggle they've had to undergo for equality in America (which is supposedly the land of the free but only granted equality under the law for blacks and other full-citizen minorities in 1964). So, while their gender or ethnicity might be a contributing factor among a host of other contributing factors for why I vote for them, I won't vote for them solely b/c they're a woman or a minority. You could apply this thinking to suggest to me that abortion is a more important issue among a host of important issues for you, and I'd be ok with that, but I'd want a conversation on why you think so. There are philosophical reasons behind being pro-life that apply equally to the death penalty, poverty, the environment, and war, but people don't often consider those because their churches aren't equipping them to be more educated voters, they're telling them how to vote. And that's dead wrong, both on the parts of church leadership and those who sit there and do exactly what they tell them without stopping to consider why in the world a responsible Christian should only care about two issues.

So I may vote for Obama, I may vote for Brownback, I may vote for McCain, and I may vote for Al Gore (if he runs). I know I won't vote for Hillary (well, I should qualify that; if it ended up being Hillary vs. Giuliani or Gingrich, I'll have to reconsider a bit), because she's just as flip-floppy as John Kerry was in '04, though I voted for him because the alternative was George Bush (who I'm not sure has ever allowed himself to try to connect the dots between his views on social conservatism [which I like] and how that intersects with big business, the environment, and the demand placed on his life by Christ to love his enemies).

In addition to all this, I need to revisit the discomfort I felt after voting for John Kerry; precisely because I felt the choice in 2004 was between bleh and double bleh. There are very legitimate third (or fourth or fifth) party candidates out there who I think more completely reflect my beliefs than the two political machines we call Democrat and Republican that often churn out candidates that I really don't care for (but feel compelled to choose between because any other vote is a "wasted" vote in our winner-take-all presidential elections). Is it socially irresponsible for me to vote for a candidate I know doesn't have a chance in hell of being elected, or is it the most socially responsible thing I can do to vote for that candidate, because I'm being true to the big picture of what I believe and subverting the system that demands I choose between two "legitimate" candidates? Is that a wasted vote or a maximized vote?

If all of this sounds like gobbledy-gook to you when you're reading it, it may be because it IS gobbledy-gook (I certainly allow for that ever-present possibility), or it may be because you haven't had enough time to grasp the big-picture reasons that drive me to think about politics, the state, and social issues in a certain way. It really boils down to two words for me as to my central concerns: primarily, Jesus. secondarily, church...somewhere way down the priority list, society. This commitment plays out in my thoughts often, and I'll leave it at that for now.

Just for the hey of it...

I've thrown a widget a little further down the right side of my page that's recording the total and rising cost of the conflict in Iraq.

I've inserted it not because I think the economics of the situation provides a compelling argument why the United States should never have invaded Iraq (though in many ways it DOES underscore a raw, quantifiable cost of war), but as one thing among a host of others that George Bush is accountable for.

I mean, you tell me...what's better spent? 350 billion dollars to destroy a country and build it back up to be your lapdog (I guess the U.S. didn't learn from the Iran experiment in the 1970s). Or 350 billion dollars in invest in the infrastructure of your own country, to dedicate towards alternative fuels, to dedicate towards welfare reform, to dedicate toward educational reform, or to dedicate towards health care reform within your own borders.

I pray for George Bush, I do. I'm trying to respect him by not slandering him. So I'm not going to attack his character. But it's clear to me that his time as president will go down in history for an almost complete neglect of domestic issues for the sake of an ill-fated vengeance campaign against another sovereign nation that turns the clock back 70 years on international perception of the United States.

Domestic policy: failure (though there's a little more to discuss here)
Foreign policy : failure (not much wiggle room here)

And even worse, I hope and pray that George Bush really wasn't planning the attack in Iraq before he was even elected and, if so, repents publicly and comprehensively at some point in the future; as a confessing Christian, he is accountable to the church at large and centrally to God. I certainly would not want to stand before the judgment seat as GDub for his actions up to this point in history.

Let's raise a glass to '08 and the hope that Obama and McCain win their party nominations so I have to finally (for once!!!!!) decide between two qualified, principled, candidates of integrity who aren't so dagblasted deaf-in-the-ears when people express alternative approaches and opinions!



Like everything else, this is clearly my subjective opinion...I'd love to talk if you wanna; in person, or here

Truth. Speaking. Is. Unpopular.

Excerpt from video below in this post, "One of the things that 's always perturbed me...as we come to celebrate the life and living of Martin Luther King Jr, one of the things we can say with alarm since the legalization of the holiday is that Dr King has been reduced to the syrupy sweet Hallmark Card where he is no longer prophetic and he no longer speaks to the nation and he no longer causes us to speak to the nation in ways that shake the foundation of this nation's immorality..."

All my friends who are not Christfollowers do not need to listen to the following flash video. Feel free, but this message is mainly a convicting reminder that those of us who dare to claim that we are disciples of Jesus are expected to be peacemakers.

Peacemakers.

And that's not peacemaking as defined by Nathan Myers, or Jane Doe, or whoever else. It's peacemaking as defined by Jesus.

What was his example? What did his life scream to us about how to confront evil as a faithful disciple? How did his disciples live this out?

If you are a Christfollower, you and I don't have a choice with whether we "want" to be a peacemakers or not. We don't. Oh, we justify it...we say this and that....define peacemaking like this or that...in short, interpret peacemaking the way we do much of the Bible...seize onto the "For I know the plans I have for you" and "fearfully and wonderfully made" and "I call you my friends" passages while ignoring the "love your enemies" and "those who seek to protect their life will lose it" and "he was faithful to the point of the death, even death on a cross" and "for our battle is NOT against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities" passages because they challenge us too much.

As I watched this simple little flash from a simple speech, I was deeply convicted and tears welled up in my eyes as I thought about how often I shrink back from clear statements on truth when I'm around my fellow Christfollowers in church because I'm afraid they'll leave or reject me or hate me for that position. My friends that don't know Christ are begging to see me live like I love them and will give my life, my finances, my energy, and my prayers for them no matter what...they're CRYING out! And I'm often a shuddering, emasculated Christian who's ok with false unity in church in the name of comfort and "family" and all the easy Scripture; and I say I don't, but I really DO want you to look like me, dress like me, like the same things I like, hate the same things I hate...or at least PRETEND you do so our relationship doesn't challenge me. I'd rather not be called to take most of what I've learned in my life and unlearn it through pain and struggle and cyclical addictions to various things. I'd rather be comfortably numb in my self-centeredness, thank you very much.

But, MLK, for all his struggles, was a man who spoke truth...he would not let us sit in our seats and just nod along and afterwards say, "Good speech. Good delivery. Your voice intonation was tremendous." *pat on the back* "See you next week, Marty." Wouldn't let us do it. He chose to say what he said and live like he did and give himself like he did. He knew his life was in danger, and he wasn't afraid to confront the status quo and whoever stood to continue reaping the rewards from it. And for that, I am grateful. Because the status quo was and is continuing to rip us apart as humanity.

"Have we not come to such an impasse in the modern world that we must love our enemies - or else? The chain reaction of evil - hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars - must be broken, or else we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation...He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it. " -MLK Jr.

I'm tired of cooperating. I'm tired of my smarmy proof-text-quoting-Scripture-life that exists because I'm not disciplined enough to grow beyond it and don't have the stones to challenge my friends and church family and neighbors to take that step with me. But still I settle for recycling the same verses, saying the same prayers, and talking about the same issues I did a week ago...all the while, I'm spinning my tires and going nowhere! I'm TIRED of that life. I want MORE. There has to be MORE than where I am now. And we are now. And I don't really care that the beginning of this video has a strong message about Bush. Watch it all the way through. Give it a fair shake. Sit back and think a little about what it means to follow Jesus the way he told us to...no matter what.

And challenge me. Forgive me. Let me rant like this from time to time. Help me to love more, give more, forgive more, expect more, pursue more.

And if I'm going to hold the leaders of the United States to a high standard of truth-telling as I am by endorsing this flash video, I sure as heck better be pursuing it myself, or I'm a flat hypocrite.

Click on play, lower left corner.
http://www.djpauledge.com/wewillnotbesilenced/#

ht on video: Ariah

Some thoughts (maybe some interaction with others?)

My friend Matt Murphy is a prolific blogger over on Myspace; I wish I had the work ethic to be as disciplined on mine (blogging helps me sort out my scattered thoughts). Matt about a half a month or so ago posted a blog I found interesting. I'll attach both his thoughts and mine, but before doing that, I've got a bit of a preface that's been rolling through my head recently (most directly related to Matt's approach).

Matt is not your typical evangelical American Christian. How do I define typical evangelical American Christian? Most often, I find them to be hypocritical in belief and lifestyle and logically incoherent. Keep in mind I'm saying this as a Christian too (and that I, from time to time, am both hypocritical and logically incoherent, but work with me). I continually find myself intrigued that Christians can in one breath talk about love, forgiveness, and God's grace and in the next talk of folks next-door or across the globe as if their lives are nothing more than dirt. It seems to me the prevailing message we get in our churches is typically something that leads to a split in us; as if you or I could "love" someone in our hearts but beat to a different drum in our actions. As a simple example, somehow we've been taught that we can "love" God and others and "forgive" others while simultaneously serving in the military and killing those who disagree with us (using the most obvious case) in the name of "justice." This logic goes further for those who don't serve directly in the military but engage in the cult worship of military "heroes" or our American governmental leaders that usually takes place the Sunday closest to every Memorial Day, Veterans' Day, or Independence Day where we celebrate their sacrifice to maintain our "freedom." Acknowledging that reality could spawn some more writing here on that subject, but I think it's important to focus here on the false presumption that we can "believe" certain things while our lives and primary motivations completely contradict what we say we believe in. It's wickedly humorous to me how supposedly mature Christians in times of relative peace and comfort say all the right things, yet when things happen that destabilize the norm, they line up with all the other good American citizens and toe the line of uncritically accepting the decisions of G.W. because he's a "praying man" or the nation at large as if we're the pure, perfect light of freedom and justice in the world or some other such nonsense. This applies to any modern nation-state (especially in the West) where fealty to the state usurps faithfulness to Christ as Lord.

What has "love" become in our society? What about "justice" and "peacemaking" and "discipleship"? It's manifestly obvious to me we value Jeremy Bentham, George W. Bush, or H. Richard Niebuhr's opinions on these subjects more than Jesus or Paul. Is that a problem? (tongue planted firmly in cheek) I say all this because Matt (as a relatively "new" Christian) has a deeper awareness of the aforementioned concepts of love, discipleship, justice, etc than 99.9% of my friends or acquaintances that call themselves Christian. How has this hit Matt between the eyes and not them? My deeper question is: how can we recover a reading of the teachings of Jesus with a plain understanding that they are intended to be the center of what it means for you and I to be disciples? Call me crazy, but love doesn't make sense if we don't define it by Jesus' example, teachings, and further (second-level) New Testament musings. The proper pursuit of justice doesn't make sense if we don't define it by Jesus' example, teachings, and further (second-level) New Testament musings, etc etc. Matt seems to have this awareness (along with a willingness to be dynamic in dialogue about the secondary issues that stem from his pursuit of discipleship in the way of Christ). I think that should be applauded.

Anyways, here's what he said on his blog (keep in mind my perception of Matt's approach comes not from this post alone, but from reading multiple posts that seem to reflect a consistent motivation):

I have opinions that my friends don't like.

Soldiers go door to door killing. For what? Are the citizens of Iraq suddenly going to come to my house and try to kill me or my family? Probably not. Its a good thing we have a constitution here that generally prevents the killing of malcontents. Have any weapons of mass distruction definitively been found? No. Did Iraq threaten us prior to our invasion of their country? Depends on who you talk to. Have we rooted out any Al Qaeda members in Iraq? Not definitively. When we did invade, for the purpose of human rights, did we assist refugees? Not really. Is the US Government moving to make more strict laws against torture of prisoners? Negative. Wait, isn't torture of Americans one of the things we are upset about? How many innocent have died? A lot. How many American soldiers have died just from being over there (vehicular accidents, friendly fire, etc.)? A lot. In the first Iraq war, more Americans died from just being over there than in the war. Is Matt ever going to vote Republican? My sources say no."

And my response:

"Some further questions I think are important:

How does a secular sense of justice match up with a Biblical sense of justice 1)in general and 2)specifically in the case of Iraq?

How do we as the church maintain a distance from the actions of the state and take action in our own unique way that provides an alternative witness in times where the actions of the state are clearly unjust?

In recognizing the ultimate futility of staking our complete interest in the actions of the state (empires rise and fall, right?), how do we move beyond secular political pigeonholing (liberal/conservative, Democrat/Republican/Green/Libertarian) to recognize that the Politics of Jesus will make some label us as conservative in some areas and liberal in others?

In connection with another of your blogs, it seems to me we always have the temptation to make the easiest move towards the most comfort in our lives. I think that relates to:
1) our politics...its easier to toe the line of whatever party we agree most with and we end up defending their entire platform because we think they're "right" and the other "wrong", and
2) how we relate to the society as the church...we've passed off much of the responsibility of the church to impact the society for good (who started widespread education and the helping profession of medicine?) on the state; that way we don't have to do much other than go to church on Sunday and sit on our hands the rest of the time.

That makes it a heck of a lot easier to sit in our armchairs and talk about why the poor just need to quit being lazy and do something about their lives when we don't have any direct connection to those who are poverty stricken; or talk about why single mothers shouldn't get abortions without actually working directly in their lives so they know not only their lives are important, but the lives of their unborn children, etc etc. I'm continually frustrated by how selfish I am in this respect (in a vacuum, I'd choose the armchair), and how much potential we have for grassroots change as the church that's being wasted in front of televisions between the four walls of our residences."

Penny for your thoughts (and willingness to read this longish post)