election day (again)

Today is the day to make your vote count, let your voice be heard, do your civic duty and all that good stuff...I see it as the last time I have to see all those stupid campaign ads(at least until 'o8). As a follower of Christ, I believe my votes can't be about making America a more "Christian" nation but about seeing that Christ's needs are met and that His kingdom is being established through love, compassion, and truth. And in doing so, I need to personally weigh issues and evaluate candidates; however, I need to do these things not based upon party affiliation but upon the matter of the issue and the character of the candidate. In my conversations with friends who are fellow followers, I'm encouraged to see that I share this mentality with many of them. I've talked about this plenty before and I can certainly go on and on about it so, I'll shut up now and leave some food for thought from Relevant Magazine:
"On any given even-numbered year, you can expect to be reminded of the “homosexual threat” and the downside of stem-cell research. You can also expect the death-toll from Iraq to be displayed prominently in every possible location. In addition, you can expect to hear that so-called “liberal pinheads” want nothing more than to ruin the country that they otherwise seem so interested in, and you will also undoubtedly be reminded of the fact that the Bush White House has quadrupled our national debt. And of course, this is the fault of every G.O.P. member, and not just W. Ann Coulter will tell you that liberals are “Godless” and also stupid, while Al Franken will argue that Coulter is in fact the anti-Christ, and Bill O’Reilly will tell everyone to “SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!” before muting their microphones. But in spite of all the propaganda, less than half of the country will show up to vote for our leaders, and the fed-up majority will rediscover its love of cooking, football and gin-rummy. How can you blame them?
It is important to elect Democrats if you define yourself as a Democrat and want to be defined as such. It is important to vote for Republicans if, first and foremost, you are a Republican, and again wish to be defined as such. However, if your primary affiliation, above and beyond that of politics, lies in your allegiance and dedication to Jesus Christ, then it is not a politician's party that we should be concerned with, but his or her person. Vote your morals this Tuesday, rather than your party. "

An excerpt from TIME Magazine's "Why a Christian in the White House Felt Betrayed":

Christian conservatives trusted President Bush. After two years in the White House, I had come to realize that regardless of where the President's heart lay on the matter, the back-office Republican political machine was able to take Evangelicals for granted--indeed, often viewed them with undisguised contempt--and still get their votes. G.O.P. operatives trusted that Christian conservatives would see the President more as their Pastor in Chief than anything else. Bush had long used the podium as a pulpit, telling voters that above all he was an evangelical Christian who had been saved from his drinking by Jesus and rebuilt his life around his faith. That inspirational story was carried throughout the country by a network of prominent evangelical pastors who had been quietly working since 1998 to recruit thousands of other pastors to join the Bush team. After the election, however, those same pastors became accomplices in their own deception by not demanding that the President's actions in office match their electoral fervor.

As I finish reading this article, several conflicting thoughts swirl about. Now, I know that its easy to take shots at the President and most of the time its done from the left and in a mean-spirited manner. But David Kuo's, the writer and former second-in-command of President Bush's Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, words don't sound vehement or satirical; rather, when describing several events that precipitated his decision to write this article, the spirit is one of disappointment not only with the actions (or lack thereof) of the administration but of his own as well. Perhaps the most interesting facet to this is that Mr. Kuo is a Christian who believed in Bush's plans and promises in the arena of faith, that this isn't written from someone outside the body of Christ or even outside the body of the administration. And if he feels disillusioned and betrayed, shouldn't I feel the same? Even in the slightest bit?
I can go on and on about how I voted for Bush but did so hesitantly or how alarming it felt to discover the support from most Christians I knew was predicated simply upon his profession of faith or even how his detractors continually take shots at him which are for the most part, at best, cheap, and, at worst, malicious...however, here is a case in which a Christian on the inside is speaking out about a group of people who have been given a pass by the majority of the Christian community in America. Here is a voice that I had never heard before, a side to the story I had never seen. Now, I don't know anything about Mr.Kuo or the circumstances surrounding the events (other than what is written), but I can tell you that we share, for better or worse, pretty much the same conclusion: "George W. Bush, the man, is a person of profound faith and deep compassion for those who suffer. But President George W. Bush is a politician and is ultimately no different from any other politician, content to use religion for electoral gain more than for good works. Millions of Evangelicals may share Bush's faith, but they would protect themselves--and their interests--better if they looked at him through the same coldly political lens with which he views them."

My Problem with Christianism

I cannot say it any better than Andrew Sullivan did in his essay at TIME.com. What amazes me is how much people in position ignore or neglect this frustration and misrepresentation of people of faith. How long will this go on?
"I dissent from the political pollution of sincere, personal faith. I dissent most strongly from the attempt to argue that one party represents God and that the other doesn't. I dissent from having my faith co-opted and wielded by people whose politics I do not share and whose intolerance I abhor. The word Christian belongs to no political party. It's time the quiet majority of believers took it back."

The Colbert Presidential Report

Stephen Colbert roasted President Bush and clowned on, basically, everyone else at the White House Correspondents' Dinner last Saturday night. I'm a fan of Colbert's since his days on the "Daily Show with Jon Stewart" but even more so now. Here's just some of the things that got me slapping my knee:
"Everyone asks for personnel changes, so the White House has personnel changes and everybody's like, oh, they're just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. First of all, that's a horrible metaphor. This administration is not sinking. This administration is soaring. If anything, they are rearranging the deck chairs on the Hindenburg."
"I believe that the government that governs best is a government that governs least, and by these standards we have set up a fabulous government in Iraq."
"Fox [News] believes in presenting both sides of the story — the president’s side and the vice president’s side. I give people the truth, unfiltered by rational argument. I call it the No Fact Zone. Fox News, I own the copyright on that term."
"When the president decides something on Monday, he still believes it on Wednesday-no matter what happened Tuesday."
You can watch it all here, here, and here. Oh yeah, President Bush did this skit with Steve Bridges, the Bush impersonator, that was pretty funny too.