Posted by bethany458 on 10/31/08
Last updated 10/31/08

 It should be noted that most of this is in my words but not all.....I found quotes and such on the internet. For example, The part about the "American Dream."

Why I am not Voting Obama and Why I am still a Christian w/o doing so.

I have been introduced to a very compassionate Christian who expresses a deep love of critical thinking.  However, in these dire times we both could not disagree more while agreeing  .. points simulataneously.  I have read her blogs and while impressed, I can't help but feel the need to justify my stances.

Lets start off with the "American Dream." This girl asks does the American Dream reflect the heart of Jesus? I say yes it does......if you go back to the original "American Dream."  The dream then is best described;

The term was first used by James Truslow Adams in his book The Epic of America which was written in 1931. He states: "The American Dream is "that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position."

So does the original American Dream really need to be changed??? I believe the issues are in the current pop culture  and the mass media's dominance over the mixed messages we are sent everyday. The route of the problem is the obsession with nice cars, designer clothers, mansions and so forth but that isn't what America was founded on in the beginning and its not fair to blame capitalism and freedom for these issues........ Is it really Paris Hilton's fault that she is rich and was born rich, or is it our fault for buying into her lifestyle and making her rich through our fascination with her lifestyle? 

Its simply invalid to place the responsibility on the "American Dream." Our culture has been misled and misguided but that doesn't mean its time to let the government have more power and more freedom to tell us what to do with our wealth. Jesus does express his hopes of redistrubution of "wealth." BUT he does not say to hand over all power to the government so they can madate it.  I believe Jesus wanted charity to be something that a person choses to do out of the goodness of their hearts, and is not something one should be forced into because to me that would be stealing. It is stated in the Bible that:  For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!

To me its plain and simple.  Socialism takes away people's desire to work and create wealth. If you know you are going to get a hand out because some rich guy has too much money, why start a business of your own? If the government is going to take half of your profit, why make any? Do some research on Marx, Stalin, and the closeness that socialism has to communism. It is just one step away from having the government control and own everything.

So you believe that because some kids out there don't have food and toys that your children should give up their food and toys?

And you believe that your right to own land should be gov't mandated and that a house is also something one deserves? Why?  In a purely socialistic and communistic society, the government owns the land. You are the serf or the slave. We freed the slaves in this country only to have people vote us back in to slavery? That's what socialism is - slavery - because nothing you own is your own. It is all someone else's stuff. It is contrary to the constitution - we have a RIGHT to life and property!  Are you really saying that the Constituition is an invalid document when so many have died trying to protect it? 

Most people in this country already feel for those in need and America is one of the world's greatest sponsors of nations and people in need - despite of our capitalism. What is forgotten in the midst of your heart pouring essay is the GOVERNMENTS ROLE in corporate affairs (Obama has the most donations from corporations thus far but we are to believe he is going to take the greed out of the country?), our entanglement with foreign countries that creates enemies for the American people, the tariffs our gov't imposes on trade with third world countries which prevents them from achieving wealth of their own, and how the gov't doesn't  prevent the food and aid we try to get to the poor from getting in the hands of the wrong people. Its not the American people who have it wrong its the trust of the gov't to do the right thing. Why do you think Angelina Jolie chooses to fly her own plane to deliver to the poor???? I assume its so she knows it gets there.  Gaudiani said Americans give twice as much as the next most charitable country, according to a November 2006 comparison done by the Charities Aid Foundation. In philanthropic giving as a percentage of gross domestic product, the U.S. ranked first at 1.7%. No. 2 Britain gave 0.73%, while France, with a 0.14% rate, trailed such countries as South Africa, Singapore, Turkey and Germany.

I'm not saying that people don't need to make changes to the greedy ways that things are handled. Change does need to happen but its only going to happen when we quit handing over more power to the gov't and quit making the gov't big. Its not socialism that will bring these changes its freedom from the  government and breaking these corporate ties to the gov't - remember its from freedom that reform is made. I don't understand how socialism and more gov't power will stop the greed?!

You say you can't wait until the day healthcare is no longer a right but a guarentee.  Well its not that I am against Medicare or taking care of people who need help.I am compassionate and I do have feelings.  I also have relatives who are on government assistance. Some of which should NOT be (they probably could hold a job and would need less assistance if they did), others of which SHOULD (my grandma who has worked hard her whole life) I have seen people abusing the system. Continuing to have children to get more money from the government when you have no way to provide for them on your own... taking other people's kids to get welfare (or even fostering children to get money while abusing them). Government handouts should be strict, but they should be available for those who truly need them. I'm not asking people to quit giving charity or even to stop welfare. And I think that if illegals come here, they should be prepared to pay taxes. If the government made them pay taxes so they would be supporting the weight of the economy and not just sucking (socialism) money off of legal Americans for free health, education, etc... then our economy wouldn't be so bad off.

That's why a FAIR TAX works.  Fair Tax is Ron Paul's big discussion point. Tax EVERYONE the same - from the richest to the poorest. 15% of a million is going to be WAY more than 15% of 10,000. Therefore everyone pays equal. Illegals pay equal (because the tax is a sales tax instead of an income tax and the stupid IRS is done away with). Thats also why true capitalism works. Our nation hasn't seen real capitalism in decades but if we did have a sound capitalist system, one would have competition and prices would be driven down making healthcare affordable to all.

My family lives paycheck to paycheck like most Americans. However, despite that, we manage to do what we can to help our neighbor and show compassion.  I think you are drastically wrong about Americans and the rich NOT helping out. You should get a copy of Voice of the Martyrs, Christian Aid, Compassion International, Feed the Children, Samaritan's Purse, International Christian Concern, Operation Christmas Child, Angel Tree Ministries, and more. Read what people really are doing. I am not saying that there isn't poverty in the world and that it isn't getting worse, but that I do feel more is done then you think. Again,  the core issues aren't  individual faults but are more so with the governent's alliance with corporations and world bankers.
 

In essence, I JUST WANT TO PROTECT MY FREEDOMS AND MAKE SURE MY CHILDREN AREN"T SLAVES TO THE GOV"T!

All I want is a gov't that taxes fairly.  In all this your main points are equality and fairness so why not stand for the fair tax rather than a mandated system that spreads the wealth and punishes the rich?  Forcing me to give money to planned parenthood is not fair. I don't believe in abortion. Forcing me to give money to the educational system that refuses to make sure its textbooks are truthful, refuses to allow parents to control whether their children are taught certain types of sexual things or religious things, and allows teacher unions to spend millions of dollars supporting the homosexual agenda (ie: California) is not fair. Forcing me to pay and not forcing an illegal to pay is not fair.  That is just a silly argument.
 

Is our current system really fair when I am scraping by to purchase bare necessities at the grocery store and I see illegals in Wal-Mart with a full cart browsing and buying toys and yet spreading the wealth and increasing more taxes to the American citizen is the solution!


We have plenty of laws in place today that provide for those less fortunate. We don't need any more government help. The government is 95% of the PROBLEM. Look at the bail out! That's socialism for you - now the government owns the banks and we'll be paying off all those bad loans (socialism) that the government FORCED the capitalists to make. Look it up. Obama was one of the lawyers that sued banks because they didn't offer enough subprime loans. You put a lot of blame on the republican party, capititalism and George Bush but these issues have been going on since FDR and worsened with Woodrow Wilson outlawing the gold standard, and if anyone is to blame for the current mess it is the Clinton administration. Anyways lets not even argue this because to me this isn't a right winged issue or a left winged one, the problem lies with the corrupt gov't, corrupt congress, and so forth.

You have a big heart for others, and I admire that. So do I. I just feel that free people are a lot more giving and able to give than those who are in chains and bound to their gov't.  

Let me tell you what I long for.

 I do as you long for a nation that loves thy neighbor as one loves thyself. I too  long for a nation that looks around and asks the tough questions, and does not fall back on dogma or rhetoric for answers. HOWEVER, I do think a lot more Americans know a lot more about these issues and aren't as stupid as you think but they have been fooled.  I long for a nation that no longer toils in misery to accumulate wealth at the expense of families. I long for a nation that reaches out not only to nations that can do something for us, but those who have nothing to give. I long for a nation of people willing to venture out of their comfort zone and commune with those less fortunate. I long for a nation where we respond to national tragedy not by "going shopping", as Bush espoused, or through being scared into voting for a bailout, but by turning to each other for a renewed sense of hope and purpose NOT turning to the GOVT or placing too much hope on a presidential candidate.

After this point, our views change.  I do NOT believe the gov't role  can efficiently and purely be found in  these hopes. 

I long for a nation that quits putting all of their trust on another politicians and quits handing over more of their basic civil liberities to ensure these "promises  for change."  I trust in the system that our forefathers came up with to spread the prosperiety, I trust that its not change we need but getting back to our roots,  and I don't doubt that a lot of Americans really DO care about helping each other out.


When Jesus said "Blessed are the poor, for yours are the Kingdom of God" and for the rich man to sell all his possessions, He was simply saying that being unshackled by things makes it easier to give one's life to God, not that EVERYONE should do so, but only those who are valuing money and possessions up as a thing more important in life to them that God. Jesus was not concerned that money would lead to "moral decay"  but to the separation of one from God, because with money, one can apparently sustain oneself and thus would have no need for God to sustain them. In doing so, they conveniently forget the fact that it is God who provided the money and possessions in the first place. After Jesus fed the crowd of 5000 in John 6:26, just after this incedent, we read "Jesus answered them and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him." If Jesus was wanting to teach the people to share their food with everyone, then why does He condemn the people the following day for trying to find Him simply so He can feed them again? The fact is that Jesus was teaching the people that He is the "bread of life" that when eaten, will keep a man from being hungry again.

 Socialism is not the answer: it is a  system in which the government takes from the producers and gives to the lesser or non producers. Jesus' teachings are the exact opposite. Your excess is not taken FROM you against your will, but given BY you out of the love of your own heart to those in need and then only to those who cannot provide for themselves, unlike socialism which gives to all, including the sluggards. 

I believe we should keep God's word in our lives and lead by example. We should exclude politics from God's word and not try to justify our political views through his scriptures. I realize I too did the same thing with Ron Paul.  I came to my senses and I asked God for forgiveness for he is the only one I can hold on such a high standard. A politician is not the answer, for even if he/she was, man would find a way to destroy the politicians idealogy and make it corrupt.

"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits." - Jesus

Posted 10/31/08 rcariseo Jamesville, NY

Beautifully said.

Posted 10/31/08 Cosmo Coos Bay, OR

Our Constitution is rooted in Natural Law, as most all of the founding fathers were Deists or Christians. Social engineering is based on the opposing legal theory of positivism--the idea that rights are only what the mob grants to itself. Of course, as we have seen time and again, the mob is a headless beast that, if left to its own devices, usually decides to chase its tail. This is a very hard concept to grasp. Freedom, in the parlance of Natural Law, does not quite mean anarchy. It means the mutual acknowledgment of governing principles revealed to us by our Creator (whether you want to call it God, Mother Nature, Buddha, Allah, whatever) in the form of critical reasoning ability and awareness of our own mortality. I gotta run, but I will comment more on this later....

Posted 10/31/08 Andrew Sica Woodbury, CT

Bethany - great job getting your point across! Just a few comments/anecdotes: I'm glad you pointed out that American citizens elect to donate more money than any other country, by a pretty big margin. That's a strong point. In Western Europe, citizens generally don't give to charities - their government is making the choice and donation for them. It's amazing the extent socialism is seeped into their culture and the negative consequences it has even in the smallest cases! Here's a funny example: I was in Paris last year, and London the year before. You do not tip in their restaurants - it is built into the price of food as service people simply get a regular salary. This removes any control from the customer - and believe me, waiters in Paris are NOT like those in the U.S.! Without the threat of losing tip money they are rude, lazy and inefficient. The customer has no real recourse (except to get up and leave without paying). In addition, there is no pay separation for the great waiter or the below average waiter. In the U.S., a great waiter or waitress who exceeds his/her customer's needs will make far more money than a European waiter could ever pull in. A crappy server in the U.S. will soon be looking for another line of work that suits their abilities. Not in Europe. The crappy server will continue to work at a job they are not suited for, and will likely cost the restaurant business (it's not easy to fire someone - the government has their hands in that process heavily). I know thats a minor issues, but I've always felt it illustrates the effect socialism has in culture. Sure, there are great waiters/waitresses in Europe as well.... There are some people who will do their best - because it is the "right" thing to do, or perhaps they understand they have a vested interest in the restaurant succeeding. My views are slightly different than yours - I may be a little more on in the libertarian camp. I don't believe in an income tax at all - though the "fair tax" would be a huge improvement. I don't believe in any medicare, social security, etc.; I understand there are people on it who actually need it. I don't blame these people, they have been slaves to SS and Medicare taxes their entire lives - as have their employers, who were forced to pay another 8% SS on their employees behalf. That is money they could have saved and/or applied to private insurance for long term care, etc.! I believe we should get rid of these programs, but have a transitionary period whereby those over a certain age (say 50, just to throw a number out there) are allowed to keep their benefits; we shouldn't penalize those who were slaves to this system their entire lives and are now not capable of providing for themselves. The more we can remove the federal government from our lives, the more we will be able to exercise free will. Finally, I wanted to share this with you as I think you may appreciate it: my mother always used to tell me that "God helps those who help themselves". This is actually a quote from Ben Franklin I believe. Anyway, to me it means that people need to work hard and try to be successful. They need to take personal responsibility for the needs of their family, and for their actions. If your family is starving, don't sit around and blame God! If you want to pray for food in the morning, that's fine - but it's not going to magically appear! Get out and work for it, support your family. Good things will happen. Keep writing Bethany.

Posted 10/31/08 bethany458 Summerville, SC

I see a made a mistake in my blog about Ron Paul's stance on the fair tax. I believe he has suggested he would vote for it, but it is clear that he believes in very little tax and eliminating the IRS. I agree with the Ron Paul, but I think it will take time to get to this point so I am left compromising my stance in order to try to get our country to a crossroads where less tax and no IRS isn't such a far fetched idea.

Posted 02/26/09 Jp8triot Isle of Palms, SC

Good post. We are not experiencing a failure of Capitalism, but a failure of Gov't Interventionism.

Posted by bethany458 on 10/30/08
Last updated 10/30/08

A friend of mine wrote this article on why she is voting for Obama and how following the system of capitalism is immoral and un-Christian.  I don't know how to respond to her and I was interested in others thoughts on her stances.....Here is her essay:

 Thank you in advance for taking the time to read my thoughts. In such unprecedented times, it is so important to take the time to reflect on what we hear and read, and not just take it at face value. I encourage you to research and examine closely my thoughts and appeals, and to do the same to whatever other information you might come across…

My dear friends and family, My mind and heart are filled to overflowing, and I feel I am supposed to share with you my views of the decisive times in which we live. Decisive in that now is a crucial turning point for our nation, and together we will receive the leader that we deserve. Together, we will have to evaluate our priorities as a people, and decide if maybe the American Dream needs to change.

We claim to be a Christian nation, but have you ever asked yourself whether the American dream really echoes the heart of Jesus? When asked by a wealthy man what could be done to gain the Kingdom, Jesus told him to sell all he owned and give the money to the poor, then to follow him. How does this fit with the massive accumulation of wealth that is considered success in today's society? We are instructed to love our neighbors as ourselves, but we seem to think that this rule doesn't cross international borders. Ask yourself this question: why is there no outrage when our government bombs and kills Iraqis, but we would be completely outraged if our government slaughtered Americans? Are they less human than we? Are they less valuable in the eyes of God? When we look at the world, whether it is in the face of a child, or the cold eyes of our enemy, we can see the face of God. That makes any war a civil war, because we are fighting our brothers and sisters. Jesus told us to love our enemies, and bless those who persecute us. But instead we have waged unnecessary, unjustified, and immoral wars, all the while making the rich richer and the poor poorer. We use the old saying "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" to justify cutting funding for school breakfasts and welfare, and yet Christ told us that "whatever you do for the least of these, you do for me." The UN reported in 1992 that the disparity between the worlds’s richest and poorest has doubled since 1960. The wealthiest 20 percent of the world’s population receives 83 percent of the world’s income, while the poorest 20 percent receive only 2 percent! Today, the average American worker makes $7.39 per hour, while the average CEO makes $1,566.68 per hour, a difference of 212 times! We have all heard the saying “give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day, teach a man to fish, and he will eat for a lifetime”. The problem is that no one is asking “who controls the pond?” As we consider economics, some of us will give people fish, some will teach people to fish, but still others of us must ask who owns the pond and who polluted it, and we must storm that fence that has been built around that pond and make sure everyone can get to it, for there are enough fish for all of us. When Ghandi was asked about the supply of the world’s resources, he replied “there is enough for man’s need, but not for man’s greed.” The "trickle down" economy that the Republicans so often laud does not work, and time is running short to change the way we look at wealth. Our corporate interests have exploited the world's resources and abused workers the world over, all in the name of the almighty dollar. The time is over for millions to live in poverty so the few can live as they wish.

I have been struggling with the decision of who to vote for this year, though that may surprise many of you. Obama echoes many of my core beliefs, and I find my heart is closer to his, but there are also many things that I disagree with him on, and I wish we had a more outspoken advocate for the oppressed and impoverished on the ticket. The abortion issue is actually one that is close to my heart, and I consider myself pro-life. But I challenge you to think of it in a different way. Ask yourself this question: three years from now, under which president do you think we would have less abortions performed? Both candidates have stated that they would like less abortions to be performed, let's see how they aim to accomplish that mutual goal... McCain would seek to have Roe v. Wade reversed, but that would be a very difficult task, and may or may not be accomplished. His social policies would make things no easier and perhaps harder for poor and single moms, and he offers no support for women who would chose to have their babies. Obama, on the other hand, wants to put in place paid daycare, free early childhood education, and financial help for single moms in the form of large tax cuts and rebates that McCain only offers to the top earners and corporations in the country, hoping somehow it will eventually “trickle down” to those who truly need it. In addition, Obama supports making adoptions easier and allowing gay couples to adopt, something the right has opposed. As I have thought about it more and more, I have seen that the answer to abortion is not just making it illegal, which will only force women into back alleys and dangerous situations, but to change the culture into a true culture of life! This means respecting and supporting life in all its forms: from the unborn baby, to the single mom, to the inmate on death row, to our brothers and sisters in Iraq and Darfur. As long as we continue to see abortion as a legalistic problem, instead of a cultural problem, we will never have the courage to do what we need to do to stop it. Imagine if every single mom knew that she would not be judged, that she would be able to make it financially and emotionally because her society would care for her in the way Christ intended...do you still think there would be as many abortions? No woman makes that decision lightly, and given a real option, most would chose life. The solution is not just to make abortion illegal; the solution is to make it unnecessary. Compassion, not judgment or condemnation, is the key. There is a new movement in the earth, and love is the central tenant. Love, and people will see the Christ in you. Judge, and they will forever reject that same Christ.


Obama also said something during his acceptance speech last month that really sealed the deal for me. He said that we as a nation have forgotten that we are our brother's keeper, and that we need to get back to caring for the least among us. Although during the RNC the Republicans repeatedly mocked his beginnings as a community organizer, that is what this country desperately needs: people who are willing to sacrifice a little bit of the "American Dream" to reach out and form community with those whom others have judged and given up on. Our job as followers of Christ is not to tell others to “pull themselves up” or to condemn them for being where they are, our job is to love them where they are! As followers of Christ, our job is to give people grace…endless, scandalous grace. If one man is unredeemable and unworthy of grace, then we are all unredeemable and unworthy of grace. The sadness in me emanates from the fact that we shouldn't even have to have someone tell us this, let alone mock him for it; we should already be doing it because of our love for others! We have come so far from our roots where sacrifice and forgiveness was considered par for the course, and expected in order for all to gain. As Shane Claiborne says in his book Irresistible Revolution, "…everything in this world tries to pull us away from community, pushes us to choose ourselves over others, to choose independence over interdependence, to chose great things over small things, to choose going fast alone over going far together.
"

I've also been thinking a lot lately about how our country determines the worth of people. It seems like we have become a nation that values people based on what they can contribute to society. Have a good job? Net worth above the median? You are a cherished member of society! Homeless? No family, friends, or job? You do not contribute, and so can be ignored and pushed aside to make way for those that do. When did we start looking at people like this, and what does it say about our values as a nation? How else can you explain so many poor, hungry and homeless among us? It is contradictory and hypocritical to say that we are a "culture of life" if we do not give that life intrinsic value, regardless of what you can provide for those around you. When we are stripped of everything we own, stripped of our possessions, job security, our homes, our brand name clothes, what are we left with? This is truly the great equalizer, as we see that we all have intrinsic value simply because we live. When you think about it, it is a good thing God doesn't have the same view. For what can we provide to God? Do we contribute somehow to His well-being? If He viewed us the same way we view those around us, we would be worthless to Him. It is time we started to look at our fellow human beings with a love and respect that need not be earned, but that exists regardless of what we are worth monetarily or whether or not we embody the "American Dream".


Unfortunately, it seems this devaluing of humanity is inextricably linked to the capitalist system we have in place in our country. By allowing those who cannot "produce" to suffer, and rewarding those who sacrifice their morals on the alter of money to flourish, we have put in place a system that determines human worth based on capital. (If you need evidence of that, just look at the mess our financial system is currently in, and whose side our government is on.) To really determine what our capitalist economy is based on, ask yourself this question: what would happen if tomorrow we all decided to live simply, to stop buying things we don't need with money we don't have, learned to rely on and depend on each other, and just live in community with those around us? Our nation as we know it would collapse. We have become a nation where we consume to survive and survive to consume.
Is this really the ragged, unsatisfying lifestyle we have chosen for ourselves, or has it been chosen for us by the overwhelming corporate structure that surrounds us on all sides?

Catholic Bishop Dom Helder Camara once said, "When I fed the hungry, they called me a saint. When I asked why people are hungry, they called me a communist." You may have lots of names for the view that I share: Marxist, populist, communist, socialist. Obama has said he wants to “spread the wealth”, and has been lampooned for it by the right. I ask you to discard the labels and ideas of years past, and open yourself up to a new movement. I ask you to go against everything that our society tells us and look beyond the trappings that we are told represent success. To imagine a world where we have community, where we look out for the least of these, and where we love one another with a heart wrenching love, where we see the spirit of God in everyone we meet, and so cannot turn anyone away. The capitalist system is rigged and immoral. When one man can work 40+ hours a week at a minimum wage job and never rise above the poverty line, and someone like Paris Hilton who just happened to be born into the right family can buy him 1000x over, something isn't right. Human beings are not variables in a cost-benefit analysis, and the system of capitalism, by definition, places them there. Human beings have innate worth b/c they are made in the image of God, and should not be valued according to what they can "produce", as capitalism does. Just out of curiosity, what type of government do you think Christ would have supported? The man who told people to "sell everything they have and give it to the poor"? In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus says that in the end we will be divided into two groups: those who cared for the poor, sick, hungry, and imprisoned masses, and those who "refused the least of these", and in so doing refused God. The early Christians taught that if a child starves while a Christian has extra food, that Christian is guilty of murder. Christ's teachings were full of redistribution; John the Baptist said that "Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none". How far have we come from this as a nation, yet we still claim to be a “Christian” nation! I want to make clear that this is a ground-up movement, and not a top-down movement. Once people experience the love for others that comes when you see everyone as a child of God, there will be no need for government to redistribute, as we will discover the true joy of doing it ourselves! As Will O’Brien of the Alternative Seminary says, “When we truly discover love, capitalism will not be possible and Marxism will not be necessary”.


Let me tell you what I long for:
I long for a nation where people are as interested in their neighbor as they are in the lives of the latest celebrity. I long for a nation that looks around and asks the tough questions, and does not fall back on dogma or rhetoric for answers. I long for a nation that no longer toils in misery to accumulate wealth at the expense of families. I long for a nation that reaches out not only to nations that can do something for us, but those who have nothing to give. I long for a nation of people willing to venture out of their comfort zone and commune with those less fortunate. I long for a nation where we respond to national tragedy not by “going shopping”, as Bush espoused, but by turning to each other for a renewed sense of hope and purpose. I long for a nation where health care is considered a right, not a privilege. I long for a nation that sees the reflected image of God in everyone, our friends and our enemies. I long for a nation where justice is served, where the minimum wage is a living wage, and the capitalist system takes a backseat to fairness and equality. I long for a nation where the ends do not justify the means, where the market does not get to decide what is ethical or moral.


And I am hopeful. I am hopeful because I believe that we all are made in the image of God, and that if we can only see through this lens, we cannot turn anyone away. I am hopeful because I live in a rebellious nation, made up of diverse groups of people who have a history of refusing to be controlled. Now is the time for us to step back and re-evaluate our foundational beliefs as a nation. I believe this is not only ideal, it is urgent and necessary. We cannot continue on in the direction we have been heading, for it is a dead end. We are the richest, most powerful nation on the face of the earth, and yet we are the most miserable. Rates of depression, suicide, and incarceration are higher here than in any other country on earth, merely a symptom of a materialistic, detached consumer culture gone mad. Now is the time for this rebellious nation to stand up and say that we will not be owned anymore. We will not be owned by our things, our debt, and our work. We will not be owned by the anxiety, hopelessness and fear that have become the norm in our country. Now is the time to turn to each other and form community, to learn to depend and rely on each other, and in so doing we will free ourselves from the paralyzing fear of failing to achieve the transparent and elusive "American Dream". The world is crying out for something new, something different. We can be that change. As Mother Theresa said, "We cannot do great things, we can only do small things with great love." And with this love, we can change the world.


This revolutionary new ideology is not something that can be legislated, but something that we must do every day, a conscious decision to embrace those who cannot help themselves, and to examine the motives behind our actions. And while this is not a top-down movement, but a ground-up movement, we can make our voices heard through the avenues we have in place as a democracy. If anything that I have said has intrigued or moved you, I urge you to re-examine your own values and priorities, and to take action in whatever way you can. Please be an active participant in our democracy, no matter who you vote for. As time winds down before this momentous decision that will shape the future of our nation, people have resorted to fear and smear tactics, saying that Obama is a secret Muslim, is not a US citizen, does not recite the pledge of allegiance, etc; all untrue and all appeals to the emotional reactions of nationalism, fear, and the comfort of the status quo. I say that the world can be different, and as God proclaims, if we can only be united, of one heart, one mind, one voice, nothing we can imagine can be kept from us (Genesis 11:6). I can tell you that while no candidate is perfect, my vote will go to Obama, because I believe his heart most closely echoes my own, and his vision of America and what she can be most closely resembles what I believe Christ would long for. I implore you to ask yourself these same questions before deciding who to support.


Peace and love,
Michelle "How can you say you love God, whom you cannot see, when you don't even love those around you that you can see?"

*If you are interested in reading an engaging and life-changing book, check out The IrresistibleRevolution, by Shane Claiborne, from which many of these quotes were taken.

Posted 10/30/08 Cosmo Coos Bay, OR

Your friend is right about the war and wrong about economics. Military imperialism is quite contrary to Christian ethics, and hopefully we can all agree on that. A main plank of Dr. Paul's platform is bringing our country's troops--who are also our country's fathers, sons, brothers, and husbands--to where they are needed and wanted: America. However, to claim that capitalism is contrary to Christian ethics is a little more complicated. People often use the quote "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and unto God what is God's," as proof that Jesus wanted us to submit to governmental tyranny over our livelihoods. But Jesus often spoke cryptically, as in His parables. So the question is, what did Jesus consider as "belonging to Caesar"? In my opinion (and that is all I or anyone can give), being the Son of God, Jesus considered God to have full dominion over the entire earth and everything in it; therefore, Jesus meant that Caesar was entitled to nothing. Nor was Jesus a pacifist; he famously drove money-changers from the temple, and was in fact an anti-imperial revolutionary. That is why Roman authorities were happy to have him dispatched on the pretense that it was the wish of the Jewish community at large. The problem with blaming today's economic problems--and the very real and tragic effect that such problems are having on America's workers--on free markets is that we don't have economic freedom in this country. That goes for not just "the wealthy," (meaning successful small business owners), but for the working poor, who also have no choice in the taxes they pay, whether or not they receive social services. Hank Paulson and his executive friends at Goldman Sachs (and Lehman Bros, Bear Stearns, et al) are not operating in a free market--they are the beneficiaries of corporate welfare that is the true, textbook definition of fascism. When massive corporations like GM, or entire industries like the energy, airline, and finance sectors are protected from "failure," i.e. competition, that is not a free market. That is simply the merger of state and corporate power, and protectionism at taxpayers' expense. The issue here is choice. Not the "choice" of killing babies, but the choice to decide how, when, and why you work and earn a living. God's greatest gift to us is our free will; the greatest gift we can give to God is to give it back to Him. If our will is taken from us, and our choices to act in any capacity are limited, then we are unable to truly serve God. The All-Powerful State cannot make anyone a good Christian, nor can it--nor should it--attempt to legislate into existence some politician's idea of a "Christian" state.The separation of Church and State is for the benefit of the Church, not the state. I hope that helps.

Posted 10/30/08 Andrew Sica Woodbury, CT

The separation of Church and State is for the benefit of its citizens as well. This country was founded to escape oppression - for liberty and freedom. The government should not oppress anyone, regardless of their beliefs, race, etc... Further, the government has no right to make its citizens wage slaves to pay for others. Those are roles best served by charity which people can (and do) volunteer to give to.