Not My Messiah; Not My President

Upon this Inauguration, as with every other during my 28 years of existence, I will go about my day as if it were any other day.  It is a Tuesday and I will work my shift at my job and in the evening I may catch a movie or I might edit some video from one of the five or so film projects I have saved on the hard drive.  This will be the sixth Inauguration and the third in which I took part in the electoral process.  I never paid attention to this spectacle any other year and other than what I have learned from the news, I won't be paying much attention this year either.  I was usually in school and the last time around I missed due to work as I will this year (and had I been given the day off I'd enjoy sleeping in or something else unproductive).  I can’t say I had any real desire to see this nor did I have any reason that I would not see it either; it just doesn’t matter much to me (though I find it outrageous that this event will cost nearly $200 million considering that we are led to believe the economy is in extremely dire shape).

In the years through 2004 when I voted I didn’t necessarily take much time to be informed.  I was allowed by the law to start voting in 1998.  The times that I did vote, I voted Republican because I grew up in a Republican home (if I did not vote Republican is what for whoever my mother was telling me I should vote for).  I never really looked at any of the issues and all that seemed to matter to me was abortion and gun rights.

My mom seems rather informed politically but I’m not so sure about my father; he was upset that when I studied under the “Liberal Arts” program at community college, fearful I would become a liberal I suppose.  My mom had to explain that the liberal of Liberal Arts was not necessarily of the political nature (of course it seems that the politically liberal mindset was presented to me during my college years but more so at Mount Vernon than community college).

I voted for George Bush in 2000 and any election I voted in prior or after through 2004 I voted generally within the Republican ticket.  In 2004 I was a bit more aware of the issues but it seemed that the alternative to Bush was a man who had nothing to say, no plan of action, and whose only quality of note apparently was that he was not Bush.  I knew of the existence of Ralph Nader but nothing really beyond that.  The decision as I understood it was quite simple to vote yet again for Bush.

After 2004, things seemed to become much less black and white but very gray.  It was difficult for me to see much worth in war yet I would not attend the protests because I held nothing against those people who chose (or didn't chose but ended up) in a career in the military.  I have friends who choose to join the ranks of the military.  I believe those who choose this lifestyle deserve the respect that anyone does even when we do not agree with the cause.  The ones that did not choose but felt pressure to join due to economic reasons though deserve other options (and of course if they still choose the military then so be it).  I believe that Bush made decisions in regards to the war that were not easy decisions though they may not have been the best choice.  Would I want that responsibility? No.  One area where I feel Bush was in error was bringing religion into these wars.  I believe this was a very dangerous thing to do and may have caused this war to possibly been more deadly and destructive (not that war by nature is not deadly or destructive).  I personally, do not like war nor would I want any part of the war.  I do not feel that violence, including war, can rid the world of evil since violence in itself seems to be an expression of evil through the destruction and death that comes of it.  In saying this, I don’t necessarily see a problem in defending oneself against evil.

Gun ownership has always been a big issue for those like my family.  We are hunters and own a number of guns for the purpose of shooting these creatures to eat for dinner (this is true of those in my family...I am not speaking of all hunters...especially not those who kill just for sport and do not use the creature for more than a trophy).  Due to this, I have always voted based on the right to continue in this lifestyle.  Having since moved to the city where gun violence is an issue, I have come to find myself conflicted.  I still believe that the hunters should certainly be allowed to have the rights to gun ownership we have held since the establishment of the United States and the writing of the Constitution with its Bill of Rights.  Basically, those who have followed the laws of this land should have that privilege as given in the Bill of Rights (though the wording of that particular article can cause controversy on what exactly the right entails).  The gun violence typically comes from those who are not abiding by the laws therefore violating the Bill of Rights anyway and should not have guns.  I am not that convinced those of us that are law abiding citizens necessarily need to have guns in the urban setting either.  I feel, though with the best intentions to protect oneself, that needless death still may come from law-abiding yet trigger-happy gun owners.  So where does that leave me when voting on the gun issue?  I think I will probably continue to be one who would defend the articles of the Bill of Rights as they are written, including that regarding the bearing of arms, as I have all along and I would vote against any amendment presented to limit this right.

Abortion and family values are important to me and are issues I consider when voting.  The abortion issue is a bit limited though when it comes to my belief in the sanctity of life.  Life is sacred from conception to death.  Therefore, I oppose abortion and believe that we should do more to support those in the hard situations caused by unwanted pregnancies such as be more open to adoption.  Abortion should never be used for the sake of convenience.  I do not believe that to be responsible at all.  Anyone knows how a pregnancy occurs and if they cannot control their urges that should not give them the right to end a life.  I oppose the death penalty.  I was in a discussion that could have been much longer with someone once about this.  They believe the death penalty is biblically mandated.  I suppose if you take the law as written in ancient Hebrews time then it is in fact biblically mandated.  Of course those who want to uphold that ancient law should also uphold the entirety of that law and I know for a fact this person has not done so and therefore is guilty and under the death penalty themselves just as I am as well as all humanity (thank God for grace and sending Christ into the world to save it).  I oppose the death penalty because Christ showed a better way of forgiveness when he did not stone the adulterous women for her sin when he was without sin.  I oppose the death penalty because I do not believe this nation is a Christian nation (though loosely founded on basic biblical principles no longer held close to heart of politicians or lawmakers as a whole) nor do I believe that our human judges are god and cannot carry the responsibility to decide who should live or die.  I oppose war as it deals death to not only the evil doers (to coin the popular Bush phrase) but also to the innocent/victims of these other nations we consider evil.  Though I oppose the war, I also oppose leaving a country, like Iraq, in a mess after military occupation as I believe would be the case if we were to leave tomorrow nor do I think a timetable needs to be announced for reasons presented by Mr. McCain in his campaign as it would just give the so called evildoers a timetable to plan their evil deeds.

Environmentally, I think that doing everything we can to preserve the world created for our inhabitation and use is important.  I have noticed through the last several years that many Christians seem very opposed to the ideas of environmentalist.  I cannot say what truth there is in the Al Gore (amongst others) propaganda about Global Warming but regardless of that should we not look for ways to protect this planet?  Should we also not look for fuel alternatives for the purpose of not only cutting down on pollution but on dependence on nations that (as McCain would say) don’t like us much?  It seems that Christians should be the first to step up in the ideas of environmental conservation, as this seems to be a biblical mandate from the time God created man to care for the earth.

Since 2004, my ideology in these areas became more clear to me and thus my support for one party is no longer possible as neither of the two major parties support all of these concepts.  I can say I became somewhat liberal in my desire to see social action taken to help the poor but I do not believe that we should necessarily expect this to be the government’s job.  I believe that it is the Christ followers that should absolutely be first to not only call for social action but to take social action.  The government is certainly also welcome to take part in this (as they should take part in helping society but the problem with government is it seems to like to take over control then regulate) but I don’t look to them to be the savior.  As followers of Christ (who is the Savior) shouldn’t we be the ones to embody Christ in these times?

I remained with my conservative roots in family values and life (though I take it further it seems that the traditional pro life movement has gone) and I believe all life is valued at all ages.  I will vote conservatively when it comes to the issue of gun rights because I do not believe voting that way means those bringing violence to the streets are those that this right protects therefore it should not cause a rise in violence…if anything it should cause decline.

I believe I have come to understand what conservative government means a lot more clearly than before.  Government should be limited in its power.  I believe this because I believe that was the intention of those who founded the United States and were the original writers of the Constitution, after all, those who left Europe to begin a new settlement in America did so to get out from under the oppression of the old government.  I believe that currently the government of this nation is much too powerful and is hungry for more.  

I did not vote after 2004 until the primary election in the spring of 2008.  I did not vote because I was not informed of those candidates and issues on the ballots where I lived in those years.  I did my best in 2008 to be informed prior to voting on both the issues and the candidates locally, statewide, and nationally.  I found it very difficult to make a decision when it came time to vote for the President this past November.  Early on I knew I would not vote Democrat but I also was not that happy with the choice on the Republican ticket (oh why could Ron Paul not have won the nomination and simplified things?).  I watched the debates hoping that my mind could be changed but I did not hear a thing from the Presidential candidates that I didn’t hear already in the mudslinging campaign ads (this method bothers me and caused me to not care at all about the 2006 election which I knew the likely outcome anyway).  It was in the Vice Presidential campaign I finally heard something that I was hoping to hear.  Sarah Palin made several statements about the government stepping aside and letting citizens live their lives.  This is what pretty much made me vote in favor of her (not in favor of Mr. McCain).  It wasn’t until I went in the booth that I was completely convinced I would vote this way, as there was a conflict within me.  I researched all the independents and lesser parties prior to voting and many of them I wrote off rather quickly as it was very apparent I would not vote for them because they were not at all embodying things that I feel are worthy.  I came to a decision to either vote Republican or vote Libertarian or Constitutional (Libertarian and Constitutional were essentially the same though one took an official stand on the sanctity of life where the other did not though I suppose it was understood).  I agree with these two lesser parties because they support cutting the government back to what it is meant to be.  Citizens would again be free from oppressive laws, after all, was that not the original American dream?

I spoke at length with my friend, Ross, (who is much more knowledgeable on politics than I am) about the fact that these particular lesser parties embody my views more so than either major party yet would it be a wasted vote to show my support in such principles.  Ross and I felt the same that we like much of what we saw in Sarah Palin (at least more so than many other Republicans and especially McCain).  So I voted Republican though part of me did not want to.

In some of my reading lately I have been digesting Jesus For President by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw (I recommend this book to anyone).  In this book, I have read to the section where examples are given of people living out Christ in these days.  Despite whoever is president of this nation my allegiance will remain in my Messiah.  I no longer pledge my allegiance to America (or its flag) and haven’t done so for quite some time (I actually tend to avoid the National Anthem at sporting events respectfully).  I do not write any of this as a call to anarchy; though I have that view to a certain degree I am not trying to be a revolutionary or leader of some sort of movement.  I felt the need to write my reasons why it does not matter to me who is taking office of the President.  I do not believe it will affect me anyway.  Throughout the book of Jesus For President it is made clear that Christ’s followers were not meant to be endorsed by or part of the empire (Rome or America) but to be a peculiar people living in this world but not of it.  That is what I am trying to do in my life and in my community amongst my family and friends.  I will not actively go out to tear down this establishment necessarily but if my faith in Christ is in conflict with any laws of this land then following those laws will come second to my faith.

At this point Christianity can be lived in America for the most part without persecution.  In fact, it is protected by the Bill of Rights along with any other religion one might choose.  I do not believe it will always be that way.  I know of a situation where the American government has attempted to interfere with the pro life march event that coincides with this year's Martin Luther King and Inauguration festivities (one particular group, Stand True, remains steadfast in their efforts to spread their message that life is a sacred God given gift but their freedom of expression is being restricted and thus the Bill of Rights are not being upheld by a government that has become too powerful).  It seems when it is persecuted, true Christian faith comes to life and maybe along with it the miracles that seem lost in this modern society that seems to act as though it doesn't need God.  I often wonder if my faith is anywhere near as strong as it needs to be, as it is not tested in the way those persecuted have been (and how much faith is that of a mustard seed?).  I do believe though and I do try to live my life for Christ in everything I do.  I fail unfortunately much more than I should but I try again and persevere.  I live my life by biblical principles and whatever happens in America or the world will not change that.  I wish that was the case with all Christians but it seems to be that few are willing to separate from the false security of the empire that has tamed this faith.

So why was I opposed to voting for the Democratic Party and Barack Obama?  It has nothing at all to do with race (and I hope if you really read what I wrote so far you would find this to be true).  I was opposed Obama because I do not see a real leader in the man though he does speak awfully convincingly (yet I noticed that there are a lot of umms and uhhs when he speaks).  The sounds and utterances that become our American English language are great but what matters most to me is action and that is something I have not seen much of from Obama (though I sincerely hope now that he is President he will do good work).  I do not believe he can fulfill many of his promises.  I have a big problem with his extreme stand when it comes to keeping abortion legal (I do not understand how I can vote for someone with such an extreme view and was a bit thankful he had other positions I disagreed with so I would not feel it was all about a single issue). Voting records fall into what I mean by action meaning more than the words one speaks and though Obama says that no one is for abortion his voting record showed that he (and others) are in fact for abortion to a very dangerous extreme.  I disagree with the big government (with its naturally higher taxes) he and Democrats seem to support where we, the citizens, apparently are not able to make decisions for ourselves.  In saying all this I did not support McCain either (remember I already wrote that my vote was in favor of Palin).  I agreed with his pro life stand but I oppose his appearance of being very war hungry and his support of a big government as well (bailouts of businesses will not solve an economic emergency and only leads to more government involvement in our lives but I suppose I should be grateful for the economic stimulus checks where my tax money is returned to me  for me to essentially give it right back to them).  If Democrats could be a people of social action without advocating big government (I have been wondering for some time why the rocknroll culture is so enamored with the Democratic Party that advocates big government when rocknroll, specifically the punk subculture, was an antiestablishment movement fueled by anarchist sentiment) and abortion then I would certainly be more likely to want to vote in their favor (for the record some of the local offices that I voted for in 2008 I voted for this type of Democrat). 

It is nice that a racial barrier has been broken with the election of President Obama.  The young black males in my community have found a renewed sense of hope of becoming something more than a gang member or drug dealer in seeing President Obama take office.  This is a hope that is necessary and one that we are glad to see.  Many of these kids talk of athletes and rappers as their role models.  Unfortunately, there do not appear to be too many good adult male role models that are black in my community.

Some people, it seems, voted based on being part of history of electing someone who isn't an old white guy. As important as breaking that barrier is, I do not believe that race, color, or sex should be the deciding reason to vote for someone.  For anyone that did vote based solely on that fact (and I hope that was a small percentage of the population but I know there were at least some) I hope he or she votes on the issues and qualifications at stake in four years with whoever ends up being our choices.

Yesterday was Martin Luther King Day where equality is celebrated and this year there has been a lot of emphasis placed on the Inauguration of President Obama.  There are certainly still equality issues to be resolved in America and to many, this election has been a big step in righting some wrongs.  Equality is something I believe in but not at the cost of taking rights away from another group of people.  Equality comes with freedom for all and unity; not from the oppression of anyone.

I have respect for President Bush.  He is a human being that did the things he did because he believed them to be the right things to do.  He had many difficult decisions to make and he made them, right or wrong.  I wish him well now that he is done.  I am sure he is happy to no longer have to deal with the pressure of that office.  Unlike President Bush, I do not have unfailing faith in America but in God.  America has been a fine empire but it is still an empire, a man-made establishment that cannot last forever.

To President Obama I wish my best and hope his presidency is successful as human success is measured. I hope the fears of politically conservative are unfounded and he does not fulfill the promises he made to the pro-choice community.  I hope he does not create the big government it appears he is planning and in the event he does not succeed I hope he does not leave things any messier than they already are.  President Obama has his chance now to prove himself worthy of the Presidency and there is a large Democratic majority.  I do not think this is the best situation since this form of government should be representative of all (and this is why I hope that parties other than Democrat and Republican will one day have a chance).  At the same time, the blame should no longer be placed on the Republicans when problems occur for at least a few years (a side note:  since 2006, the Democrat majority Congress did nothing of worth and had such a low approval rating that it seemed quite absurd that people voted in more Democrats).

When Barack Obama was elected it was as if America found its Messiah.  It seems many think he will be a savior.  Personally I have one Messiah who is embodied within my soul and walked this earth around 2000 years ago (yet lives eternally) to be the example of love that God intended to show the world through the Hebrews who were to follow the God given laws but failed to do so.  My Messiah is the Savior of All and the servant of all.  My Messiah is bigger than America and bigger than a presidency.  It is bigger than the American Dream…a dream that no longer appeals to me if it even exists at all.

This election, for the first time, I did not cast a winning vote.  In the coming years, I will continue to vote and do my best to be informed.  I will cast votes that reflect my principles and beliefs but no election results, candidate, or issues will change my life.

My allegiance is to a King and Kingdom not of this world therefore my apologies President Obama and President Bush (and Clinton, Bush, and Reagan in my lifetime and the 39 before) but you are no longer my President; you certainly are not my messiah.