Monday, November 7, 2016

Politics. Hate. Love.

I’ve been alive through Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, & Barak Obama. I was of age to vote only during the last two Presidents so my historical context of how elections have gone is pretty short.

I don’t remember either of the Reagan elections. I remember that the guy who ran against the first Bush had a funny name but that’s about it. I recall my parents & grandparents watching Rush Limbaugh on television during the Clinton presidency. Since my life was in the middle of conservative western Pennsylvania, I was ingrained with such political leanings. I went to a community college in south western New York where most of the political leanings also were conservative but there was one professor I had that was overjoyed when Hillary Clinton won a seat in the Senate through New York as the Clinton’s moved out of the White House…no one else seemed to be particularly happy about it. Those early years of having attained voting age I did use my ability to do so & shaped by my limited worldview at that point & by my upbringing, I voted Republican.

My college years were during the Bush presidency, terrorist attacks, & war. Though even my time at a four year college was in a primarily conservative part of the country, I began to be shaped by experiences & the deepening of my faith which raised political questions. I wrestled with the life issue as a holistic one. While I remained opposed to abortion in general, I wondered how we could support war or the death penalty. Since taxes were now a reality for me, I did not like having money taken by the government yet I wanted to see the least of these taken care of (that also brought the question…where are the churches?). I don’t particularly understand the need for so many laws when common sense should dictate one to abide by the more simple ones but yet I’d see the lack of common sense in others warranting such laws. I grew up a hunter so I opposed the idea of taking away gun rights but I also realized it to be absurd as a hunter to carry a bazooka or machine gun.
I graduated the year Bush was re-elected. I voted Bush then as well. I was ignorant to the “third party” options of the time (I believe one was Nader) but could not find any reason to vote John Kerry. The man ran on a platform that he was not Bush and Bush was “WRONG” while never clearly explaining (by my view) what he would do differently. It seemed all these people who were for the war when the time came to take such action now would oppose it because they were not Bush. While they opposed the war, no other plan seemed to be in place so I went with what we had then figuring “stay the course” made sense.

I moved around during these next four years. I experienced more of my own life being shaped by those things around me. I started out working with churches (having one awful experience with a case of deception included) then added in some social service type work to make ends meet. Sometimes making ends meet was difficult but I would get by. I worked with those with disabilities. I worked with those in “treatment” detention facilities. I worked with those getting out of prison having sex offense convictions & were trying to start a new life. I worked amongst the least of these while really having little financially to separate myself from them. I cared for these people. The more I did this work, the more I worked in the churches…the more I embraced the call of the Gospel to Love God & others. The more I embraced this, the more it would influence my vote if I chose to make one.

When the time came for the next presidential election, I had come to live in Cincinnati, Ohio working in an interesting & diverse neighborhood. One with rich folks & poor folks…and of course a certain level of gentrification. I read the writings of Shane Claiborne, first Irresistible Revolution then Jesus For President. I found The Simple Way to be enticing as well as the lifestyle of members of mewithoutYou & the Psalters who seemed to live intentional community on donations, dumpster diving, & embracing an economy of "enough." There seemed to be revolution & even anarchy in their ways. I liked the ideas. I implemented some of it into my own “punk” way of living while also trying to pay back student loans that I owed. I found community with others who believed in this way. All this shaped my views in regards to politics in a way that wanted nothing to do with the establishment.

Many poor black folks attended the church that I worked with at the time in Cincinnati. Many of them were excited for the promised change from Barak Obama. I was torn for a while with this election. While the man said a lot of nice things, his platform embraced things I did not agree withsuch as big governmnet & abortion. On the otherside of the ticket was an old military veteran & a lady with a funny accent from Alaska. Did we really need more war? How do we care for the poor? Those questions remained in regard to the Republican ticket.

So…McCain & Palin vs Obama & Biden.

I guess it made sense. The first black presidential hopeful with youth to help win the young vote teamed up with an old establishment guy on one side and on the other an old established military guy teamed up with the first woman vice presidential hopeful also relatively young to help with the youth vote. As that election grew near, I began seeking an alternative because I did not want either of the mainstream options. I read an article by Derek Webb regarding voting & not voting. As I studied on my own I had many of the thoughts people are vocalizing in today’s scenario…is a third party vote a waste or does it put the more evil one in office? I called my friend Ross & discussed with him how to pick in this election (at the time it seemed hard...boy, to look back now how simple it was then). He is educated well in politics. He happened to be conservative. In college, we had many good discussions & seemed to agree a lot so I hoped he’d have some advice. He had the same issues I felt regarding the Republicans but hoped Ms. Palin would be a good option in the event that McCain didn’t survive the term. I ended up swallowing a bitter pill & voting Republican.

Well, Barak Obama won & people rejoiced around me. Folks bragged about putting the first black guy in office. Many spoke as though he was a Messiah. I was bothered by the idea so I wrote a blog t the time as I was more prone to do than I have been lately in which I stated that Mr. Obama was not my Messiah & not my President. I think if that were now, I’d probably have left that last part off. I think at the time, I was more or less writing from a place of anarchy & belief that what he did as President had little if anything to do with my life. I still feel that to be true but I likely would have been less harsh in my title if that blog were today.

I continued working in that church through the first couple years of the Obama presidency & lived in the neighborhood through his entire first term as well as working with the least of these. Mitt Romney came on the scene to oppose Obama for the next round. I felt pretty sure that no matter what, Obama would be winning his re-election bid. I did not find any part of me that could vote for either major party candidate. I did not take the time to research “third party” so I decided that time I would not vote. As I went into my overnight shift on election night, strangely in a hospital as my in home care client had been checked in, the news broke that Obama had won…people rejoiced. I felt indifference. I did not care either way because I did not see either option making a difference once again. I was in the process of moving to Pittsburgh during this time so really any vote I made in Cincinnati would not affect me as I would no longer be there.

I did not choose to vote again until this primary & now this presidential election. I have no regrets as I believe to vote or not to vote is a choice one can make for himself. No one should guilt another into voting nor who to vote for if they decide to vote. I decided to go ahead & vote this time around so I voted. I voted my conscience for those who I felt made the most sense to my worldview & how I would like to see things run.

I voted on a Pennsylvania ballot (I know, I know…I live in Chicago. I exploited a loophole I guess. Deal with it). On the Pennsylvania ballot it says it is a “Secret Ballot” so I am not going to say who I voted for as it is no one else’s business. Really, it’s no one else’s business whether I choose to vote at all but I did say I voted already so there’s that. You know I voted but you won’t know for who.
Once again, the mainstream parties gave options that I find repulsive…much more so than I recall ever being the case in the past. I find it strange to watch those who support either of these people as they attack each other, sometimes personally over their choice. Christians on both sides try to say their chosen candidate best exemplifies Christian virtues while I struggle to find any evidence of the fruit of the Spirit in either of them. When I’ve asked what evidence the supporters of either see, the responses never answer that but point to how they aren’t as bad at the other one or point to celebrity "Christian" endorsements as why they must be good Christians – celebrities who I would question their fruits as well if my opinion were to mean anything. Any further attempt to gain understanding seems to instead bring more anger & hatred from my Christian brothers & sisters who have pledged their allegiance to their chosen candidates. In some cases I decided to just shut up & try to avoid entangling myself in the matters of politics. In other cases, the bridges were burnt very quickly & appear that rebuilding may take time. Questioning these establishment mainstream candidates has brought ridicule, accosting, anger, resentment, & rejection. Respect lost. Friendships lost. Communication blocked.

It seems I am not the only one to have experience or see such deep divisions amongst us over this year’s politics. It seems to that those who believe in Love have a lot of work to do to pull us together in the aftermath of what this election process has brought. Thankfully, I have had encountered folks out there who were able to engage in reasonable discussion on these matters. They have chosen Love over hate. I know of one who is actively fasting & praying for the people of this nation in this time. I am very appreciative of him doing so.

I hope that we can still love one another even if our vote is for different people. There is good work yet to be done. We can still do it whether we politically agree or not. We are not the enemies of each other even if our viewpoints are different. Even if we want to think each other the enemy, Jesus calls for us to love our enemy. Regardless how you vote this time around…Love. Love your neighbors. Love your enemies. Don’t let the real enemy win by tearing us apart.

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Casting My Ballot