We’re in an election cycle here in the U.S., and this
Saturday is the Washington State Republican caucus. Election cycles make me truly appreciate no
having TV, as I get to avoid all of the sound bites ripped out of context and
vicious, manipulative attack ads. But, I
do feel that I have a civic duty to be an informed voter. Add to that my desire to have some idea of
what’s going on in the world, and you get my reasoning for listening to my
public radio station on my drive to work in the morning.
At the end of January, it struck me that I heard something
about Evangelical voters four out of five drives to work. Oh, and did I mention how long my commute is?
FIFTEEN MINUTES! Yes, I drive four miles
to work*. And four out of five days, I
hear something about the Evangelical voting bloc. This is NPR Morning Edition, and broadcast
across the U.S. The Pacific Northwest is
on the liberal side, and I often can’t help thinking how liberal people who
aren’t Christian hear news stories about the Evangelical political agenda. Am I glad that my fellow Christians are
taking their faith seriously and acting on what they believe? Yes. But the thing is, we’re voting for the
President of the United States, not the Pastor of the United States. By fighting politically to overturn Roe V
Wade and put defense of marriage acts on the ballot, I think we go wrong in two
ways. First, that’s trying to legislate
morality. Laws point out crimes or sin,
they don’t create righteousness. It’s a
heart change that is required, and no law is going to do that. (Check out Romans and Galatians.)
Second, how does that song go? “They’ll know we are
Christians by our Super PACs, by our Super PACS”? No, we’re to be known for our love. What I hear on NPR does not paint Evangelicals
as loving. You may claim that NPR has a
slant against Christians. I think,
whether or not that’s true, it’s besides the point, since Christians seem to be
giving NPR plenty of fodder for that supposed slant! What if, instead of giving campaign
contributions to the candidate that could shibboleth the best, saying what he
knows a block of voters what to hear—we instead individually looked for ways to
live out our beliefs with that money.
Example: You believe
that abortion is horribly wrong. Instead
of giving money to a ballot measure restricting access to abortions, which is
one step in the political game of getting it before the Supreme Court again,
volunteer at a crisis pregnancy center.
Be involved with your kids, be those parents that other kids will seek
out and talk to. If there is a teen mom-to-be
in your kids’ high school, and her parents kick her out, take her in. Pay her medical bills. Maybe you should adopt. Or fund someone else’s adoption process. Maybe if we each lived intentionally, acting
on our beliefs in ways that cost us personally, maybe the news would have a 125%
increase in the adoption rate to report on, instead of another protest at an
abortion clinic.
As Saturday approaches, consider, “To caucus or not to
caucus? Whether ‘tis nobler to suffer
the slings and arrows of outrageous political pundits, or to take arms against
the sea of political apathy.” But also
consider how you personally should put your beliefs into practice.
[If you do want to caucus, it’s this Saturday from 10am, to
about noon, and they recommend you get there at 9:30am to register, with your
voter registration card. You have to go
to your caucus precinct, which you can look up here: http://wsrpcaucus.tumblr.com/caucuslocator . I’m
still undecided if I’m going.]
*[I know, that’s a silly distance to drive. But I’m not hard
core enough to bike in the rainy winters here in the Pacific Northwest.]
