Election Concerns

OK, I've avoided getting political with the impending national election until now. I have forwarded some emails to family and friends that pretty clearly identify me with a certain campaign. Most already know my preference among the canditates for president and vice-president. I have a McCain/Palin sign in my yard and stickers on our two vehicles. The fact that I am a diehard Reagan conservative is well-known by most who know me very well. But as a pastor of a congregation I do try to respect the fact that there are differing political views among Christians that have nothing to do with their faith or my proclamation of the Gospel. I will not and I cannot preach according to my political or candidate preferences although I have no compunction against the same about matters of moral conviction. I will and have preached and taught against abortion, gay marriage and homosexual preference as much as against sexual perversion or marital unfaithfulness, lying, stealing and murder. These are issues for which clear biblical inference and application can be made and fall clearly within my pastoral responsibilities.

But I am concerned enough about the outcome of next week's election that I am compelled to address the reasons why I am convinced this is the most critical determination American voters will make in my lifetime. This is not only a political issue, but I believe it is a religious one as well. Why might I say that even though the protections in our constitution and the rule of law in our society seem as adequate as they have ever been to assure a reasonable result with qualified legitimate winners representative of a democratically chosen government?

My problem is not with the process per se, but with the electorate itself. We live in what is called the "information age." One might think that this assures a positive outcome. Never before in history has there been such access to ubiquitous information as we have in our day. But with it also come the greatest opportunity for spin and subtle manipulation ever seen. And the main concern I have is how misled and deceived voters of all ages and interests can become via advertising, political speech and constant repitition of mantras intended to evoke an intended response. Talk about tax cuts for the middle class instead of for the rich, universal health care and spreading the wealth as if these are panaceas for our social problems are obscuring the real concern of electing a president empowered by an unchecked Legislature that will consider itself licensed to remake our nation in their own image.

The fear I have which is shared by many of my political persuasion is that we begin down the slippery slope where government again becomes supreme in its own eyes of being omnipotent, omniscient, beneficient to all and the final authority in all matters of life and purpose. This is a return to the ideal of pagan cultures of the past, a world in which Christiandom and the Reformation have delivered us culminating in a kind of government unique in the annals of history advocating freedom from tyranny and opportunity for all.

I am not completely satisified with John McCain's political views and have my own concerns about his potential administration. I do favor his desire to end our wars in the Middle East with victory, but I do worry about his desire to find compromise with those "across the aisle" and what that may lead to. But in terms of his commitment regarding judicial appointments and his economic principles and his commitment to maintaining American values and security in international affairs, I believe our future will be safer for Christian values and our purposes for the expansion of the Gospel with his administration.