Come, Let us Reason Together, Christian Right and Left

I received a mass e-mail today about the imminent doom of our country in the light of Obama's possible election. The tenor of the e-mail was essentially to dispel any Christian's doubt that God was in control and to embolden them to pray for John McCain and Sarah Palin during these last days, because it is not over yet and all true believers should not give up hope. The underlying implication of everything that was said in the e-mail is so typical of many of these e-mails I get, with fear being the overarching theme. I have spoken with several people during the past few days (and over the course of this entire election) and that is always the primary feature of their objections against Obama.

I was, of course, tempted to hit "Reply all" and ask them not to send me any more political e-mails, since they assumed we were like-minded, but I decided not to, because my thought is that it would only create an unneeded wall between me and them, which I do not need to occur, since I work with these individuals everyday. Besides all of this, I am really trying to be more patient with people, and God has convinced me lately of my need to be more of a peacemaker. I understand, also, that blogs are generally public, so at times what we write will be misunderstood, taken out of context, or hated by those with whom we disagree, and I do understand these to be understandable inevitabilities of the world in which we live.

Having said all of this, I want to say that I am not against anyone who wants to vote for McCain and Palin. In fact, I do understand why many would vote for these candidates out of a moral obligation and I honestly do respect that (since I have been on this side of the fence and have thought this way before and have been around many like this my whole life). There are many things about McCain that I do like, as I have said in other postings, such as his military service to this country and his position as a US senator. I even respect and support some of his ideas, such as his support of a balanced budget amendment and his support (in light of much "Christian" opposition) of many green and environmentally-friendly policies. Furthermore, I think there is much value in some of the Republican economic policies, because I do think that a free market generally speaking is a good thing (I say this generally, because I think corporate greed and labor hardships bear the necessity for government to guide or direct or intervene). I do agree with his voting positions against abortion, as well.

I say all of that to communicate that I am not speaking without hearing a matter, which I think would contradict my faith in Christ, but am fully aware of the policies of each candidate. I have not been brain-washed by a liberal media, since I am quite certain that there is a massive amount of conservative media out there, as well (check out Fox News, Lou Dobbs and several other shows of CNN, all of talk radio pretty much anywhere, internet sites and videos and propaganda, and church and Christian media if you doubt this). These decisions have come out of a need for our country to be what it was supposed to be- a free society of free thinkers who are not intimidated by doomsday fearmongers, but who live their lives in hope of a better tomorrow. I am a follower of Jesus Christ and I do believe that the Bible is God’s Word for us today and my family is trying to live the way of Christ. And we do have strong, religious beliefs that have not just been handed off to us without scrutiny or examination or thoughtfulness.

My point in this is to say that when I voted for Obama two days ago in the voting booth I voted based on who I thought was better for our country as a whole, and this thought and belief was not absolute, as one would believe in a fundamental teaching, but was very subjective. It was subjective to my thoughts and feelings and understanding and experiences and bias, just as others were voting based on theirs. In other words, I did the best I could with the information I had, and I prayed that God would sanctify what I did for His glory, and I really do believe He will…no matter who wins the election.

This, in essence, is my biggest frustration in this campaign: the failure of the Christian right to acknowledge any possibility of their being wrong and the promotion of their candidate as not just the best choice, but the only choice, and the direct assault on anyone who would think or vote otherwise. In the same vein as the Right I also feel like this election is important and the reasons I have for this are very close to what I feel is the heart of Christ. I could be wrong, but these are my beliefs, and I don’t think I should be demonized or attacked for those, but respected.

I know some will become frantic at this point and question the genuineness of what I am saying, and perhaps even question my faith, because their rationale can only be the right way of looking at things and of course God is on their side. With this I return to the e-mail I got earlier today, because in it were listed moral issues on which McCain and Palin are standing up for and they read like this: “abortion, homosexuality, etc”. I thought “wow” that etc looms really large, because these seem to be the two biggest issues to the Christian right, and they are so minuscule when you consider some of the other ones, such as: American soldiers fighting an endless and profligate war in Iraq, enemy detainees being tortured for the sake of information, innocent civilians being murdered in Afghanistan, poor Americans not being able to get basic health care, our national reputation being besmirched by a unilateral view of things, as opposed to a community mindset, and an incessant ignoring of the global warming crisis (which is now acknowledged internationally and nationally by a majority of scientists and is fully a biblical mandate from Genesis 2 to take care of the earth/garden).

My mention of these issues doesn’t mean that they are the only ones, but they do loom large on the horizon of the days ahead. Let me make two clarifying comments about the two issues mentioned above, however. I believe abortion is not God’s best or his plan and I believe that we should fight against it, as well as the environment that makes this decision easier. I don’t say this to excuse those who make the decision to abort any more than one’s suggestion to examine a city’s high crime rate makes way for justification of the criminals. When something goes awry, we should seek to understand why it happens, so that we can understand ways to fix it or at least reduce it. I do not believe the Republicans have done much in the way of helping the pro-life movement with regards to the number of abortions and I think that statistics accentuate this argument, and my vote reflects my belief that Obama will. I know many Christians disagree with this, and that is perfectly fine, but understand that I am aware of the issues and I have made this decision as a way (not THE ONLY way) to communicate my beliefs against abortion. Calling me stupid or even ignorant won’t accomplish what you are probably praying for: for me to see the light and for Christ to save me from my liberal mind-set.

Finally, I believe that marriage was ordained by God to be between a man and a woman. I also believe that ideally (I say ideally because I have not been true to this ideal myself) sex should be during and not before one gets married to their partner. Those who choose not to live under these two moral and Christian convictions I should still love and seek to connect to Jesus Christ. Passing a law to keep them adherent to my Christian belief doesn’t seem to be fully consistent with the whole separation of church and state concept although I am sure I could be incorrect in my assessment. I do, also, think that we should love our homosexual brothers and sisters and being in favor of their civil rights (such as insurance benefits and rights to visit one another in hospitals) is just exactly that- civil and humane and (I think) Christ-honoring. Why should this one area of morality be legislated, though, and not others? This, as well as many other issues, seems to miss the point of Christianity, which is not about a list of rules and regulations, but an interactive relationship with Christ in which we are inviting (not mandating) others to become a part of his rule.

I am sure that these words are not perfect and I am sure that my reasoning misses the point or even perhaps skews some of the bigger issues, but these thoughts are from someone who is trying to find the way of Christ in my own life, as well as my family’s life. Before someone sprints to conclusions, what I mean by that is that there is a sense in which Christ has rescued me from my sin and selfishness by his death and resurrection, but there is another sense in which I am continuing to be rescued from sin and selfishness and pride and a sense of having all the answers. The world in which we live is not only very difficult, but it is very complicated, and its problems complex. I wish that issues and problems we face were more cut and dry, but I don’t believe they are. My prayer is that what has been said and voted for, however, will be done not in fear for what some other candidate will or won’t do, but for hope that this is our Father’s world and He is sovereign in its affairs, as his work in King Cyrus and King Nebuchadnezzar bears out. And if Obama is the Anti-Christ (I have to laugh here), then most right-wing Christians should be glad, because they allegedly won’t be here to deal with all of his devastation, but will be raptured away to heaven. If so, then please pray for me that I will not take the mark of the beast. But, in the meantime, make sure we are fulfilling 1Timothy 2 in praying for our president and leaders no matter who they are. My name is Jason Grizzard and I approved this message.

Why I Will Vote for Obama

I must admit my patience is beginning to wean a bit with right-wing, Christian conservatism. If anyone is confused about how I could be frustrated at such a movement, then please feel free to read the article about the Christian Right attacking Obama: Christian right steps up attacks on Obama - Barack Obama News- msnbc.com.

I will vote for Obama this year not as the less of two evils, or not because I am trying to do the opposite of what many followers of Christ (I no longer say most, because I believe there are a lot of progressive, young thinkers who will actually read and stay current on what is going on enough to be able to decipher through all of the Christian, Rush Limbaugh garbage) do. But, I will vote for Obama this year as a way of expressing how pissed off I am at the incessant failings of the Republican ideologies and how short the rants against abortion and homosexual marriage have fallen.

For example, any intelligently informed individual can see that the Republicans have failed to lead the way in social justice in our country. As a chaplain to many homeless, I am infuriated at the notion that all or most of homeless people are lazy or stupid. I listen to their stories everyday and it begins to frustrate me when people make mindless comments about them or those who are supported by government benefits. I am sorry if a person who grows up in generational poverty is tempted with crack and marijuana when they are 12 and don’t have the decisiveness to say no, and become a product of the system that we all hate. I guess we should just shut off all of the benefits to these people and say, “Get with it”, just like we allegedly had to. I think it is a moral crisis for the Christians in our country to be pissed off at our welfare program not doing enough to make people work, when they are not doing enough to offset it with programs and generosity to aid people. I think many of the so-called bible belt of the US has become enamored with its diamond belt buckle and pretty much ignored the poor who live right under their noses. Why is it that the prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures and Jesus Christ Himself spoke more about greed and selfishness and oppression of the poor than they did anything else? Perhaps it is because God is concerned about social justice, but when Republicans talk about things like this, their concern is never helping and relieving the plight of the poor; it is only griping about how the poor has received too much from the government. This brings me to my next point.

Abortion in this nation is an epidemic that I don’t believe anyone in this country wants, even the so-called Anti-Christ Obama. Despite what misinformation circulates about this issue regarding this (and I have read quite a bit), Obama is against partial-birth abortions and late-term abortions, which I think we can all agree morally are clearly wrong. The exception he makes is an exception I would make which is if the life of the mother is in danger. What is constructive, however, is an open conversation about solutions to reduce the number of abortions, since in many cases this is not black and white. One conservative blogger wrote the other day that this would be a ridiculous proposal, and compared this issue with that of slavery. He surmised how absurd it would have been if people in favor of abolishing slavery would have cooperated those who were only interested in reducing the number of slaves. Really? Comparing a not fully developed human living inside of his or her mother with the value of a life outside of the womb? This doesn’t seem to be congruent with what people really think, unless we really do believe it is the exact same thing as murdering a fully developed person and a mother who commits an abortion should either be put to death through lethal injection or live out the entirety of her life in prison, regardless of whether she was raped by a family member or not. I don’t mean to say that I don’t think abortion is unimportant, because I profoundly do, but I think this issue has been clouded by an either-or polarization from the right and the left, but it does seem that many on the left are at least willing to talk about dealing with some of the symptoms that lead to abortions, which ironically would be poverty and poor education. The Republicans are very concerned with providing good vouchers for our middle-class families to be able to go to good schools while at the same time saying “to hell with the public school system”. What would be good is if we came to the agreement that we want to eliminate national poverty (as well as global) and improve our school systems. That is not to say we want to teach Christianity (or at least our form of it) in the public school system, but to say we want to provide our kids with the best and most fully comprehensive education available to them in today’s world, as well as talking to them about alternatives to unprotected sex (abstinence, yes, but contraceptives also). This also brings up another issue: health care.

When are we going to get past the rhetoric of “socialized medicine” and realize that all human beings (even children of dead-beat parents) deserve to have good health care? Never mind that they will take it for granted or not be grateful; they should have that opportunity as image-bearers of God. Did not Jesus heal people medically who were ungrateful (remember the story of the 10 lepers)? I think it is a tragedy that 46 million people in the richest country in the world do not have health care. Many of those are not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid, but they don’t make enough to purchase good insurance. Even many who have insurance possess deductibles that are out of the roof financially and may only receive benefits if they incur a sickness that exceeds $10,000.00 or greater. And the reason this is connected to the abortion issue is that the number 1 reason why women get abortions is that they can’t afford to raise another kid.

Forgive me for seeming to be irritated, but the Christians who are attacking Obama have really worn me out. It would be nice if Christians would hold to the model in Romans 14 and truly vote their conscience while at the same time believing that it is possible for others who vote their conscience to disagree with them. Sadly, instead those who are not married to their right-wing, ultra-conservative, this-is-the-only-way-to-look-at-this, perspective are demonized by the right and made out to be unchristian. It would be nice if there was actually a country where people can respectfully disagree instead of being so alarmist about everything by painting the other candidate as the anti-Christ. I know there are those who will read this perhaps and look past all of what I have actually said and make assumptions that I have been deceived by the so-called “liberal media”, and that is fine for anyone to think that. But I can say the same thing about the mass conservative media that still controls and circulates throughout this country on websites and through e-mails and sadly even through some pulpits in churches. I would say that this bias is what many believers are locked into, and no matter how many times I refute plainly erroneous accusations from right-wing conspirators, they don’t say, “thanks for clearing that up”. They only go on to the next line of attack. I thought followers of Christ were supposed to be “lovers of the truth”, and yet we have abandoned the truth for the sake of supporting our own candidate.

Finally, let me say a couple of things to clarify. I do not think McCain is the devil on the converse of everything else. In fact, there are quite a few things I do like about McCain. Quite frankly the biggest problem I have with McCain is his “more of the same” perspective that ironically is connected in many ways with George W., who I admit I voted for, but who I think made some monumental judgment calls and it has cost us dearly. I believe that we do need someone with new ideas, and I believe Obama is that person. I don’t have an idealistic, pie-in-the-sky, belief that he is going to fix it all, nor do I think he will be THE ANSWER to all of our problems. I do not agree with all that he says, and he is a man who will make mistakes, but I believe he will lead us generally in the right direction. There is much more I could say about all of this, but I will rest my keyboard for now.

Speaking to Joy

Yesterday a mom of one of our program men showed up at the mission, having just flown in from Albuquerque, NM. She asked to speak with a chaplain and I was the only one available so I accommodated her. Her son is only about 21 and he has been in and out of rehab programs since he was about 17. She was scheduled to visit with him on Sunday here at the mission and so she asked me what should she say to him during their time together to help him or to encourage him to continue the recovery process.

I was at an advantage in this, because I am his assigned “counselor” and so I was very familiar with her son’s issues and progress in the program. To be brutally honest, he has not shown much passion and desire to change, and I have possibly in a premature way considered him another casualty of not recovering. Notwithstanding, I listened to a mother who about half way through the conversation began to break down and sob, lamenting all of the failed efforts they had made, as well as other drug programs he had dropped out of and then subsequently had gone back to the drugs.

Many times when people come to me for “counsel” I want almost to laugh (although that would not seem to be appropriate in this or other circumstances), because in many cases I don’t know what to say. What do you tell a 40-something year old mom who is crying over her lazy, self-consumed 21-year old drug addict, whom you believe is not going to make it, and to her this seems like their last hope? There is no amount of training or specified qualification that can prepare you for a moment in time like this one. I am sure, in some sense of the word at least, it is like Jesus’ preparing the disciples to face persecution as they taught and preached to the Jews. He told them, “When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”

As you read this, I don’t want you to understand that I am saying each and every time I speak to someone in this ministry it is God speaking through me. I am emphatically not saying this, because a lot of - no probably most of the time - I reflect and think back and wonder how I could be so stupid or lame to have said what I said. There are times, in spite of this reality however, when it does seem that either God speaks through us or He, at very minimum, redeems what we say through the Spirit of Christ. This certainly does not abrogate our responsibility to think and to prepare (that is adamantly not the tone of this passage), but it does give each of us some encouragement to walk on even when we can’t many times see our way or have a clue what is going on. It is not like we can call a time out in the middle of these situations and phone a friend or look up what to say in a book.

I am not confident of many things these days, but I am growing more certain that in the days to come, our lives will be filled with much more complexity and uncertainty and questions. Although this is the case, I somehow have hope that the community of Christ will get through all of it, saying and doing the right thing, not because we are really smart or really good, but because the peace of Christ is ruling in our hearts and will come through in us and by us as we struggle along. And knowing this gives me great confidence and hope to pray for this young man’s mom, who ironically is called “Joy”. And, as she meets with him tomorrow afternoon, I hope she can find the words to say, or maybe she won’t need words at all. Maybe just her being there and affirming her love for him will be enough to help him complete the journey. I sure hope so, because I could not imagine what I would say to my son if the tables were turned.