About the Upcoming Presidential Election

As anyone who lives in the free world knows, a presidential race is upon us. I, as you should be, am very concerned about our nation’s direction. This country faces some of its most severe challenges at the outset of this young century. The fate of Iraq, as well as our American soldiers fighting over there, has been a hot topic in our country ever since the war began, as it should be. There is no question that the presidential candidate who has a clear and workable strategy for our role in Iraq will probably garner a lot of support. Nevertheless, there are many other issues that America faces now that I think are of immense importance, and I want to voice these at this time. These topics, as you will note, may not be the ones that line up with a specific political party. My thought with regards to this is that followers of Jesus should not be captive to the ideologies of any one political party. When our allegiance to one platform becomes so strong that it dims our prophetic voice within the society in which we live, then we have failed to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. Therefore, these issues are not pregnant with political candidates in mind, but rather what I, as well as many others see, as problems that need to be addressed in our society.

1. There must be a solution for the Iraq War. I am not suggesting that I know what it is; I am only lamenting the obvious. As has been stated before, “War is hell.” We cannot be unmoved in hearing of the countless stories of American soldiers being killed by car bombings, suicide strikes, and insurgent violence. There will always be casualties in wars, no question. That is what makes the situation in Iraq so egregious, however. It is a war that we entered with skewed intelligence and primarily unilateral involvement. Now that we have, no one would reasonably assert that Saddam Hussein was a good leader. In fact, he was a brutal dictator who was responsible for genocide on his own people. But his removal from power and our occupation of that country is dubious on many grounds. I do believe, as Solomon put it, that there is a “time for war”, but I think it has to be the last resort and I think that it needs to be done with the same principle of self defense. The Iraq War, I think, is probably not a text book reason to go to war justly.

The question before us now, however, is how do we finish this now that we are there? I don’t know. As the administration has already admitted, there have been many miscalculations on the numbers of troops needed for the conflict, but I do tend to agree that some form of troop withdrawal should begin taking place. I do not believe that the Iraqi’s will ever take the helm of independence while we are still giving them full support.

2. We must solve the problem of illegal immigration in our country. Let me offer a caveat to this. I do not ascribe to a one-size-fits-all approach to this, as some staunch republicans do. I think we need a plan that balances the need to protect our borders, as well as show some concern for those immigrants who have been working here in this country for years. Although I disagree with President Bush over many things, I do applaud his recent work, along with Senator Ted Kennedy, with respect to this issue. I think their strategy is the best plan I have seen so far, but it is not enough. There must be a leader to step forward with a comprehensive plan that deals with the many variegated problems of this sensitive issue, as well as strong enough to prevent terrorists from compromising our country’s safety.

3. There must be a solution for the health care system. This is one issue I think actually collects a general consensus from both parties: Our health care system in this country is broken. The astronomically rising cost of health care in our country is a rising problem that is not going to get better on its own. It would be nice if both parties stopped bickering with one another over platforms and power, and came together on this. Perhaps there needs to be a meshing of both ideologies in order to fix this. I have never been a proponent of large and unbridled government, but in this situation, I am not opposed to a government-regulated health care system of some kind. It seems to be working quite well in Europe, and I think it could work here, as well, with perhaps some modifications.

4. We must address the problem of poverty in our country. It is unmistakable that the poor has always been close to the heart of God, and it is also very true that our lives will, in large part, be graded on how we treat the poor during this life time. What is so unfortunate to me is that while many “Conservative Christians” have been so vocal in opposing abortion and gay marriage and promoting prayers in public schools, they have been virtually silent when it comes to the poverty in our nation. Some of the most extreme conservatives have even blasted the poor and homeless and welfare-dependent people of this country as being either lazy or stupid. In a number of studies about the problem of American poverty, this error has been exposed and shown to be counter to the actual, well-documented facts. Are there people who take advantage of this system? Of course, but therein lies the problem. As the old adage goes, “Give a man a fish, feed him for a day; Teach a man to fish, feed him for life.” I have talked with various mission directors in Atlanta, and they stare this screaming problem in the eyes everyday. They are dealing with people who are now in the second and third generation of poverty, and they don’t know what to do to break the cycle, because they have always lived this way. The Republicans have been trying to stifle the charity and the Democrats have been trying to continue it without any plan to move people from dependence to self supporting, and both plans are altogether deficient. We need a complete overhaul of our welfare system, but we also need to rethink the issues that cause poverty, as well, in our society.

5. We must make strides to protect our environment. We cannot afford to ignore the majority of the international scientific community with regards to global warming. I am not saying that their claims should not be taken with a grain of salt, but the preponderance of data to substantiate their reports, even to a scant reader, has to be taken seriously at some point. Our environment is not a left-wing, liberal issue; it is a moral issue that all Christians should take seriously. This responsibility began for us when God gave us the job of taking care of the earth (or Garden) and to work it and protect it. Obviously sin has affected our environment to some degree, “because the whole creation groans for the day when it will be redeemed”, but our charge to keep it has not changed, and for some reason the reckless abandon with which many are destroying our environment, as well as entire species of animals, does not seem to hold a significantly high priority for most believers. We cannot be the servant of God and the presence of Christ in the world until we take seriously our vocation to preserve what God has given us. Not even a Tim LaHaye-like, escapist theology can abrogate that.

6. We must maintain the high sanctity of life in every area. What this means is that the issues of abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, and war should all be thoughtfully considered in our perspective of the world in which we live. For many conservative Christians, abortion has been the battle cry for so many years, but if we want to be taken seriously and have a fully biblical world view, then we must also address these other issues, as well. Life is precious, because God has created man and woman in his own image. Therefore, a proper view of the sanctity of life should guide all of our debates. Does this mean that I am proposing a scenario or view that opposes war under any circumstances? No, e.g. I think the Second World War was absolutely necessary, and it was the last resort, and it was, in my opinion, an act of self-defense. The sanctity of life was the reason that we did go to war, although it cost many lives. So, don’t misunderstand what I am suggesting. What I am suggesting is that we hold true to the sanctity of human life in our consideration of going to war after every other avenue of diplomacy has been exhausted, and that we count the cost with extreme deliberation before proceeding.

Furthermore, our view of the sanctity of human life should direct our opinions with regards to capital punishment and torture of prisoners. First of all, let me say that I am not against capital punishment. The biblical ground for capital punishment predates the institution of the Mosaic Law. What I am against is the reckless way it has been administered under our current judicial system. In other words, there have been many cases that are well-documented where innocent persons were executed erroneously, only to be exonerated by DNA or testimonial evidence years afterwards. This is a tragedy that we, as believers, cannot and should not ignore. Either we need to fix our system, or we need to abolish the administration of the death penalty altogether.

It is, also, disturbing to note how many people are willing to “look the other way” when it comes to the torturing of prisoners. Where are the bracelets for WWJD when we consider this debate? Could we really conceive of Christ, who said to “Love your enemies, do good to them who persecute you, pray for them which despitefully use you”, ever condoning our government to torture prisoners (even our terrorist enemies who have persecuted us) in order to achieve a pragmatic goal? I don’t think so.

Finally, I want to say that I am vehemently against abortion, but I also want to say that I think we need politicians who are actually willing to work on issues that lead to abortion, e.g. poverty and poor education. I think we need to oppose abortion, but I think we need to be clear that we are not against the women who are in that situation. I believe we need to find some common ground to try to decrease the number of abortions in our country. The politician who is savvy to how this will be accomplished will get the most attention in our country.


7. We need a politician who is willing to work on balancing the federal budget.
This is not just political rhetoric. This is a real need in our country that will have long-term implications for the generations to come. If we do not get a handle on our government’s deficit, it will ruin our ability to trade with other nations in the future years. We need a constitutional amendment that requires congress and the president to have to balance the budge and live within their means. We have to do so; why should this government not have to? I am convinced that this will affect many more issues, including how to solve our social security dilemma.

Conclusion: Let me state, in conclusion, that there are many more issues that are important to me, but these are some of the biggest that I see. I would love to hear some feedback on any of these, or if you think there are some other big issues that need to be addressed.