“It’s extraordinary to me that the United States can find $700 billion to save Wall Street and the entire G8 can’t find $25 billion dollars to save 25,000 children who die every day from preventable diseases.”
– Bono, rock star and anti-poverty activist. (Source: The American Prospect blog
My friend Eugene Cho just posted on his blog about the idea of a Christian president and whether its significant or not for our president to be a Christian. it is a good blog and i will link it here, for you to check out… as he also references another blog article which is a good read as well. But while here i wanted to comment on this particular issue.
First of all, there is not really a presidential candidate that i know of in my history that has not been ‘a christian’, so that almost makes it a moot point.
So, it’s kind of like when you see a business that throws the Christian fish on their card to let you know they are a Christian company, but then they do shotty work. You can throw around the Christian label all you want, but if you suck at what you do… i don’t think i want you to do work for me. I mean, if someone is building my house and they happen to be a Christian, but they are not that great of a builder and they do this wrong or that wrong, then to me their faith is insignificant, if i am hiring a builder. Certainly the president has a much larger responsibility than a contractor, but the analogy still flies. If the president is a Christian, but is not that great of a president, then their faith is insignificant, if we are needing a president. Sure, we want someone who is honest and trustworthy and has integrity, but I know people who are not Christians who have those values and i know people who are Christians, and lack in the areas of integrity or trust. So for me, it seems to be more about the values that govern them then about the faith they profess.
I even find it hard to believe that someone could actually follow Christ effectively and maintain their integrity and be the president of a nation, or any high political office for that matter. (it’s so incredibly difficult for us normal, everyday folk to do so, much less someone with such a huge position of power) So much of politics is being able to gain people’s following and there is a strong tendency of manipulation to get the people’s support. I am certain that at times, integrity is curbed so that agendas can be passed through unscathed by moral values… this being on both sides of the table.
I don’t believe any candidate is able to escape the corporate agenda, mainly because the corporations that are funding them, want to see their agendas passed, and so i see it difficult for someone to make integrity-based decisions on an individual basis, when there is a larger agenda driving the decisions that are made for our government. Now while I believe there is some sense of the people having a say in what happens in our governing bodies, for the most part, it seems to be the ones with the money who have a little more pull in that arena.
In the past, i used to vote based on… well basically i was told who to vote for, because if i am ‘a christian’ then ‘there is only one person you can vote for… one party… one agenda… one set of issues’… and so therefore, i had no choice in the matter. Christian meant Republican…conservative…right-wing. So i, like many, many other Americans, made my vote based on… well the fear and propaganda of what would happen if ‘the other guy’ was president!
My perspective is so completely different now. My views are so completely different. The issues are completely different for me. I don’t put any faith in any political party, candidate, or agenda. The issues are the issues because they get votes.
So for me it has to be about governing value and a bigger perspective on the issues that are being presented… that is… if i choose to vote at all!
As far as being ‘a christian’, both candidates are, so once again… it is a moot point.
And, at the end of the day, i follow Jesus, so whoever wins won’t change that or how i view the world, or how i live my life.
just some random thoughts, which i am sure some will disagree with, but that’s ok 🙂
I wanted to post about another event coming up near the end of September. There will be a screening for the independent film “War Dance“, which is about the war torn children of Northern Uganda. You can check out the preview of the film at: http://www.wardancethemovie.com.
The screening will also be a fundraiser for Resolve Uganda , an organization that works with Invisible Children to help to raise more awareness and make legitimate strides in putting an end to the 22 year long war in Northern Uganda, where young children are abducted and forced to become part of a brutal army by being indoctrinated to become killers. They are often forced to watch brutal murders or even participate in them until they become desensitized to it, and therefore think nothing of it. It is a pretty sick deal and has been going on for 22 years now, much of which went completely unnoticed by the rest of the world until the creators of Invisible Children stumbled upon the story about 4 years ago and made gave it global press.
The screening and fundraiser will be held at The Q Cafe in Seattle, on September 24th, from 7pm-9pm. There will be a suggested donation of $5 to attend. The movie, War Dance looks like a must see, and it has one numerous independent film awards, as you can see by checking out the website.
So if you are in the Seattle area at that time, i hope you can make it to the screening and help to gain more understanding and knowledge about the war-torn children of Northern Uganda. thanks!
check out this video of some people from an organization called ‘one voice to end slavery’. they started this thing called ‘the freeze project’, where a couple hundred people will simultaneously stand completely still in place for 5 minutes… all to raise awareness of the staggering numbers of humans trapped in the sex slave trade and human trafficking industry. this saturday, Sept 6th, they will be doing one in seattle, in which i plan to participate. it should be an incredible experience. it is amazing to see how people respond to seeing this, they have no idea what is going on or what to do about it. what a great way to get peoples attention about an issue that definitely needs peoples attention. check out the video and then check them out at:
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