Category Archives: Politics

Politics and the Prince of Peace

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According to a Gallup poll from last year, 62% of very religious white Americans are Republicans, while 27% are Democrats. In Gallup’s words: “A white American’s degree of religiousness … is a strong predictor of that person’s political orientation”.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/150443/Religious-Whites-Identify-GOP.aspx

Yet it isn’t obvious why this is the case. It certainly isn’t obvious that Jesus’s teachings are more consistent with right-wing politics than left-wing politics (and certainly not by a margin of more than 2 to 1).

No doubt there are many reasons why this state of affairs has come to pass here in America. While doing some casual reading on the internet, however, I came upon an article called “Would Jesus Vote Republican?” on a site called RaptureReady.com. Perhaps this article isn’t representative, but the author strongly recommends voting for Republicans, even though they are the lesser of two evils:

“The Republican Party brings to the legislative table in America a much safer, more sound course of governing, in our view. The GOP, for the most part, opposes abortion, legitimizing homosexuality as equal to heterosexual relationships, and huge programs that create and perpetuate destructive, mammoth social programs…. That party is, by and large, in favor of a strong national defense, national sovereignty, and keeping God’s name at the heart of our national character”.

http://www.raptureready.com/republican.html

One thing we might all agree on concerning the paragraph above: it doesn’t have a lot to do with Jesus.

Polling Is Fun

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Public Policy Polling, apparently a reputable organization, claims to have asked likely Ohio voters the following question:

“Who do you think deserves more credit for the killing of Osama bin Laden: Barack Obama or Mitt Romney?”

Among Democrats, 86% said Obama, 1% said Romney and 13% weren’t sure.

Among Republicans, 38% said Obama, 15% said Romney and 47% weren’t sure.

There are lots of ways to interpret these answers, none of them good.

On second thought, there is at least one positive interpretation: it was a silly question and some people, including many Republicans, have a sense of humor.

http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/2011/PPP_Release_OH_9912.pdf

The Idealistic Way to Vote

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Sean from Boston posted a comment on Paul Krugman’s blog the other day. He said that he had been wavering about voting for Obama, but events at the Democratic convention involving references to God and Jerusalem in the party platform had pushed him over the edge. He was so offended by what happened with the platform that he is now going to vote for a third-party candidate. 

Perhaps Sean believes that voting is a sacred act that should reflect his highest ideals. He clearly believes that voting is an opportunity to express his opinion regarding who is the very best candidate.

But those two propositions are not necessarily equivalent. Voting is not an opinion poll. It is not a question of our being asked who, in an ideal world, we would prefer. It is a method for selecting someone to hold office. By voting, we do perform a sacred act. But it is an act with consequences. We should vote for the person whose election would best reflect our highest ideals and who also has a chance of being elected. 

In 2012, there are only two people who might be elected President. We already know that Barack Obama will win Massachusetts, so it doesn’t really matter who Sean from Boston votes for, thanks to the disgrace that is the Electoral College.

In 2000, however, a significant number of voters in Florida chose to vote for the candidate who best reflected their ideals. They knew that Ralph Nader wasn’t going to win, but they weren’t sufficiently concerned about that.

As a result of their decision to express their opinion on who the very best President would be, these idealistic voters were treated to a President who trampled all over their highest ideals (peace, truth, justice, etc.).

The fact is that there are other ideals more important than voting for your ideal candidate. Voting is a sacred act that should reflect ALL of your highest ideals.

If you happen to live in Ohio or Florida or one of those other crucial states, therefore, you should consider whether Barack Obama or Mitt Romney would make the best President, according to your highest ideals. And then vote accordingly.

Bad Candidate, Excellent Speech

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Senator John Kerry was a pretty bad presidential candidate back in 2004. I don’t think I listened to any of his speeches all the way through. 

I listened to this one, however.Â