Politics and the “American Way”

I am both in the securities business responsible for the wellbeing of peoples retirement money andassociated with AIG Financial Advisors, Inc. a division of the now infamous American International Group.  Two of my children have called me in the last week and asked if I was on the $400,000 junket that AIG had at a resort spa.  No, I was not but the fact that my kids would ask is somewhat indicative of the attitude we have about corporate culture.  I think AIG (and others) are arrogant and reflect the worst of America.  How will this affect our decisions about our elected leaders?

Rick Wedel

The Next Phase

Well, the primaries would appear to be over and we now have two candidates. The speeches have been made though some might argue that Ms. Clinton did not concede, nevertheless, the race for president is over for her.  Where do we go from here?  Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama made their respective speeches and in a few days other issues will dominate.  Our call to faith dictates that we are not simply citizens of this country but citizens of the Kingdom of God.  Let us be up to that task!

Rick Wedel

Death by a Thousand Cuts

One of my sisters just sent me one of those “forward-to-everyone-you-know!!!!” e-mails expressing outrage that Sen. Obama was running for President of America rather than “some muslim country.”   It contained a number of quotes about his views of Christians and whites that (if accurate) were obviously out of any context.  I may respond to my sister (an ordained Presbyterian elder, currently Assembly of God member, a Huckabee fan, and a Missourian) – or not.  I’m not an Obama supporter, but I am usually very impressed with his campaign demeanor and style, the perspective on unity that he brings, and his manner of response to detractors.

 

The basis for my comments now comes out of not just the quotes but the vociferous attacks on Barack Obama, as well as Hillary Clinton, and John McCain, based upon what people seem to want to believe about them.  So many of these attacks arise out of short excerpts or clips from speeches and books by the candidates or their spouses or supporters.  Some of these comments don’t need context: they are misstatements or gaffes.  The effect was stated almost as well as I had intended to express it, by a recent commentary by Joe Klein speaking of McCain Gaffery in Time.com*:   “Sometimes a gaffe is the revelation of ignorance. Sometimes it’s just…a gaffe. It is simply ridiculous for journalists–and political operatives–to expect perfect speech from candidates at all times.”  http://www.time-blog.com/swampland/2008/05/mccain_gaffery.html    I hardily agree with that sentiment and have tended to discount the attacks and ridicule about such statements as Mrs. Obama new-found support of America, Hillary on the death of RFK, or John’s understanding of Muslim sects. 

 

Could any of us survive 24/7 scrutiny of every word we say or expression we make?  We don’t normally have the opportunity to write out and study our words before we say them.   And even if we did (as the candidates occasionally have time to do), what would that sentence we might state about our summer fun sound like when put into the context of theological discussion or the needs of the homeless?  Would we pick our words and subjects to meet the situation in which they were expressed, only to find them repetitiously repeated and placed as universal truths for all occasions?  We would not want that for ourselves and our candidates do not deserve it either.

 

The Chinese had a method of execution know as  凌迟  (transliterated as língchí) or “slow slicing” (impressed?  See Wipipedia.*).  It has developed into the term used in literature as “Death by a thousand cuts.”  A few “paper cuts” here and there are not going to hurt much and certainly won’t do any permanent damage.  But small cut after cut after cut eventually leads to the loss of enough flesh or blood that the victim dies.  I feel that term describes what “we” are doing to the candidates and political process.  Public and media jibes, ridicule, and hostility to our candidates and parties made on the basis of isolated gaffes, off the cuff comments, or words out of context cause us to dehumanize the candidates and make them seem evil or even objects of ridicule. 

 

(*A side note, the Internet has some wonderfully amazing resources from which I cited to only two.  E.g., the most significant thing that I learned on-line this weekend that the 2007 Bordeaux Blanc from Chateau Lamoth de Haux, with its refreshing acidity, citrus notes, and touch of vanilla, is a great white to serve with hot dogs!  Of course, this disclosure would subject me to endless ridicule on Fox News loops if I were a candidate.)

 

In conclusion of this musing, I’m not suggesting that we ignore our candidates when they advocate a position or even say something really dumb.  My concern is that the propensity to isolate comments to mean something that the candidate did not intend or even repudiates makes us miss the important points.  When we spend time on ridicule or puffing, we avoid spending time to study the issues addressed or missed by the candidates and find out what they really believe.  I will try to do better as we go through this campaign.

 

Joe Allen Lang

In a Political Year

Tomorrow is the next primary.  Sunday was a lesson in Presbyterian polity.  Dirty, gritty, and needing some revisions?  Let us know how you felt about the Presbyteries decision regarding the direction of our Church and how we choose an Interim Associate Pastor.  Denver Seminary is my Alma mater.  It trains Lutherans, Baptists and Presbyterian among others.  There is nothing in the Book of Order that deals with this issue….

RMW

Being Culpable for the Words of Another

I sure don’t want to sound like a broken record defending the actions and words of Barack Obama but I find it unacceptable that he is held accountable for the words of both his ex-pastor and now his current UCC pastor.  It is as if Barack himself uttered the media belabored phrases of these pastors.  Obama’s statements indicating that he disagreed with the statements of Rev. Wright appear to be brushed aside by a press hungry for sound bites.

During my tenure at First Presbyterian Church I have seen a number of senior pastors or interim pastors come and go.  Now we have Cathy Northrup and I suspect someday she also, will leave this congregation.  For some the list is much longer but for me these pastors include David Walker, Art Bell, Rene’ Minshew, Robert Hoover and Cathy Northrup.  There have been many associates, changes in general presbyters not to mention interesting leaders and issues within the denomination.  Never once have I personally been held culpable for what any of them said.  When someone from outside our church or denomination suggested that this pastor was too liberal or that pastor too conservative I simply listened or shared my feelings pro or con.  Issues of scripture, sacraments, abortion, women’s equality in the pulpit have supporters and detractors but I have not been responsible for the ideas of another.

We have processes in our churches that act to balance excesses and change the landscape of ideas.  We also have a strong denominational tradition that places ultimate importance on the right to conscience.  To suggest that Obama should have quickly left Rev. Wright’s church to distance him from Wright’s ideas makes no sense to me no matter how objectionable I might personally find some of them.  Separation of church and state is a two-edged sword and the press and other critics can not have it both ways.

Rick Wedel

Do the Math

 After last night’s votes it would appear to me that the Democratic choice has been made.  Senator Clinton may not be ready to admit it yet but wishful thinking will not change the inevitable outcome.  Our two Presidential candidates will be Obama and McCain. 

Now you have some decisions to make.  Does your faith matter in the choice you will make?  Is it simply issues?  Is it a clear conservative v liberal issue?  In a few months this nation will call on it’s citizens to make the decision of who will be the President of the United States. George W. Bush will return to private life and Senator Clinton will, in all likelihood return to the Senate.  We will have either a well respected public servant who served his country with honor or a dedicated public servant who may become our first African American holding this high office.  It is my hope that Senator Clinton will accept this reality and allow us, the citizens, to hear the new round of debates, the new editorials, and make this very important decision.

Rick Wedel

Stuck In the Middle With Who?

This morning I became re-acquainted with a book I had not read in some time, The Prophet Khalil Gibran. This little tid-bit from the book prompted this post…

“Oftentimes have I heard you speak of one who commits a wrong as though he were not one of you, but a stranger unto you and an intruder upon your world…as a single leaf turns not yellow but with the silent knowledge of the whole tree, so the wrong doer cannot do wrong without the hidden will of you all. Like a procession you walk together towards your god-self. You are the way and the wayfarers. And when one of you falls down he falls for those behind him, a caution against the stumbling stone. Ay,and he falls for those ahead of him, who, though faster and surer of foot, yet removed not the stumbling stone.”

For a professional devils advocate and self-proclaimed skeptic I have a hard time committing to one political party, let alone a single candidate. I am a Christian, and as such am terribly sympathetic to altruistic sentiments like the ones expressed in Gibran’s passage above. However, like many know-it-all college students, I also went through an objectivist, libertarian, and/or “Ayn Rand Phase” that has shaped much of my political perspectives. So here I am, caught between two world views, flip-flopping, if you will, between ideologies, and not finding much comfort in either

As I see it there are two main institutions that take up the cause of the collective, one being The Government and the other being The Church, the fundamental aim of both being to procure justice through ensuring rule of law, personal rights, and ultimately…judgment. Now, that last statement is awfully black and white, and may or may not be correct for a good number of reasons, however that was my thought process and it lead to the following questions:

1. If the two institutions ultimately have the same fundamental goal, do we as citizens require them to fulfill that goal through the same means and methods, i.e., do we have ideologies for one and ideologies for the other?
2. Do the The Government and The Church fulfill different needs of the collective, or the same?
3. Where do these two bodies overlap in responsibility?
4. The quote above from Gibran is poignant when applied to one’s spiritual journey’s. However, if it appeals to your spirit, should it also appeal to your politics?

There are two books that sit next to each other on my bookshelf, one is The Bible and the other is The Constitution, I often wonder if they speak to each other, and if so, what do they say?

bkingsley

Why I Plan to Vote for Barack Obama

I was born in 1946 and my first recollection of President of the United States was the last year of the Presidency of Harry Truman (1945-1953).  Only later did I learn anything about him but I do remember (I was seven years old) that he was followed by Dwight Eisenhower who was a hero of my father.  My father had served in World War II as had so many and had the distinction of hearing Eisenhower address the troups once during my father’s time in the Third Army.  Americans returned home from the war not to talk about the glory of war, not really to talk at all but to look to the future and marry their girl friends and start their families and buy a home and embrace, once again, the American dream.

I was a senior in high school sitting in English class when, over the loud speaker in our room, it was announced that John F. Kennedy had been killed as he rode in his motorcade in Dallas, Texas.  Some students were stunned while others, without embarrassment shed tears.  He was, in many ways, the American version of Royalty.  He may not have withstood the scrutiny of modern media but in 1963 Americans lost any vestige of idealism.  Lee Harvy Oswald robbed us of our right to that future.  We became lonely or angry or hopeless or all at the same time.

The Johnson years were overshadowed by the war in Vietnam and his advancements in civil rights clouded by the six o’clock news and body counts.  As a nation we seemed to be reeling from our disillusionment.  By the time Johnson left office I had graduated from college and headed to Seminary.  Now to endure Watergate and the resignation of a sitting President was almost more than the nation could endure.  I, as much of the nation did, became fixated on the daily hearings of the scoundrels of Washington who were our chosen leaders betraying us on a daily basis.  Hope seemed lost.

For me the years and administrations that followed seemed like repeats or remakes of the same movie.  It was like watching Ground Hog Day over and over again.  Parts more interesting than others but still the same.

This year I see John McCain and Hillary Clinton as continuations of that same movie.  One is Republican and one is Democrat but the future looks the same.  I am no longer seven years old but nearing sixty two.  I want a change!  Can Barack Obama give that change to this nation?  I don’t know.  I hope so.  It is a daunting task bigger than any one man or woman.  In many ways he is such an unknown and I think I like that.  I have spent the last thirty five years as a business man.  Warren Buffet likes Obama and I like Warren Buffet.  I like JImmy Buffet too but that may not count.  In his book The Audicy of Hope Obama says, “…the issues America faced were never abstract and hence never simple.  War might be hell and still the right thing to do.  Economies could collapse despite the best-laid plans.  People could work hard all their lives and still lose everything.” 

I don’t know what the future holds but I remain a man of faith who lives in a country blessed with freedoms beyond the worlds wildest imaginations.  I don’t want to lose them but I do believe we need to address our challenges looking forward and I think Senator Obama will give us that chance and his best efforts.

Rick Wedel

A Few Random Thoughts

Conservative, liberal, pro-life or pro-choice, gun laws, racial issues, no student left behind, legal drugs, capital punishment, Mormons in office, health care, minimum wage, fair housing, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, Rush Limbaugh, Bill Maher, the war in Iraq….. Is there no end? Folk wisdom suggests that we should never discuss religion or politics because you can be certain it will lead to disagreements and sometimes nation splitting arguments. The Civil War divided families while the Viet Nam war continues to have an impact on our nation. A nurse, working for the VA in the psychiatric ward, said it is full of patients from the Viet Nam era who fell through the cracks. What does any of this have to do with religion and politics? Perhaps plenty. One of the study guides from the PCUSA on religion and politics asks the following questions.

1. Did you vote in the last election? Why or why not?
2. Did you see a connection between how you voted and your faith? What issues were relevant to you?
3. Do you vote in ways that are similar to how your parents voted, or different?
4. Who shaped your political identity? What part did the church play in developing your political thoughts?
5. What do you think are the biggest “justice issues” facing our world today?

I challenge you to answer these questions for yourself and see if your faith and political views have points of intersection or are uncoupled from each other.

RMW

Welcome

Welcome to Presbyterian Perspectives, an online forum on faith and politics from First Presbyterian Church in Wichita Kansas.