I was asked recently if I was a Democrat or Republican. Usually this is a pretty simple question to answer but considering I've been reading "The Irresistible Revolution" it wasn't. Let me just say that the ideas presented in this book are so hippie and radical. I surprise myself while reading this book because I find the ideas so invigorating and its like Shane Claiborne's words are breathing a whole new alien life into my day. I guess the best way to describe it would be it someone discovered a new sense to accompany sight, smell, taste, touch etc. It is an idea that is entirely incomprehensible at first but if it were ever to be tangible and experience it would seem so natural and obvious.
That is what this book is like. No one would in their right mind would sell everything they own and go live with 10 other people in a house, and share all the money and possessions with no claim of anything being solely theirs. But when you hear Shane talk about time when him and his housemate threw thousands of dollars into Time Square, you can see it as a practical, feasible action.
But back to what I was saying... When asked my politic feelings I remembered something that Shane said in his book. He talked about whether your not to be loyal to your political leaders or your spiritual leader. He says that if we are to be patriotic then we are to support the war. But if we are to be Jesus-followers, then we should be standing in opposition screaming that that war is killing loads of innocent people. Many of which are our brothers and sisters in Christ, whether they are of American descent, or Arab descent (Let's remember that Iraq is in the same area that Christianity started. It is NOT an American invention).
I didn't know whether to say I don't care about politics (which would be a lie considering I felt very strongly about who I wanted to win the '08 election), whether to say I was a Democrat simply because that's how I would have voted had I been able to, or whether to say that I was Republican simply because I knew that was answer they were looking for.
In most cases I try to skirt any strict, controversial, opinion based sides when asked. I try to not show that I strongly agree with gay marriage in a legal sense. I do my best not to come right out and tell people that I would rather let women kill fetus' with the help of a doctor than let them do it themselves and potentially kill themselves. The reason for this is ultimately because I was raised in a community that was composed of people who all disagreed.
If any of you went to LP you probably remember day in History classes where the class would go to different sides of the room depending on how they felt about a certain controversial issue. This was especially prevalent in Mr. Ewig's classes, mostly during election years. I remember how I would pick the popular side as an underclassmen just so I didn't have to be ridiculed by the class, even when I thought most of them were idiots. I then remember picking the side I actually stood for as I became older and the only thing I got from that was a trampled self-esteem after leaving class since I just had 3/4 of the class dissing on me and very deeply seeded beliefs.
I suppose not wanting to state a side aloud come from a horrible habit of avoiding all conflict at ALL costs. Whether that means lying, being sneaky,or anything else I normally wouldn't do. I simply HATE fighting. And the longer I live the more I see that most fighting comes from discussions regarding politics.
So when asked where I stand on the fine line between liberal and conservative I said who I would have voted for but that I simply find many things more meaningful than sitting arguing about whether our nation can handle a black president or whether Palin has enough foreign policy experience. I simply think that we should start thinking for ourselves. Don't stand by Bush just because you registered as a Republican. If you don't agree with the war and you voted for him that's just fine. There is nothing wrong with that. If you don't like that Obama is handing out bailouts because you don't think it's gonna do anything, then don't support it just because you like everything else about him.
I suppose that goes the other way too. If you HATE Obama with a passion but totally agree with his opinion about gay rights, then give him props for it. You don't have to marry the guy, but don't hold a grudge just because McCain lost and you love him and Palin more than life itself. And if you hated Bush for everything he ever did, but agree that we needed the war in Iraq to stop terrorism in our own country, don't trash talk him at your Pro-Choice rallies.
People need to start standing up for what THEY think is right, not what a party line tells them is correct and even more importantly, if you say you are a Christian, I strongly think that you need to stand for whatever your allegiance with GOD says is right. If you truly believe that we are not to murder and that Jesus was a peace maker and if you REALLY believe that the peacemakers will be given peace then you need to stick to that, no matter how unpatriotic that makes you look. Just remember the fact the Jesus died for being unpatriotic. That was his crime. Treason. He said he was God in an empire who's citizen were forced to worship their Emperor, Caesar.
I guess the whole point of this is that we need to put our allegiances in perspective. We need to be Christ followers BEFORE we are patriots. No matter how controversial that is. Plus if you're looking to steer clear of controversy, you're in the wrong religion bud.