I have never considered myself a political person, and I have shied away from unilaterally backing just one political party. Yes, I know the system in many states requires you to declare yourself, or you can't vote in some of the primaries, so for many years (since I voted for Barry Goldwater) I have been -- on paper -- a "Democrat." But until recently I have always been ready to cast my vote for someone from another party, if I felt he or she would do the best job. As I wrote to a Christian discussion group a few years ago, I believed (still do, actually) that anybody who adopts a label of Republican, Democrat, Baptist, Lutheran, whatever -- and feels they must support that entity, no matter what -- has stopped thinking, and has given up responsibility for making the right decisions. Life is not so simple that one one group or one church or one political party can always be right. Having said that, I have been finding it impossible to cast my vote for anyone running on the Republican ticket at any level of government. Why? Because even many of the best and the brightest of those who associate themselves with the Republican Party seem ready to put aside their most basic beliefs "for the good of the Party," no matter what the good of the country or of the world might be. I would love to feel free to vote for anybody, regardless of political affiliation, if i felt that they would be willing to "do the right thing" for our country. , The recent election is a good step toward reestablishing political balance in the country. Hopefully, it won't be long before we can once again vote for "the Best" woman or man.
You may think it odd that i have put politics and religion together in this section. To me, it has become clear that religion -- whether it is "christian," "Islamic,"" jewish, or any other -- has more to do with power, control and organization than it has to do with spirituality. Maybe I'll eventually put my devotional thoughts elsewhere.
The writings I
put on these pages will be random. My aim is not to take sides.
What I want to talk about is why one should seriously consider
the implications of what "the sides" -- whether religious
or political -- ask of us. Feel free to write
me with any thought for or against what I say.