I have to say TN, I am almost embarrassed by the percentage of people who voted for each candidate today. Only thirty-eight percent of people in TN voted for Obama. I firmly believe that this vote is a result of a myth that the Church has created in America, or at least in South, that in order to be a Christian you have to vote Republican. Now, I know many of you honestly took the time to research each candidate and make an intelligent decision on who you felt would make the best leader of our country, but for the rest of you...why did you vote for who you voted for? Honestly, i don't even care who you voted for, but I do care why you voted.
Amanda and I sat down and looked over the issues we felt strongly about and looked over where each candidate stood on the issues in order to make our decision. We felt strongly about poverty in third world countries, something Obama has a plan to help fight even more than the AIDS program Bush started. We feel strongly about heath care for children and the option to ave national health care available. Both candidates take a moderate stance on abortion (do your research Mccain supporters), both are doing tax cuts in one way or the other, and both plan on having our troops somewhere. Obama has plans to clean up our environment where as Mccain seem to not care about the green issue at all. Also, we did not like Mccain's stances on the death penalty and gun control.
So why did you vote? I hope that you know that just because you are a Christian doesn't mean you have to vote Republican. God is not a part of a political party. I would challenge all of you to take a long hard look at where you stand politically. Obviously our votes are already in and you cant change that now but please please please dont fall into the trap of the Christian Nation Myth. There is a great book out by Greg Boyd titled Myth of A Christian Nation that speaks on this myth. If you do your research and look back in history this nation was never truly a "Christian Nation." I could spend a whole book just on that book but I will say it greatly influenced how I viewed my voting rights. I would highly recommend you all pick it up and read it or borrow my copy or someone else's...it is that good!! I mean can we honestly say "God Bless America?" Sure a nice thought but I mean why just America? Why cant we think globally? What about the fact that more than half of the world lives on less than $2.50 a day? Or maybe the 30,000 children who die a day due to malnutrition and poverty. Instead, we get hung up on a myth, race, and religion. It is just sad and ignorant. Thats right, ignorant. If you did not do your research and voted republican because you are a Christian, you are ignorant. Im sorry, but that is how I feel. If you did your research and honestly believe the candidate you picked is the right candidate, then thank you for using your right to vote well.
I am proud to have the right to vote. I am proud to call myself a Christ Follower. First and foremost I am proud to call myself a Christ Follower. MCcain is not Jesus and neither is Obama. I challenge you all to seriously take a look at how you view politics on this election night. Congrats to Obama for running a great campaign and winning this election. I believe we have a great four years a head of us.
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6 comments:
I completely agree. Thanks for saying it. Miss you.
I agree. And no matter who the president is or will be in the future, God is in control forever! Isn't it great to be with Him!
You are very, very out of line.
Im curious who anonymous is and would love to hear why it is out of line to say that no matter what political party you are affiliated with, if you just voted because you hated Bush, Obama, or Mccain and did not take the time to research what each candidate stands for, you have made a sad effort to make this country a better place. Use your vote wisely. That is the beauty of Democracy, not to just vote because of stereotypes.
If you hadn't made it SO clear who you voted for this post would have been more effective...
My sister, Abbie VanDerPuy had me read your blog the other night and I wanted to respond and maybe give you some food for thought as to the voting process and how people choose to vote.
1. "Instead, we get hung up on a myth, race, and religion. It is just sad and ignorant." Why does seem ok for black people to vote in droves (something like 95% in some states) for Obama but it is NOT OK for a white person to vote for a white candidate simply because he is white? This may sound racist but is completely the opposite. I had two students in my U.S. History class say they would vote for Obama because he was black and when they asked me who I was voting for I responded with "McCain, because he's white." This left my class stunned and I continued to ask the students, "What??? That's not ok for me to vote for that reason, but it is ok for you? Why is that?" Now I did not vote for McCain because he was white, and I honestly have no problem with black people voting for Obama because he was black. I get it! I get why they would want to make history. The assumption that you are making (and it is VERY THINLY VEILED no matter how hard you try to argue that you didn't mean it this way) is that if you didn't vote for the black candidate you were racist. That is a shameful smear tactic that proves nothing beyond your own ignorance of America's voting system. THAT IS THE BEAUTY OF VOTING! You can vote whoever you like and no one, NO ONE, has the right to question why you voted as you did, call you ignorant (which technically means not having the knowledge to make a competent decision) or qualify your vote based on your own reasoning, no matter how faulty OR logical it may be. That is why America is great. Us stupid and ignorant people get to vote right along with the snobby elite and have their voice heard.
2. "If you did not do your research and voted republican because you are a Christian, you are ignorant." What research would that be? Many Christians vote republican for reasons other than social "Christian" issues (gay marriage, abortion, etc...). For instance, my dad votes republican for the most part because he is a small business owner and feels that the best way to grow the economy is through promoting business both small and large. In that way those businesses will innovate, hire, change, construct and ultimately grow the economy which will create greater prosperity for all. Historically republicans have also been the party of small government (not lately under Bush) which taxes people less and allows the businesses and economy to flow with relatively few major restrictions. Democrats (and Obama in particular) have made it very clear that their idea on how to grow the economy is to give money back to the lower portions of society. This sounds very NICE, but the economic reasoning is flawed for many reasons. The major flaw is that in order to grow the economy after giving back money to the poor and lower class of society they NEED them to spend that money to buy things in order to keep the economy moving. If every lower class person saved their tax rebates and put them into the bank the economy would be in dire straits. Where does this leave poor people? Still poor, and still spending what they have been given in order to grow the economy for businesses and the rich. Unsound economic thinking. Does any of this sound like you have to be Christian to think like a fiscal democrat or fiscal republican? You don't! Christians who are fiscal conservatives don't vote democrat becuase they believe that they can use their money better than the government and history shows that that is generally true. If they really want to help the poor in 3rd world countries have them sincerely read this article and ask themselves what is stopping those countries from economic prosperity? Is it because we (The U.S.) are not giving enough or because their economies are not ready based on the model of capitalism to experience growth? (http://www.fte.org/capitalism/introduction/index.html). The article does a great job of pointing out just how these countries and economies can get out of the cycle of poverty and on the road to economic independence (and just a hint, its not through handouts).
3. "...but please please please dont fall into the trap of the Christian Nation Myth." I have a trap for you... How about the trap where you actually believe that ANY candidate who spends an OBSCENE amount of money on his campaign actually cares about the little guy, the poor person, anyone really besides himself. For example...
"Senator Barack Obama significantly outspent Senator John McCain in August as the two campaigns ramped up their general election fight, with the Obama campaign spending $53 million that month, $32 million of which went to advertising. That compared with the $41 million spent by the McCain campaign, $23 million of which went to advertising."
$53 million dollars??? $41 million dollars??? And we are worried about people falling into the trap of using their ultimate belief system and their faith in Jesus to guide their way? You believe the words of two fallible human beings who spend millions of dollars (SIMPLY TO CONVINCE YOU TO VOTE FOR THEM) like they are buying penny candy, and we get a lecture about not falling into a trap??? Oh, by the way, that was $53 million dollars IN ONE MONTH! Talk about feeding and clothing the poverty stricken...
4. "...then thank you for using your right to vote well." As with my first point, I am glad I live in a country where my vote is counted whether I vote with the majority or with the minority. And my vote is not taken away based on the OPINION of others as to whether I used the vote correctly. God Bless the U.S.A., if just for this right alone!
5. "I could spend a whole book just on that book but I will say it greatly influenced how I viewed my voting rights." So a book by a human author (probably a very good book) can influence your voting decisions, but the Bible (which most Christians would assume is the inerrant word of God) cannot influence my decisions in an election? Hypocritical?
Again, voting is a governmental and political right which has nothing to do with religion. However, to say that one should not allow a belief system to influence their vote, when clearly EVERYONE (including you) relies on their world view and belief system to be the lenses through which they view the world, is just plain nonsensical. What you REALLY want (and I don't blame you for it because its what politics is all about) is to have me view the world and have my voting influenced by the lenses that YOU are wearing rather than the ones I are wearing.
BTW - I am not anonymous from above, just a concerned citizen and Christian who enjoys the fact that we can have honest political discourse without disparaging others for their choices in this election. As to the comment you posted earlier, I SINCERELY disagree with you. The beauty of democracy is that we get to vote at all, regardless of race, religion, creed, etc...
Abe VanDerPuy
B.A. Political Science - Western Washington University
M.A. Religion in American Life - Wheaton College
World and U.S. History teacher Auburn High School
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