Sorting Through the Messiness of Politics

by Harriet Sider Bicksler

Four years ago, I thought the presidential election campaign couldn’t possibly last any longer. Little did I know what awaited us in 2008! As I write, my home state of Pennsylvania is the next big delegate prize in the protracted race for the Democratic Party nomination, and we are still six months away from the actual election in November.

I am growing increasingly weary of media talking heads analyzing every small detail of the political campaign. As I write, they have reached a new low as they speculate on whether one of the candidates will be able to convince the people of Altoona, Pennsylvania, to vote for him if he couldn’t even bowl a decent game.

What do bowling scores or form have to do with anything, especially one’s ability to be president of the United States? Discussing a candidate’s bowling skills provides space for lighthearted and tongue-in-cheek commentary, but I fear that all too often these trivial details influence people’s votes more than the real issues at stake.

Rather than focusing on the trivial, or spending endless hours parsing a few words a candidate or one of his or her supporters once said, often out of context, as Christians we ought to be discerning to what extent a candidate’s views and public policy proposals match the principles and values that are important to us.

Do they care for the poor and vulnerable? Do they look for ways to talk to and reconcile with enemies rather than perpetuate or exacerbate conflicts? Do they care for the earth? Do they protect the human rights of everyone, and do they believe and act as though everyone is created in the image of God, not just people who agree with us, are like us, or who supposedly never do bad things? Are they willing to say “God bless the whole world, no exceptions,” rather than just “God bless America”?

Four years ago, during that contentious election process, Sojourners waged a campaign based on the obvious but seemingly often-forgotten idea that “God is Not a Republican, or a Democrat.” Their statement called on Americans to measure candidates by “whether they enhance human life, human dignity, and human rights; whether they strengthen family life and protect children; whether they promote racial reconciliation and support gender equality; whether they serve peace and social justice; and whether they advance the common good rather than only individual, national, and special interests.” The statement still resonates today.

Given the messiness of the process and the difficult choices one has to make, I am sometimes tempted not to vote, almost convinced that our Anabaptist forebears were right to remain separate from the political process.

However, I am more persuaded that as a Christian citizen of a democratic country, I have a responsibility to participate and help influence the United States to measure up to its own ideals. So I will vote for the person I believe best represents my Christian hopes and values, even as I remind myself that the U.S. will probably not fall apart if “my” candidate is not elected.

God is ultimately in control, and my real citizenship is not in any kingdom on earth but rather in the kingdom of God where he asks us to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8).