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An Open Letter to Evangelicals

I’ve been watching the political fray lately and, especially the Republican race for the Presidential nomination. To start out this post, let me say I voted for Obama in 2008. In fact, I left the Republican Party so I could vote for him in my state’s primary and already have decided to vote for him in 2012. So now that I have that out on the table, hopefully those of you who might vehemently disagree with this stance will at least hear me out.

I follow Jesus. I’ve followed his teachings for the majority of my life and am continually trying to learn more about how to live the way Jesus lived and what that means to me, here and now, in a practical, real way. What has prompted this open letter to my evangelical friends is a headline in today’s news that reads “Undecided Iowa Evangelicals Pray For an Answer.” A church pastor said “I’m just really confused, I just don’t know at this point who is the best one to support.”

I suggest considering our incumbent President, Barack Obama.

Obama’s book, “The Audacity of Hope” is a good introduction to the man who is our 44th President. It chronicles his history, family life, struggles and his decision to follow Jesus. That part is clear. That part is what intrigued me back in early 2008. What has also intrigued me (although in a negative way) has been the continual, unrelenting opposition to the man the majority of us chose to lead our country amid a time of unparalleled economic woes. And, I might remind us, woes decades in the making that Obama inherited.

But even more intriguing than all that has been Obama’s steady, consistent holding to his Christian beliefs. Amid all the rumors and lies about doing away with the Day of Prayer or the White House Christmas Tree or even, as one Republican candidate for President recently said in a campaign ad, “his war on religion,” Obama has held steady. His faith in Jesus is still present. He doesn’t wear it on his sleeve, but it’s there.

But what also really bothers me is the thought that in order to truly be a follower of Jesus, you have to subscribe to a set of conservative beliefs of not raising taxes under any circumstances or that abortion and gay marriage are the litmus test of fitness to lead our country. And that is where I completely disagree with my conservative Evangelical Republican friends.

First is the conservative idea that seems to equate small government and low taxes with spiritual correctness. You know, I’m really sorry, but I don’t make that connect. Anywhere. I understand the concept of small government and low taxes. And it’s fine to hold that as a view. I happen to believe differently about that. But in that belief, I have had people question my faith as being somehow messed up because I hold a different view of our government’s role. One person even told me there would be no Democrats in Heaven.

Really?

I have another friend who once said that conservative Republicans have hijacked Christianity. And I’m starting to believe that.

Evangelicalism in it’s original form, dating back to the 1700s has, as its key elements, a personal decision to follow Jesus, a high regard for the authority of the Bible, an emphasis on the death and resurrection of Jesus and an active expression of sharing this gospel, or “good news.”

Noticeably missing from those four key points is any mention of politics (conservative or liberal), abortion or homosexuality. In fact, Jesus made no recorded comments about abortion or homosexuality. Now think for a minute about that and put it in context. Jesus lived in the Roman-occupied area in and around Jerusalem. Roman culture regularly and openly practiced both abortion and homosexuality. So I have to ask if those two beliefs were a litmus test for anything, why didn’t he say anything about them?

Instead, Jesus talked about loving God and loving your neighbor (and your enemy). He talked about caring for the poor and the disadvantaged and the widows and the orphans. The marginalized people in society. And when I get to this point, I get the response that “it isn’t the government’s place to do that, it’s ours.” Maybe. But we aren’t doing it. At least not well enough. Even with all the private philanthropy, faith-based aid and government assistance, there are still people in our country who won’t be able to eat today.

One in nine verses in the New Testament (2,100 verses in the entire Bible) relate to our care for the poor and disadvantaged. If the scriptures are inspired by God, and he gives that much air time to one topic, wouldn’t we want to elect a President who held to those beliefs also?

I do.

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#OWS, Part 2

I promised to outline some of my opinions in this second part of OWS. So, here they are.

I ended my last post talking about how we spend so much time dismissing others’ opinions, that we don’t listen. Our culture has lost the art of listening. We post diatribes on our Facebook page or letters to the editor or bumper stickers and billboards without really spending time on what that other person was trying to say or listening to responses. We get focused on our own single-minded track that we don’t really have a conversation.

Webster defines conversation as the “oral exchange of sentiments, observations, opinions, or ideas.” There are a couple of points I want to make here. First, it’s oral. True conversation doesn’t happen by competing online posts or signs or billboards. It is oral. Oral communication is best achieved face-to-face. In person. Where you can see the facial expressions, the tone of voice, all the nuances of real, true, two-way conversation.

The other point about conversation is it involves opinions and ideas. None of us has the solution nailed. Doesn’t matter what the topic, what the opinion, there’s always another perspective. That’s not to say there aren’t some absolutes in life. Facts. Things like Abraham Lincoln did actually exist and was actually President of the United States. What it means is when it comes to the issues brought up by Occupy (or anyone else, for that matter), there are some valid points. Social equity, fairness, justice, etc. But what I find is many people dismiss the topics without listening. And I wonder if they aren’t listening because the messenger doesn’t look and dress like they do or because the topic maybe hits just a little too close to home. The root word of conversation is from the Latin conversari, which means “to associate with” and is frequentive (repeated or intense action) of convertere “to turn around.”

True conversation involves an exchange of opinions (exchange is multi-directional) in a context of associating with another with the ability to turn around. In other words, as we have a conversation, I might need to change my opinion. I might actually learn something from you. And you from me.

I serve on the Eugene Planning Commission. And I have to say what I appreciate most about the Commissioners is they listen. Our meetings are truly a conversation. And with that interchange of ideas, thoughts, opinions, I believe we have made some very thoughtful decisions. And I think those decisions will ultimately achieve a long-term benefit to our community. I personally met with two City Planning staff yesterday about a topic currently before the Commission with an idea, a thought, that I had that was a bit different from what they presented. And in that conversation, they heard my reasons, I heard theirs and we ended up with an idea, a hybrid, that I believe will address all the concerns that are on the table. But only because we had a conversation and we listened.

The other major point I wanted to make was how so often by NOT engaging in true conversation, we miss the point altogether.

If you regularly follow my posts, you know I follow Jesus. His life, his teachings. And what I found throughout the writings about him is that even people in the first century missed the point and didn’t engage in true conversation. People would ask him his opinion (“Teacher, what about this…?”) and more often than not, Jesus would respond by asking them “What do you think? How do you see it?” Conversation. And even when they would ask questions like “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”, Jesus’ response basically was “Neither. You’re missing the point.”

Back to Occupy. The newspaper this morning reported on the total monetary costs Occupy Eugene has cost the City. And I guarantee the banter now will be about how much money we’re spending on “these homeless hippies destroying the lawn.” And when we do, we will have missed the point.

Eugene’s Mayor, Kitty Piercy, recently communicated “OE supporters see the Washington Jefferson camp as way to not just talk about the inequities in this country but to actually do something about them. They should tell you what they are trying to do and how its going in their own words.” Hmmm. Sounds like our Mayor is encouraging us to listen. To engage in actual conversation.

So who sinned? Occupy Eugene for destroying the lawn? Or the City for not booting them out?

Neither. We’ve missed the point.