Election thoughts

Last week I filled in my ballot and dropped it off at the Bureau of Elections. I appreciate being able to vote this way. I know there are people like to vote in person. That’s fine. I’m good with avoiding the polls, the crowds, the campaign workers looking for last minute votes, and more.

As you consider who you are voting for in the variety of state and federal level elections, I want to encourage you to consider a few things. Elections are not just about what you want for yourself. They are about the larger community. We have to consider the greater good, not just our own desires and wants.

In a way, voting has the same focus as public education. The “client” in public education is not the parents or even the student. It is the public. The public education system is designed to make citizens who can actively participate in the wellbeing of the society in which they live. Voting is about considering the larger society, rather than just your own wishes.

Here’s a truth we all need to deal with when it comes to voting – you aren’t always going to like the results of any given election. I have a long history of campaign work. There are plenty of elections that I went to bed disappointed because the people I was supporting didn’t win. And that’s ok. Our system is designed to deal with us all not getting everything that we want. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. That’s what democracy is about. It’s messy. It requires us to have give and take, to compromise, to work with people we don’t agree with.

If you want to avoid all of that, then there are systems of government you can push for, like authoritarianism. But be prepared – authoritarian systems aren’t interested in listening to you and what you want. If you aren’t complying with the person in charge, you will be discarded rather easily. And even if you are complying, it’s likely that you will be discarded just because. Authoritarian systems are all about propping up the person at the top of the pyramid – everyone is expendable. If you are going to push for control, you’ll end up being a victim to it.

When we vote, we need to be able to see the image of God in those we disagree with – even if those people stand for destructive systems and beliefs. If we choose violence for these people, then we become the very thing we oppose.

David Brooks recently wrote an article in which he talked about American politics being “stuck.” I think that’s a good description of where we are. I think we’ve been stuck for longer than Brooks suggests – since 2016. I think we’ve been stuck since the 1990’s. And I think that while this election is important in helping to shape the identity of America in this time and place, I don’t think we’ll be unstuck for about another 20 years. People have dug in and have no interest in considering alternatives, or even listening to different ideas or beliefs. We seem far too interested in being right in our minds rather than considering the greater good. We seem incapable right now of doing anything to solve or even slightly deal with the major problems we face – homelessness, gun violence, climate change, poverty, health care, wealth gaps, etc. When we are stuck, our imaginations are out of reach.

If we are ever going to get past this moment of political stuckiness, it has to start with each of us choosing a different path forward. If you keep doing what you are doing, you’ll keep getting the same results. A different path is one which takes seriously the call of humility, seeing humanity in others (especially our enemies and opponents), finding something in which we can see how we are related far more than we are separate. One election isn’t going to change much. This is more systemic than an election. It requires making this choice over and over again, day after day, with every interaction. Our hope has to be founded in something more than a candidate for office, a slogan, a platform, an ideology, or a political party. All those things come and go.

This election season I have noticed a fetishness with fact checking. I get the purpose of fact checking. But I think we are wasting our time. Fact checking only makes sense when you have a society that agrees that the measurable truth matters and should be listened to. Remember, we are stuck. And part of that stuckness is that we have two creedal doctrines shaping identities in America – two creedal belief systems that are in conflict and have ripple effects on everything else. These creedal beliefs cannot coexist – we see that now. One of the creedal beliefs is that the ends justify the means. The other is that the means and ends are equally important. Fact checking only makes sense when the means are as valued as the ends. When the ends justify the means, the truth doesn’t matter. When the ends justify the means, you can lie all you want. You can contradict yourself. You can make up stories. You can create fake situations. You can pay people to be someone they are not. And you can easily discard opponents and those that are inconvenient. It’s just a matter of time until you are the next one to be discarded.

Besides two creedal beliefs that are fighting to shape the identity of America, we also have a challenge with language. Yes, many in America speak English, but the reality is that while the words we use are the same, we often have different definitions and meanings for these words – often definitions and meanings that are completely opposed to each other. Liberty is an example. Those oriented towards the Moms for Liberty camp would probably define liberty as something that gives them the freedom to impose their beliefs on others. Those opposed to the Moms for Liberty would most likely define liberty as meaning something like freedom from being imposed upon.

There are plenty of other words that fit into this debate – strength, leadership, freedom, Christianity, prosperity, family values, greatness. How we use these terms matters. How we live into them probably matters more though. I have found that what people talk about believing is not exactly the same as what they actually believe. Rather, what they voice is more aspirational and how they act is actually in alignment with what they really believe about the world.

I have written much about the theology of empire vs. the kingdom of God. There are significant differences between these two. The theology of empire is based on the ends justify the means, might makes right, and the strong survive. For people of faith – those that follow Jesus and his way, we are called to reject the theology of empire and its ways because they are in conflict with what it means to follow Jesus. We aren’t called though to fight the theology of empire with the means of empire. Remember, the means and ends matter in the kingdom of God. Rather we are called to a radical rejection of empire and its ways by living the way of Jesus and the kingdom of God. We are called to reject violence (even what we might think is justified violence), cruel, the use of force, imposing on others, dehumanization, and more. We are called to care, empathy, love, mercy, grace, seeing the image of God in others – even one’s enemy (the empire).

None of this easy. No one ever promised easy. And if we think we are exempt from hardship, pain, suffering, cruelty, violence, and the ways of empire, then we are delusional. The way of empire has been the norm for most of human history. Who are we to think we are exempt? That’s not to say it’s inevitable. Or that we should just give up. Hardly. It’s to say, we are called to a different way. We are called to non-compliance with empire and its ways too. And to be prepared for the consequence of such non-compliance.

I have done 19 half marathons and 11 full marathons over the years. I have learned so many valuable lessons from each race and each training.  There are days in training that just suck, are painful, that made me want to just quit all together. Yet, you keep going. You let the day go and you get an opportunity to start over tomorrow. When you are training for a distance race you make peace with the reality that there are just going to be crappy training days. There are going to be days that you just aren’t going to be excited about. There are days you don’t look forward to. But you keep going. You keep putting your running shoes on and get outside and run. You do the best you can because that’s all there is. For most runners, they know they aren’t going to win the race. Winning isn’t the reason most of us run a marathon or half marathon. We do it to test ourselves, to see what we are made of, to see how our actions and beliefs actually line up.

America, we are in a distance race. There’s been plenty of crappy days. Our democracy muscle has suffered many injuries – the question is if we are going to be able to keep going or are the injuries too great? There have been plenty of terrible weather days. We’ve been given bad maps. Some of our running partners are concerned about race day.

And yet, we’re going to put our shoes on and go out there. We’ll do it regardless of the conditions. Because we signed up for this.

Democracy is messy. There are plenty of crappy days. There are plenty of injuries. We often feel like it would be easier to throw the towel in and quit.

Put your head up America. It’s race day. The crowd is large and loud. The starting gun went off. Start running. And realize that when this is over and the race is decided, we’ll wake up the next day. And we’ll have to figure out how to get along with others we don’t agree with and may not like. We’ll have to figure out how we are going to deal with people we find destructive and dangerous. And we’ll have to determine what it is that we actually believe and live into that.