politics – I AM for You!

What would you want Jesus to do?

Jesus got to shore and was met by a man who had been acting “crazy” most of his life.

The man lived naked among the graves and no one could control him. The man pulled to pieces any chains he was in and he often cried out; cutting himself with stones.

Jesus had compassion on the man. But he couldn’t help him.

You see, this man was of another religion and it was against the law to convert him to following Jesus, which Jesus knew would happen if Jesus healed him.

Also, the media had been misreporting that when Jesus said, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God” that Jesus was really rebelling against the government and advocating that people not pay lawful taxes.

What would they report if he removed evil spirits from a man not considered competent to give informed consent?

And what about the people who said mental illness was a myth? What if they said Jesus should value the man’s differences, not judge his lifestyle, and coexist with him?

And what about the mental health community? They don’t believe in demons. They would be offended if Jesus cast out demons into pigs, and the pigs immediately committed suicide, proving that demons do exist. They might lobby to have Jesus’ license to practice counseling revoked.

And what about the owners of the pigs? Did Jesus ask permission to send demons into them? Was Jesus going to pay restitution?

What if you were the man or woman standing there in front of Jesus, with your future and your sanity hanging in the balance. What would you want Jesus to do?

Just in case you didn’t understand, the above is satire. For what really happened see Mark 5 in the Bible.

The above was my response to the politics of 2016. The below is what might be actually happening now and may be worse and should be satire.

And so I have questions.

In the UK is politically incorrect thought/prayer near abortion clinics now a crime?

Was the U.S. president’s speech full of distortions about U.S. “MAGA” voters? Were “MAGA” voters vilified by the U.S. president for the crime of having a different point of view?

Could emails that were found and released by Elon Musk be interpreted as First Amendment Freedom of Speech censorship prompted by the government?

Was a U.S. government agency weaponized to intimidate those who are against the legalized killing of babies in the womb?

Are pharmacy companies talking about creating disease so they can make money healing the people they infect?

Why would someone get “fired” right after standing up to big pharma? Would that cast suspicion on the Board that “fired” you?

Bad is portrayed as good.

Good is censored.

Dear Jesus,

we need

You.

PC or Not-PC isn’t the right question.

PC or political correctness promises treating all others with respect and dignity by all who use it. It believes it was born in the 60’s civil rights era and that it champions freedom from oppression for all. It has a form of godliness, but denies godliness’s real power, which is love and acceptance (but not necessarily approval), .

Something has happened to PC. It doesn’t respectfully disagree any more. It sees no value in that. Because it has held power the last eight years it feels that it has license to silence critics. Now it bullies, it berates, it is rude, it’s my way or the highway. It calls names instead of trying to understand others…

Wait a minute, that sounds exactly like PC’s opposition called Not-PC. Not-PC has been out of power for 8 years and so nothing is their fault. They are on the side of the Constitution so they can silence critics. They are bullies, they berate, they are rude, they are my way or the highway. They call names instead of trying to understand others… It was born in the Reagan era and proposes freedom as well, that is, freedom to do it their way. It has a form of godliness, but denies godliness’s real power, which is love and acceptance (but not necessarily approval).

Between PC and Not-PC there is a tiny space (reminiscent of Victor Frankl’s). It is called respect for others while you respect yourself. It doesn’t pretend to have all the answers. Those need to be forged through listening and sharing in crucial conversations, co-operation and synergy with each other. What it does have is hope. Hope that we as a community, as a country, can be wise enough and strong enough to realize there is no future without each other.

P.S. Since writing this I have reconsidered the size of that “tiny space (reminiscent of Victor Frankl’s).” I was reacting to the Facebook war that flooded me (by invitation) during the campaigning. I believe there are many who desire reconciliation and constructive dialogue with their brothers and sisters who hold different views.

Jesus can bridge the political divide

This election has left us all bruised and bloodied. Both sides had people who were hurt and scared who said things that I, and maybe they, wish were not said. Both sides had people who said beautiful things to their side and to the other side. So where are we left?

Having experienced all my rights taken away and being physically abused (in a late 1970s mental hospital), and helpless to fight against it (mental illness debilitated my mind), I know what it is like to be a minority of one. It is reported that Clinton has a 1.4% lead in the popular vote. The “losers” are called the minority. But this is not the minority of one that I experienced. This “minority” is 98.6% the size of the “majority.”

Some on either side it seems, want to “crush” the other side, make them “recant their position,” and “make them pay” for the hurt they have caused the other.

Some on the left don’t want to acknowledge that a person is a person one second before they are born and want to ignore that person’s rights.

Some on the right want to end abortion, but without putting into place the infrastructure needed to care for the present and future of the woman and her unborn baby. They don’t realize that some women have abortions because they fear what they have seen and heard the life their baby would be subjected to by adoptive and foster families. Simply voting no to abortion is like voting no to poverty. You haven’t solved anything. You have to put your time, money, and talent where your vote is.

Some on the right don’t want to acknowledge that those Americans who are open about being in the LGBT community have restricted their travel to certain parts of the United States, and restrict their participation in certain events during this election cycle because of the fear and the likelihood of being physically assaulted in their own country by other Americans who hate them.

Some on the left want to “destroy” a dear woman florist who holds to Jesus’ definition of marriage. There are many florists in the area that offered to do the gay wedding. So that doesn’t seem to me to be the issue. It seems to me that her State Attorney General doesn’t seem to value this Christian woman’s religious liberty as much as the “rights” that conflict with that liberty.

The Bible says that if we continue to bite each other we will devour each other.

There is no winner if the “winner” alienates the “loser.” In four years or eight, the winners and losers may reverse. So, let the “winners” treat the “losers” like the “winners” would want to be treated if they “lost.” It’s not just good for the “losers”, it’s good for the “winners” too.

Jesus is not for the right or left. He is for God. And for all people. He is actively working for you and your best and me and my best even though we disagree on what that best is.

What would happen if we stopped the name-calling, stopped the vicious attacks on each other and simply decided to sit down and talk to each other, and learn from each other? I think we would find out that much of what we want is the same. And by cooperatively, synergistically, and graciously working together we can solve that which remains.

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