Based on what?
As Christians?
What should our criteria be?
I mean, most people would agree that in government, the best laws arn't the most Biblical ones, but those that are the most reasonable and fair for everyone of every race gender and religion.
To me it seems like a Muslim or Atheist could do that just as well as a Christian.
So how do we decide?
Please talk this through with me because I have to vote in November. :-)
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hhmh This has been something I have thought about it too. Since I am old enough to vote. I don't think I am very excited about it. Ha! There may not be enough time for me to do it because the ends of my year tend to be busy. Things to ponder. . .
I am with you Em, any help would be appreciated.
I may have thoughts later as well.
ideally, a muslim or an atheist would be able to get elected if they were a good leader, but prejudices run so high, the chances are that we will never see one elected, i don't think.
but then again, that's probably what people said about women and blacks, and look at the candidates we have now.
i think what's so hard about it is that we can't seperate people from their policies. all most people knew about romney was that he was a mormon, and so no one paid attention to his beliefs, which probably fit better than huckabee's for most of the people (like my parents) that like huckabee so much.
or take hilary--most people dislike hilary so strongly for not being something, that they don't know at all what her policies are.
as christians--i believe it is our duty to put people into office that reflect what we value, that reflect what christ values. ideally--with jesus as i see him, i would want to vote for someone whose policies are marked by compassion, care, forgiveness, selflessness, justice, a concern for the poor and downtrodden, and i would not want to vote for someone who was concerned with greed, power, you-scratch-my-back-i'll-scratch-yours, all that kind of stuff.
it is interesting to think about the fact that jesus came into a society that had an ultra-screwed-up government that oppressed the jews majorly, but didn't (if we are to judge from scriptures) pay any attention to the political parties. peter was a zealot freedom fighter, basically, but it seems like he left that behind to follow jesus.
at the very least, we can know that politics are not going to make or break us or this nation, jesus is bigger than all that.
that's what you get for having such an open-ended question. =-)
it is funny to me when i ask people why they like or hate a certain candidate and have no reason for it.
it is also funny to me when people are like "hilary is basically just a republican in disguise" or "mccain is basically just a democrat in disguise."
Hmm, because of this complicated election, I've been thinking about this as well.
I agree with Sam, that we should look for those kind of things in a leader, but thats kind of hard because a lot of people are going to say anything and everything to become president. So I guess you just have to sort through all that stuff that they stay and figure out what they mean . . . have fun.
I don't really think that a muslim should be president. I know that may be slightly discriminating, but that seems a little risky to me.
I don't think were going to have a perfect president by any means . . . all of them seem to have their faults.
YES Bethany exactly, Obama drives me nuts with his big inspiring words, and it seems like that's the way this whole thing works on all sides. I mean, if you say "I want to bring this country out of this misery-rodden quagmire and rise it up to new hights of victory and freedom!" then you've said aboslutely NOTHING except that you really want to inspire people.
And like that article we were reading yesterday (were you there? MJ was...), Obama is courting churches to get conservative votes. It's all just a game. And if you don't play you have no hope of becoming president, so I don't blame them for playing, but still. HOW do we figure it out?
Very good points Sam, lots to think about. Thanks!
I'm not looking forward to it either, Lucy. So easy to screw up. It's like calling myself a Calvinist, I hate it hate it hate it even if I'm 99% certain it's right. How do I know that I'M the one who's right? Eaaahha.
don't be dissin' on my man obama now.
lol.
i think people get caught up in his charisma, but i stand by my belief that there is more to him than just charm and bluster--i really do think he is the best candidate on the table.
and his natural appeal (which is very brilliant) is not entirely lost once he becomes president.
our president represents america to a lot of different people--he may be a figurehead, but he has to be able to work with people from other countries, as well as politicians from across party boundaries. obama is able to do that and has done that in congress. when it comes to things like health care, obama will be able to make a compromise across partisan lines to actually do something.
bush came into office with some ideas, but was not able to execute them because "his hands were tied" because of his fights with congress. i believe the same would be true with huckabee or clinton. mccain, i'm not sure. it seems like he has some of the same appeal as obama in that he can work with people for CHANGE.
CHANGE for america.
yes, i think it's funny too.
a big stink has been made about obama "playing" to conservative churches, as if no democrat should dare infiltrate on established republican ground, but i would content obama understands and follows christ sincerely--of course h'll play it up for votes, but he is not fake about it. unlike a candidate from new york and one from arizona.
i guess, yeah, it's easy to follow someone who's got big speeches. but i believe obama's got policies to back it up. from what i've seen, the other candidates don't have the same depth of policies. and are lousy speakers compared to barack.
who do you guys like for candidates?
Lol, actually I wasn't their, but I heard you to talking.
Your opinions on Obama are interesting, especially that you think he the right person, because his policies back him up, which is definitely commendable.
At this point, I have no idea who I would vote for.
Hum
What if you have not followed the candidates or know anything about them?
How about this one, what if you are not really that interested?
I suppose if one really does care they would pay attention. It is not that I don't care. On the contrary, I care a great deal about what kind of president we have running the country. But I get so tired of these races where there is so much back biting (you can just imagine what goes on that is NOT on camera), and manipulation and not using the money for the right thing and blah blah blah. The corruption is running so rampant and it is just going down hill.
Here's a thought. If there is a good true Christian president we voted into office, how much of a difference would he be able to make with the congress that we have? Our government is corrupt. The only way there is going to be any kind of real change is if the whole government is completely changed for true Christians who know what it should be. But, I don't think that is going to happen.
our government may have plenty of issues, but I will support whoever is president. Not because I agree with him of her, but because there is not one person in office that would be there were it not for God. We do live in a great country where we are able to worship our Lord freely and I would not want to live anywhere else. There is no such thing as a perfect government in this world.
Bah. The more I think about it the more complicated it is. I would suppose you would vote for the one who has the same convictions and belief as yourself. In other words, who is the closest to what we as Christians believe and hold to in the Bible.
Well anyways. That is my two cents. Hope that helps!
Oops, that last comment by MJ was *sigh* me.
So, I was talking to my parents about voting and what my mom said stuck out to me, "You don't vote for who you want, you vote for the lesser of two evils."
hahaha, I like that Lucy.
Though I don't think I agree with you that the best person for the job is necessarily the one who coinsides with my beleifs the most.
You're probably right about Obama Sam. I think he's almost definantly going to win.
just not Hilary pleeeeaaaaaase!!!
I have to say that India was near the best three weeks of my life because there was almost no TV, and when there was TV or radio there were NO political commercials! I get so sick of seeing it fifty times a day when we're still like six months out....argghhh.
I'm with Lucy. at least until I'm old enough to vote, I really don't care. that doesn't mean I'll follow parents or friends around either. If my opinion doesn't matter, I'm not going to take hours researching each candidate to form an opinion.
but as for you Sam, I really admire the time you take to form your own opinions based on good solid facts and stuff. I wish I had more dedication and discipline to do that too. I hope that come the next election, I'll at least have enough to research it, etc. and make the right choice.
It won't be any surprise to you that my parents support Huckabee. I don't support anyone, because I don't know anything about anyone. I have my natural Republican/Christian/conservative prejudices, but I'm not letting them get in the way when I know they have absolutely no basis except that it's what my parents think. but they may be very right, I don't know.
I used to be so sure about right and wrong. Remember the good old days when your parents were like God and were never wrong? and you knew their choice would always be yours too, and was always good, and moral, and Christian, and right?
I miss those days.
I hate gray areas. It really sucks when you don't care and you still don't know. I used to know even though I didn't care. now I don't even know anymore...
so I won't get into names or anything. It's so tough when you know lots of Christians you admire and they each support someone different. who's right? certainly not me anyway....I used to just go with "my crowd." now my crowd just split five different directions and I can only go one.
It really drives me insane though how the candidates of the same party spend so much time backbiting. I've noticed it more with Republicans, but I'm sure both parties do it. I don't know....it seems so stupid to publicly announce that you can't even get along with those you're supposed to share an opinion and goal with. but then, all of politics seems so stupid.
anyway, I'll post this again in four years when I need the serious help. :) until then, we'll just see how things progress. God tells us to respect our authorities and that's what I'll do when we decide who that authority it.
though I may disagree with everything they say...
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