Here We Go....

Okay, my fellow free-thinkers, read this article.

Campus politics through the eyes of faith

by Jacob A. Hogan
SojoMail 6-02-2005

This past year was my first as a college student at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Indiana. I chose the school because of its commitment to Christian learning and academic freedom. As 2004 was an election year and I was a political science major, I was eager to "be a world-changer" (a mantra of the school) and get involved in the presidential election. I put up a Kerry-Edwards sign in my window and a sticker on my door, and faithfully wore my John Kerry pin on the lapel of my coat every day. I then sought out the local College Democrats to help them in their efforts. I thought that a school as big as IWU was bound to have such an organization.

That's when I was surprised to find out that IWU did not have a group for Democrats. About the same time, I began to have propaganda slid under my door that insulted my beliefs and criticized my faith. After hanging up my "God is not a Republican or a Democrat" poster, someone told me that such a poster is foolish. He said, "How can you say God's not a Republican when it's so clear that he is?"

This all came as a shock to me. I had no idea that a Christian had to be of a certain political persuasion. I quickly learned. I had discussions with people who, when they found out my affiliations, questioned my morals, my intelligence, and my allegiance to Christ.

I found I was not alone, however, and a group of Democrats on campus began to meet to draw up a constitution for our own College Democrats. We promptly submitted our constitution to the school for approval. It was denied because such a group - because of the Democratic Party platform - would be "in conflict with the school's community values code."

About the same time, another group of students on campus began to organize a club for Libertarians. They were met with as much resistance as the Democrats were. According to the Student Development office, which is in charge of approving new clubs, the Libertarian platform was "a little loose on some things."

After four months of negotiating (that's right, four months), however, we got our constitution for the Democrats approved, and the Libertarians are on their way to getting theirs accepted, too. This is not the base of the problem, though. This isn't as simple as a presidential election or getting a club approved. This is an issue of people of faith thinking for themselves instead of letting someone do it for them.

It's not that Christians who are conservative can't think for themselves, or even that they are all wrong. There are several political issues where I find the conservative view to be most biblical. The problem is that many conservative Christians feel they don't have a choice. That's sure how it seems at Indiana Wesleyan. A lot of Christians think that there are only a few important issues in the political realm. Faith does not just intersect politics at issues such as abortion or gay rights; Christian faith applies in every issue, from feeding the poor to preserving the environment to deficit spending, and yes, even war.

The outlook isn't all bad for the Christian community, though. At at class called "News and Views Through the Eyes of Faith," IWU students meet weekly to discuss various hot-button political issues and how they apply to our Christian faith. In these class meetings there is discussion, argument, learning, and most of all, people thinking on their own and not being afraid to say that they disagree. Students in this class draw their own conclusions, which vary across the political spectrum. Most of all, students in this class agree to disagree. This diversity in viewpoints is what political thought is all about.

Christianity in America is still very political, but things are starting to change. The faculty members at my school are varied in their political inclinations and frequently debate politics with students and other staff. Christian students here and around the nation are getting active in politics on all sides of the issues. There's still a long way to go, as illustrated by the battle for a Democrat or Libertarian club at Indiana Wesleyan, but the situation is looking up. Only through frank debate and standing up to the status quo can Christians challenge the conventions of political Christianity. Sometimes it takes a four-month battle, sometimes just a good conversation, but with perseverance, we can be real world-changers and help infuse our political ideas, from the far left to the far right, with our faith in a way others can understand and respect.

This is absolutely ridiculous. This article hits the nail right on the head. Christians actually think that they have NO CHOICE except to be conservative. We must stop people from doing our thinking for us. And blatantly partisan universities need to be more open-minded on both sides of the political spectrum.

I feel like a muted voice in an era when Republicans control the White House, The House of Representatives, and The Senate. Of course, this is an election year, so things are looking up. Additionally, I admit that some of those aforementioned Republicans are liberal-minded Republicans. But let's face it, since Karl Rove and Gov. Bush turned Texan politics upside-down in the late 1970s through the 1980s, liberal Republicans have been much harder to find.

The Democrats' problem in the 2004 election is that we had such a weak platform. You would ask, "What are Democrats concerned about in 2004?" And some would say one thing, some would say another. It made me crazy. And then Republicans loved to play the "flip-flop" card on us. We are quite possibly in the middle of the most politically polarized era our nation has ever known. That means your party needs to stand for something. We failed that. Oh no, we've finally got me ranting about politics. God help us.

To cool down, I'll let our man Richard Dreyfuss take the helm for a moment.

"Unless you are willing to accept torture as part of a normal American political lexicon, unless you are willing to accept that leaving the Geneva Convention is fine and dandy, if you accept the expansion of wiretapping as business as usual, the only way to express this now is to embrace the difficult and perhaps embarrassing process of impeachment." --Richard Dreyfuss

Thank you, Rich. Those words were shared with an audience in Washington, D.C. on February 16th. Read the article.

And Jim Wallis, a man who has been consulted by past U.S. Presidents and also Tony Blair, has these words for us.

"Clearly, God is not a Republican or a Democrat ... the privatising of faith has weakened its impact on critical public issues and opened the door for a rightwing Christian politics which both narrows and distorts a biblical agenda." --Jim Wallis

I can't stress Jim's cleverness enough. I mean, if we're going to have a president who claims that God is talking to him, well, that's fine. God does speak to people. Where would we be without people like Martin Luther King Jr? His faith was integral to his message. But God also "speaks" to people who commit terrible, horrific acts in the name of Jesus Christ. And I think we tend to look at many of the atrocities committed by our government with an attitude of "Well, it's not that bad." We do this until suddenly we're able to tolerate things like torture, subverting constitutional rights, ignoring the Kyoto Accord, ignoring the Geneva conventions, and the rest of it.

But let's get specific. God has spoken to G-Dubs regarding two very important ideas. The first idea is quite profound. That is that Bush believes that democracy is God's gift to humanity. It is God's vehicle for justice and equality in the world.

"This is my ideal form of government, with which I am well pleased." spake the Lord.

Cool idea. This is an idea I can stomach insofar as democracy seems to promote justice and equality more efficiently than other forms of government. The second thing that God has told G-Money is that the U.S. must invade Iraq in an effort to provide peace to that region. That's a little muddier. Apparently, Jesus was all about militaristic invasions. In my opinion, G-Dubs seems to view God in terms of the Old Testament more than the New Testament. Of course, the Old Testament is still relative to modern believers. However, our relationship to God now is much different than it was for the Israelites. Okay, I need to shut up.

Watch Mr. Show with David Cross and Bob Odenkirk.