All posts in Politics

John McCain stands up to supporters who call Obama “Arab”

by Adam Lehman on October 11, 2008 in Culture, Politics, Ramblings with 4 Comments

Ed Gilbreath pointed me to this video and  I’m so so thankful for it. It is Senator McCain standing up to some of his more “passionate” supporters. They were saying trash about Obama that has been fed to them by FoxNews or Rush Limbaugh or something, and he stood up to them and told the truth.

Thank you Senator McCain. Regardless of what happens in the election, I’m a bit more proud that we have two politicians who, for the most part, haven’t tore the reputation of each other apart (though some of their supporters have tried).

McCain’s Slogan: Country First

by Adam Lehman on October 6, 2008 in Culture, Politics with 1 Comment

Aaron Monts writes a great article about the idea of “country first” and if that idea can be aligned with Christianity.

McCain’s slogan is “country first.” Great stuff right? As a Christian, I would have to say that I am first and foremost committed to being a disciple of Christ. That means accepting and living out Christ’s teachings. Therefore, I cannot place “country first.” It is my hope that people would associate the tag “Christian” with me before they would associate the tag “patriot” (though both aren’t bad).

Also, I would have to say, country can’t be third, because my wife would fill that spot. Nor can it be fourth, because my friends and family would fill that void. Nor can country be fifth, as I think Jesus’ call to care for the poor, sick, widow, and needy falls before my commitment to America.

I would also say that I think those in other countries have just as valid claim to freedom and right to establish their governments as they see fit, so I wouldn’t even say that America is first (in my mind) among all countries. I would go even farther as to say that I’m not even committed to democracy (though I appreciate it and am very thankful for those who defend it and i am going to exercise my democratic rights). I’m not saying democracy is the worst (it may be the best) I’m just saying that I’m not committed to it. There are other things that are much more important than democracy.

Bono on $700000000000

by Adam Lehman on September 29, 2008 in Culture, Politics with No comments

“It’s extraordinary to me that the United States can find $700 billion to save Wall Street and the entire G8 can’t find $25 billion dollars to saved 25,000 children who die every day from preventable diseases.”~Bono~

“Where your treasure is, there your hearts will be also.”~Jesus~

“

Green Jobs Now

by Adam Lehman on September 26, 2008 in Culture, Media, Politics, Ramblings with No comments

With our economy in the midst of a major restructuring, America has a couple of options. Rebuild the same system that has failed and hope it doesn’t happen again. We’ll make some minor tweaks to it, add some more legislation, etc. Or we can take things in a new direction. The Green Jobs Now initiative strives to rebuild our economy with a new focus, sustainable growth. Now, because we’re going to be rebuilding anyways, would be a very opportune time to restructure the way we think about energy, jobs, and sustainability.

I hope you’ll click through and sign the petition at GreenJobsNow.com. Also, check out the video below. I have no idea if it portrays “newt” in an accurate way, but i’m more excited about “patrick” and what he has to offer to America and the world.

A faith beyond of the economy

by Adam Lehman on September 15, 2008 in Culture, Faith, Politics with 1 Comment

Ok. so most people have heard the news. Lehman Brothers (no relation to me) filed for bankruptcy. The Dow had the biggest drop in 7 years. CNN seems to be running 24/7 coverage of 3 things: presidential campaign, the declining economy, and hurricanes. 

Now here is my point: things are going to get very very very tough for a lot of people. Some people are going to lose their jobs. Some people are going to struggle to make ends meat. Some people are going to lose their houses and have their world turned upside-down by the economy or by the weather. These are all very bad things.

For you Christians out there: these things should not effect your faith. The bad economy is going to lead to more and more people being very tight with their posessions. Giving is going to go down at your church. People are going to give less to charities. 

It seems that, too often, we think that our faith is going to hit a rough patch when “things” aren’t going to be easy. Sure, maybe the candidate we want won’t be president. Maybe we’ll have to rebuild our house after the wind tears it down. Maybe we’ll have to tell our kids they can’t have the newest/coolest clothes this year. 

But when tough things happen, we must remember to cling to Jesus. It is in those tough times that God can show up in HUGE ways. 

remember when China kicked out all the missionaries? oh no, how will the Chinese learn about Jesus? how can God’s work be done when faith isn’t made easy? Missionaries get kicked out and what happens….?

BANG. BOOM. KA-POW.

Christianity EXPLODED in China. Underground churches seem to do better evangelism than mega-churches? Really? Lots and Lots of chinese Christians are dieing because of their faith. How did they learn the bible? What worship songs did they sing? 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. ~James 1:2-3~

so…

times may be tough. life may get hard in certain areas. some people are really going to struggle. and faith can EXPLODE

Talking Past Each Other (or partisan rhetoric explained)

by Adam Lehman on September 5, 2008 in Culture, Politics, Ramblings with No comments

so the past couple of days, in wake of the Republican National Convention, I’ve had some great discussions with family, friends, and fiancees. Our talks have revolved around partisan politics and the things we like and don’t like about each party’s platform.

last night, in the midst of some solid dialogue, my fiance and I realized something. We were both speaking out of our own experience. I held certain views because of the context I grew up in and she held certain views because of the context she grew up in. After we acknowledged where we came from (me from a “republican-only-cuz-republicans-equal-christian” family) we were able to talk about issues and acknowledge why we might feel certain ways about different issues (welfare, gay rights, etc.)

the point is that, in reality, we agree on a lot. A whole lot. But we emphasize different things because of our experience. Those who live in the inner-city tend to emphasize (and vote) a lot differently than those in rural areas. Why? Because their experiences are completely different. Once I started getting to know several homosexuals (along with an experience with Emmaus Ministreis) my view on the rights of homosexuals as Americans dramatically changed.

that being said, we must realize that, in politics (and probably many things) we tend to talk from our own experience. we must begin to listen to the situation of the other and acknowledge where they are coming from.

i think this would lead to a dramatic decrease in labeling people as “conservative” or “liberal” or “republican” or “evangelical” or “those crazy people in california” or “those narrow-minded texans.”

(my apologies to those in cali and texas)

Voting for President?

by Adam Lehman on September 3, 2008 in Blogs, Politics with 2 Comments

Scott McKnight wrote an article about Voting for President on the Jesus Creed blog. I posted a comment outlining some ways that I am thinking through voting for president. I think it is obvious whom I favor and I’ve tried to outline how I see the issues. Reply with your thoughts:

while the dillema you proposed is great. here is how I am dealing with it.

1. abortion. abortion won’t be changed by our president (GWB made little progress on the issue). Ending poverty will end abortion. Most abortions take place in the context of poverty. So in reality, abortion is a symptom of poverty (in my understanding). Since roe. v wade is only going to be overturned when tons of people get rallied around it, i wouldn’t even factor that as an issue in this election (thought i will factor it as an issue in how i address my government throughout my life).

2. war, unlike abortion, will be affected greatly by our choice for president. i think the choices are obvious.

3. government ethics. I think the next criteria – at least for me – is the honesty and integrity of the man in the job. I think both candidates, in their own way, have a tremendous amount of character. I’ve never heard someone address faith and race issues in as honest and accurate way as Obama and I’m so proud of Mccain for being so strong against “earmarks” and government spending. Also, I very much love that Obama isn’t using government money to fund his campaign. i think both candidates are incredible in this respect and I’ll be excited for either one cuz I think they will “shake up” washington a bit.

4. caring for the poor, widow, and oppressed. – i have no clue about john Mccain’s stance on this stuff, but i know obama’s. obama wins.

5. Experience – Mccain obviously wins (though his VP is the furthest from experience possible). That being said, personally, i don’t really care for experience, nor do i think it is important for being president. I think we need a “new way” of doing things and approaching issues. Therefore, i have no problem with Obama’s “lack of experience” and won’t hold Sarah Palin’s lack of experience against her.

6. View of America – by this i mean, how does our president see America relative to the rest of the world. In last night’s Republican National Convention, Fred Thompson said that Mccain would be a president which our “allies trust and our enemy’s fear.” This nearly disgusted me. I don’t view America as “better” than other countries or more important. That is why I don’t think our response of war in Iraq was legit (ps. why have we done nothing in Darfur about the genocide…hmmm….they have no oil). Obama takes a dramatically different approach. The way the rest of the world views America would be dramatically different the second we elected Obama as president.

5 Rules for Christian Civility in Politics

by Adam Lehman on September 1, 2008 in Politics with No comments

Jim Wallis offers some thoughts on Christian Civility and the upcoming election. Below are 5 “rules for Christian Civility” as they relate to politics and elections.

  1. We Christians should be in the pocket of no political party; but should evaluate both candidates and parties by our biblically based moral compass.
  2. We don’t vote on only one issue, but see biblical foundations for our concerns over many issues.
  3. We advocate a consistent ethic of life from womb to tomb, and one that challenges the selective moralities of both the left and the right.
  4. We will respect the integrity of our Christian brothers and sisters in their sincere efforts to apply Christian commitments to the important decisions of this election; knowing that people of faith and conscience will be voting both ways in this election year.
  5. We will not attack our fellow Christians as Democratic or Republican partisans, but rather will expect and respect the practice of putting our faith first in this election year; even if we reach different conclusions.

we’ve come a long way baby

by Adam Lehman on August 28, 2008 in Culture, Politics with No comments

i was watching the news this morning and watched the highlights of last nights democratic national convention. politics are annoying and invigorating. they are frustrating because there seems to be so much division as times and at other times they seem to really connect with american humanity.

as i watched grown men cry last evening, it really hit me. our country has come a long long way. no matter what side you take, no matter your political ideology, you’ve got to admit that having an african-american as the presidential nominee for a major political party is symbolic as to where our country has come from and where it still needs to head.

obama’s nomination marks a very significant turning point: we can finally listen to and follow a person regardless of his/her skin color. How incredibly sad that it has taken us so many years to reach this moment, yet how beautiful is it when gross injustices are being overthrown.

i don’t think i realized any of these things until i watched the grown african-american man cry this morning. i am white. i’ve never had to think about my skin color. i’ve never really considered it an issue. i haven’t had the main stream media shaping my self-image based on the shade of my skin. the man who was crying, however, has. his entire life, america has been a place that promised one thing, yet in reality, offered quite another.

thank GOD we’ve come this far and thank GOD we’re not done

Liberal vs. Conservative – What’s The Difference?

by Adam Lehman on August 26, 2008 in Blogs, Politics with 3 Comments

Aaron Montz wrote a blog post about something that has bothered me for a while. He asks the question: What is the difference between a “liberal” and a “conservative?”

my response:

I learned in a biblical theology class that the terms “liberal” and “conservative” refer to one’s interpretation of the bible. Those terms are the same when it comes to politics only they refer to one’s interpretation of the constitution.

This is why those terms today have so little actual meaning. A conservative would be someone who holds very tightly to the actual words of the constitution and a liberal would be someone who affords powers to the government not given in the constitution.

This being said, our current culture doesn’t allow us to be super-conservative (though Ron Paul’s entire campaign was about returning to a constitutional government).

In all actuality, nearly all government officials are liberal.

For example, it is “liberal” to suggest that the government can legislate whether or not homosexuals can be married. It is “liberal” to take up taxes to provide food for the poor. It is “liberal” for the government to regulate pretty much anything. It is “conservative” for the government to keep there hands out of as much as possible.

This being said, i think that many of today’s usage of the terms “liberal” and “conservative” are only used for name calling.

Sadly enough. I’ve had so so so many conversations where the words conservative and liberal end the discussion. I’ve really enjoyed bringing up the idea that, in actuality, all politicians today are “liberal” and continuing on from there.

People don’t know how to continue on once there “bubble” has been shattered.

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