Speaking of politics
28/02/15 05:04
Recently I had lunch with a friend. As is often the case with people our age, our conversation turned to retirement. This friend is planning to retire in a few months and since he is an active and involved person, I knew that he must have a few plans about what he will do with his time. He’s not the kind of person to sit around the house and watch television. His answer surprised me at first: he plans to run for public office. He has always participated in political activities as part of his live, but feels that running for office requires a full-time effort and now that he has the time, that seems to be something well worth doing.
Later that day, I found myself thinking about one of my brothers. He and I are close in age and, in many ways quite similar. But our lives have taken very different paths. No surprise there. That is often the case with brothers. Since I was thinking of him, I checked out his blog and recent posts on social networks. I remembered why lunch with my friend got me to thinking about my brother.
The two men have very little in common other than being a similar age. They have different careers, different family experiences and live in different parts of the country. I doubt if they would have reason to get to know one another.
Both, however, believe in the power of political action to bring good to the world. And both have invested considerable time and effort in pursuing politics. It isn’t a bad thing. They have both contributed to society and worked for social change. They both are concerned about other people and are willing to help. They both have the capacity to work hard for causes that are meaningful.
Their passion for politics is, I think, not uncommon for people our age. There are a lot of baby boomers who came through high school civics classes and grew up watching Walter Cronkite report on the latest Civil Rights actions of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. There is a strong belief in the power of the vote and the importance of involvement in politics.
I, too, have felt passion for candidates and causes. I vote at every election. I make modest contributions to political campaigns from time to time. I pay attention to politics.
However, I don’t share the conviction that politics will save the world. Probably those words are a bit strong for my friend and my brother, but I think that what they have in common that I do not share, it a belief that the way to transform lives is through political action. I wouldn’t discourage either of them from their passions, but I can’t share it in the same way.
It isn’t that I don’t understand human dynamics, displays (and plays) of power, and the role of politics in other institutions. I’ve voted for officers in non-profit organizations and served on enough boards of directors. I’ve been a pastor long enough to know that the church has its own kind of politics. I’ve been to decades of church conference meetings and have been a delegate to our church’s General Synod, which is our national assembly. I’ve watched others try to line up the votes for their cause or resolution or candidate. I’ve even played the game. You don’t stay pastor of a congregation the size of ours by ignoring the politics.
It is just that I can’t convince myself that all of our problems could be solved by political action. I don’t really believe that all of our troubles would go away if the right candidates were elected and the right laws were passed. It isn’t that I don’t support candidates or have opinions on laws. It is that I think that even the best people will make compromises and that the pressures of politics, especially the role of big money, can lead good people to unwise actions. Politics is, in my opinion, always too short sighted to invest in the best interests of the people.
Consider yesterday’s grandstanding and showboating in the US Congress. At the last hour, congress came up with a one week extension for funding for the Department of Homeland Security. This isn’t some optional governmental function. We expect the government to provide security for its people. And we are guaranteed that the next week will be filled with the same kind of wrangling and speechifying and failure to focus on other problems. An essential government function and we can’t even come up with an annual budget. Seriously, does anybody believe that week-by-week funding is going to cost less? Doesn’t anybody else think that our security is threatened by the distraction of not knowing whether next week’s paycheck will be forthcoming?
The divisions in the House of Representatives are not merely partisan. The two parties don’t see eye-to-eye, to be sure, but the majority party can’t produce a majority vote. It isn’t like they get along with each other and work together for the common good within their own party.
Back in high school civics, we learned about the separation of powers. The courts, the executive administration and the legislature had distinct functions and responsibilities. Separating powers was a constitutional vision to deter the rise of a monarchy or a dictatorship. These days, from my point of view, we have a judiciary that seems to want to legislate, an executive branch that wants to legislate, and a congress that seems to want to assume executive governmental functions. And it looks like all of them are beholden to the huge campaign contributions that are required in order to get re-elected. In the midst of all of this it looks to me like a spectacular failure of leadership. Aren’t leaders supposed to be able to find common ground and forge agreements? There isn’t much of that going on in Congress these days.
It hardly seems like a scheme for salvation.
I’m glad that there are good people who remain interested in politics. And I try to be a good citizen and participate. But I don’t hold out much hope for the politicians to solve our problems.
My job can be frustrating some days. But it is filled with hope. It feels like we are a people on a journey with a positive destination. And, on our best days, we can look farther down the road than one week at a time.
Later that day, I found myself thinking about one of my brothers. He and I are close in age and, in many ways quite similar. But our lives have taken very different paths. No surprise there. That is often the case with brothers. Since I was thinking of him, I checked out his blog and recent posts on social networks. I remembered why lunch with my friend got me to thinking about my brother.
The two men have very little in common other than being a similar age. They have different careers, different family experiences and live in different parts of the country. I doubt if they would have reason to get to know one another.
Both, however, believe in the power of political action to bring good to the world. And both have invested considerable time and effort in pursuing politics. It isn’t a bad thing. They have both contributed to society and worked for social change. They both are concerned about other people and are willing to help. They both have the capacity to work hard for causes that are meaningful.
Their passion for politics is, I think, not uncommon for people our age. There are a lot of baby boomers who came through high school civics classes and grew up watching Walter Cronkite report on the latest Civil Rights actions of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. There is a strong belief in the power of the vote and the importance of involvement in politics.
I, too, have felt passion for candidates and causes. I vote at every election. I make modest contributions to political campaigns from time to time. I pay attention to politics.
However, I don’t share the conviction that politics will save the world. Probably those words are a bit strong for my friend and my brother, but I think that what they have in common that I do not share, it a belief that the way to transform lives is through political action. I wouldn’t discourage either of them from their passions, but I can’t share it in the same way.
It isn’t that I don’t understand human dynamics, displays (and plays) of power, and the role of politics in other institutions. I’ve voted for officers in non-profit organizations and served on enough boards of directors. I’ve been a pastor long enough to know that the church has its own kind of politics. I’ve been to decades of church conference meetings and have been a delegate to our church’s General Synod, which is our national assembly. I’ve watched others try to line up the votes for their cause or resolution or candidate. I’ve even played the game. You don’t stay pastor of a congregation the size of ours by ignoring the politics.
It is just that I can’t convince myself that all of our problems could be solved by political action. I don’t really believe that all of our troubles would go away if the right candidates were elected and the right laws were passed. It isn’t that I don’t support candidates or have opinions on laws. It is that I think that even the best people will make compromises and that the pressures of politics, especially the role of big money, can lead good people to unwise actions. Politics is, in my opinion, always too short sighted to invest in the best interests of the people.
Consider yesterday’s grandstanding and showboating in the US Congress. At the last hour, congress came up with a one week extension for funding for the Department of Homeland Security. This isn’t some optional governmental function. We expect the government to provide security for its people. And we are guaranteed that the next week will be filled with the same kind of wrangling and speechifying and failure to focus on other problems. An essential government function and we can’t even come up with an annual budget. Seriously, does anybody believe that week-by-week funding is going to cost less? Doesn’t anybody else think that our security is threatened by the distraction of not knowing whether next week’s paycheck will be forthcoming?
The divisions in the House of Representatives are not merely partisan. The two parties don’t see eye-to-eye, to be sure, but the majority party can’t produce a majority vote. It isn’t like they get along with each other and work together for the common good within their own party.
Back in high school civics, we learned about the separation of powers. The courts, the executive administration and the legislature had distinct functions and responsibilities. Separating powers was a constitutional vision to deter the rise of a monarchy or a dictatorship. These days, from my point of view, we have a judiciary that seems to want to legislate, an executive branch that wants to legislate, and a congress that seems to want to assume executive governmental functions. And it looks like all of them are beholden to the huge campaign contributions that are required in order to get re-elected. In the midst of all of this it looks to me like a spectacular failure of leadership. Aren’t leaders supposed to be able to find common ground and forge agreements? There isn’t much of that going on in Congress these days.
It hardly seems like a scheme for salvation.
I’m glad that there are good people who remain interested in politics. And I try to be a good citizen and participate. But I don’t hold out much hope for the politicians to solve our problems.
My job can be frustrating some days. But it is filled with hope. It feels like we are a people on a journey with a positive destination. And, on our best days, we can look farther down the road than one week at a time.