The Confessions Series: Politics

I used to write a lot on my blog but had good reason to stop.  I heard that Christians spend so much time writing their blogs about loving God and loving others when that energy would be better spent by actually going out and loving God and others.  It is with reservation that I venture back into this arena with this new series on confessions.  Remember that they are confessions.  Feel free to criticize me but this means all of the skeletons and junk in your closet are fair game too. So after a long hiatus from writing which lasted several years, here is what I have learned.

I never convinced anybody to follow Jesus by talking about politics.  I worked and studied in Washington, DC for eight years in the policy arena. I studied political science and international relations at UCLA and Johns Hopkins. I am very political but I avoid the discussion of politics when I would prefer to talk about the gospel.  Politics is about power, grace is something one receives.  So please stop it with all of your Facebook posts.

I do not think Barack Obama is a Muslim.  If you still think he is, stop kidding yourself.  I do not think Barack Obama is a Christian. If you still think he is, stop kidding yourself.

I hate broadcast news that is too liberal. I am talking about CNN. I hate broadcast news that is too conservative.  I am talking about Fox News. If you claim to be objective and your reporting is conservative or liberal, you are not objective. 

I prefer to be around Christians who are both intelligent and loving.  It is not good to have zeal without knowledge but if I have to choose between a more intelligent Christian or a loving Christian, I choose the loving Christian. My friends who know me well know that I am conservative.  I have a lot of work to do on being compassionate so do not call me a compassionate conservative.  The compassionate conservatives were neither compassionate nor conservative. Discuss!

Are we in the end times? I don’t know. Pre-tribulation or post-tribulation? If you do not know what I am talking about there is no need to worry.  Jesus prevailed at Calvary which means we win at the end so stop freaking out all of the time. Feel free to skip to the back of the book on this one.

So I am back living in southern California now and this is just as much of a spiritual frontline battle as Washington, DC.  People are not as concerned about politics here.  I try to stay in the loop by keeping up to date with events in the international arena.  When it comes to discussions on politics, I try to hide my cards as well as I can. My close friends know that if they get me started on the subject, I won’t stop. 

It is important to understand the signs of the times but I confess to ignoring the guy trying to get his feet back on the ground while asking for change in front of the supermarket. I worked at think tanks to understand how radical Islam influences young men in poverty to become terrorists.  If I drive two hours south to Baja California, people live in shacks with a toilet that does not flush because it empties into a hole in the ground. For some dumb reason that I cannot explain, I worry about them less because they are not Muslims. Like I said, I am working on the compassionate part.

Next time on Confessions: The Church, will the men please stand up?