A sigh of relief, a prayer of hope

The long and all-consuming presidential election is coming to an end as I write this and it appears that the president has been given four more years to do his job. My first reaction is a sigh of relief. I’m relieved that the campaign and election are over. It takes up far too much time, spends far too much money, polarizes far too many people, and makes far too many impossible promises. So yes, I am relieved that it’s finally over. But I have to be honest and say that I am also breathing a sigh of relief because of the results. I’m not an idealistic and naive fan-boy of the president or any other politician, but given the options in the election I am of the opinion that he was the better option. I don’t agree with many of his policies, but when I attempt to weigh the scales in light of my own convictions, my own beliefs and my own values I will support the likes of Barack Obama over Mitt Romney any day. Many people will disagree with that conclusion, but that’s why I only speak for myself.

As much as I think legalized abortion is a horrific tragedy that violates the sanctity of life, until I see a politician willing to put the full force of government behind not just changing laws, but actually addressing the social ills that lead so many women to the heartbreaking point of choosing to terminate their pregnancies and give up on their unborn children I refuse to let that single issue determine my vote. Why is it that every politician I’ve ever heard speak out against abortion refuses to address the deeper causes that lead to this tragic loss of life? And why is it that every politician willing to address those underlying issues seems to frame the legality of abortion question in terms of “choice” rather than “life”? I think both sides fail on this subject!

As for the economy, I’m no expert, but I do think Obama inherited the toughest job of any president in recent history when he took office in 2008 and in some ways it doesn’t surprise me that the recovery is going so slowly. But to hear Romney talk about going back to the policies of Reagan, Bush Sr. and Bush Jr. and suggest that this is a new direction just doesn’t make any sense to me. Those were the years when the rich got richer and the poor got poorer. How can that be good for the country?

There are plenty of other issues, but in the end I find myself coming back to scripture. Over and over again God’s word reminds us of how much God hates it when people and especially nations fail to care for the weak, the needy, the sick and the foreigners in our midst. On every one of these fronts I find the policies and values of the right wing profoundly offensive. I’m not suggesting that those people aren’t compassionate or caring, but the policies put forth by Romney on these fronts don’t suggest that he really believes that a nation is responsible or will be held accountable for how it treats these people. Of course, I’m fully aware that there are just as many greedy, selfish and uncompassionate democrats as there are republicans, but at least the fundamental understanding of government as put forth by Obama suggests that he takes the scriptural directives mentioned above very seriously.

And I guess I can’t finish these thoughts without making some reference to the question of the personal faith of the candidates. Obama is a confessing follower of Jesus, and that is something to which I can relate very closely. Romney, on the other hand is a confessing Mormon. As much as I would like to say that the presidency is a political job and personal faith shouldn’t be a front burner issue, I have to be honest and confess that I have serious reservations about a Mormon president. I guess what bugs me more than anything else is the way he tries to hide his faith and somehow sell himself as being a Christian. He hardly ever uses the word Mormon in public and is constantly making comments about how we all worship the same God, are children of the same God etc. Frankly, I wish he would just come out and admit that he isn’t a Christian and believes that Christianity has it all wrong. I wish he would publicly highlight the fact that he believes that the Book of Mormon is the inspired word of God and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. But instead he intentionally blurs the lines and tries to look, sound and act like any other Christian when he’s in the public spotlight. To me that is just plain dishonest. I would be more likely to support a Buddhist, Muslim or Hindu presidential candidate if I agreed with their political stance because at least I know they would own up to the fact that they are believers of a different religion.

But whether I’m relieved or not, I think the most important thing I can do now is to pray; to pray for the president, to pray for the government, to pray for the nation and especially to pray for those who are suffering, those who are needy, those who are unaccepted outsiders, those who are marginalized, those whose lives aren’t valued, and those who are disenfranchised. Jesus cares about them and reaches out to them. As one of his followers I hope and pray for the courage to do likewise.