Here I stand...

"Whatever is not from faith is sin."
- Romans 14:23

The reason I voted Third Party was the result of hours and hours of work; a reflection of chasing an inner butterfly, a voice, a dream...conscience. It's the result of a convergence of issues of christian mission, political frustration, eschatology and love . I am coming to new conclusions that influence and direct me towards places and positions that have been deep in me but not fully formulated or formed. The church and this nation are in deep need of fresh chrysalis. These voting Issues have unearthed matters of conscience and conviction that have been under the surface. These subconscious tensions have been rubbing against my heart until I finally started owning them.

This has been no trivial work to me. It's work that originates in my pursuit to live and walk as Jesus walked:

"The one who says that he abides in him must live the same way he himself lived." -1 John 2:6

I feel I have seriously, carefully and honestly laid out that struggle here, not with sound bites and video alone, which unfortunately, I feel is the limit of most peoples interest. Rarely do we take time to examine the girth of the iceberg below the surface of the water...but don't be mislead to the size of the matter by the mere tip that protrudes from the surface.

My posts hopefully hint at the direction one must search for themselves to hammer out the issues if they desire. I know that not everyone cares or is concerned and that many are already convinced of these various matters. But for some, like me, these are broad and serious matters that require more thought, prayer, study and mental work to be done.

I knew that I had serious conscience conflict with war, interventionism, a bully foreign policy stance, preemptive acts of war, constitutional side stepping, Big government fiscal policies, lack of real change in regards to the growing poverty gap, issues surrounding the pro-life positions on killing, the growing powers or worship of the executive office vs the constitutionally designed legislative counterbalance established by the founding Fathers. In this political season I thought Obama spoke to some of the issues better than Mcain did...but Mcain spoke to other issues better than Obama. For me, matters of conscience were divided along party lines...I couldn't put both of my feet on one platform for the first time in my life.

I struggled with what to do until the day I voted and in the end...I felt conscience and sincerity required me to vote according to principle and conscience. For me to do otherwise would be, as the above scripture says...."sin".

"Each of us at various periods of life is confronted with certain moral questions that need to be solved. It takes a great deal of effort to attend to them and to seek answers. In every labor, especially at the beginning, there is a time when the work is painfully difficult, when we are tempted to give up. Physical work is painful at first, mental work still more. As Lessing says: "People are inclined to cease to think at the point at which thought begins to be difficult; but it is just there, I would add, that thinking begins to be fruitful."
-Leo Tolstoy

I think many of the issues I wrestled with are at the roots of why Mcain lost. It's a shame when the voice of new creation, opportunity, vision, hope, peace, new dreams, restoration, industry, faith, empowerment is nolonger found in the mouth of the church. I think it's a cop out for the church to disdainfully point a pessimistic, judgemental finger at sincere people wanting a better future for themselves and their families. To our shame, most of these pontifications are fired off from our self indulgent, palaces of praise built off the devoured houses of widows (see Mark 12:41-44 and Luke 20:45-47 and 21:1-4 vs. II Corinthians 8:5-15)

I hear the beleaguered droning of the Christians saying: "It's the churches role to serve the poor not the governments role" Really? How well are we practically doing that? How are our churches really working for justice? I think the church in general, stands naked in her uproar and the people are simply looking for real answers and leadership.


If you were in real financial need who is going to help you? The local spiritual moose lodge?

We desperately need to reclaim a right to speak.

The reason most people ignored all the christian warnings is because until we move from condemnation of gays, murderers, and money spenders...we sound hollow. We need more actions to back our moral authority. The religious right looks silly stomping her feet in anger and pouting. Maybe if she spoke less and did more, people would follow her and not opt out by the droves week by week.

I see all of this as a great time of challenge the church will proactively seize or lazily condemn.


Photo by Troy Thompson