For starters, I want to live in a society that says, there is enough for all of us. I am looking for a community that says the hording of wealth is not the way to peace. The way of the sword and the dollar has failed us again and again. Yet all I hear the presidential candidates refer to is, "the American Dream," "I believe in the free market system," or "Protect America's interests." My heart breaks for the profound violence inherent in those phrases. I cannot support a leader who accepts the American way of life as default and good.
I won't vote for either candidate because my faith lies with another kingdom. My politics are intertwined with my faith in Jesus Christ. Therefore, I don't want to muddle my beliefs with the messianic promises of change that permeate this election. I already have a savior and I doubt he ever wore a suit, although I can't be positive. I've never seen a photo of him.
I'm not apathetic towards the dilemmas of living in this world. But our current problems are the same old crises, in fact it seems that we are living in a cyclical world: the more things change the more they stay the same. It's a scary country to live in when so many of us are hurting and there are so few places to turn. We aren't facing a new vague threat, just a rehashing of the same tired plots.
What is it that makes this election so much more momentous than any previous one? Why the anxiety and anger and fear now? An honest answer to these questions is perhaps the most depressing thing I can imagine. Has the US always been in a war of some kind? Have there always been elderly amongst us who cannot afford to retire? Have there always been homeless on our streets? Does the Hippocratic oath still apply to someone who can't afford to pay the hospital bill? Have the poor always been with us?
The fact is that I'm as complicit as anyone in living a comfortable life at the expense of my neighbor. (I'm not saying the reader is complicit, that's for you to decide, trust me I'm a terrible judge. I know many of you have hearts of gold and serve tirelessly. I'm not pointing fingers at anyone other than myself and the system, which we have let convince us is good.)
This is my cry to our community and to the church. I'm asking to be held accountable to this decision that by not voting I'm taking on a much bigger responsibility: to do whatever small thing I can to love my neighbor, to love as I have loved myself. I have been unfaithful for far to long. I just can't convince myself that voting will absolve me of my responsibilities as a lover of God. The idol of independence has lost it's appeal. My vote doesn't matter if I'm not willing to stand up next to my neighbor, who is suffering, and share their burden and neither does my faith for that matter. I want to seek a new way of living. Nothing I've tried so far has worked.
I just can't believe that any political candidate offers anything fundamentally different from the past 200 years of US policy. But I do believe in the small way, the way of humility and self-sacrificial love and service. I reject the promise of power and change that our right to vote is supposed to symbolize. I believe there is a better system, a better way to live, which is founded on interdependence. I want to participate in a society where 'mine' becomes 'ours,' unfortunately that's not what America means, yet. The vote on November 4th is no paradigm shift, it is no peaceful revolution. But we have been promised a better world. I know I won't vote for the old world when I know there is a new one being born right here, right now.
If anyone reading this has any suggestions about faithful communities that are trying to live a new way, or if you are active in life affirming work, please let me know I'm always looking for new rays of hope.
"We can do no great things, only small things with great love." --Mother Teresa
I was greatly inspired by The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborn, it's an exciting read. I have to thank Shane for sharing his thoughts on community, God and love. Also here are a couple of links that helped me compose this note, maybe they can make clear anything I stumbled over. (I recommend exploring these sites. They contain a wealth of, what I'd call, prophetic vision):
http://www.thesimpleway.or
(The Irresistible Revolution, Chapter 5)
http://www.cpt.org/resourc
http://www.cpt.org/about/g
http://www.catholicworker.
And just for fun:
http://www.sinfest.net/arc
