Politics. I’ve never written about them here before, but
today (parts of) our government shut down. I have opinions about this fiasco,
but because they are not clearly thought out, I won’t interject them into the fray. I’m going to comment on something that I noticed to today
on Facebook from the first 6:30 am comment “How come the social networks aren’t lighting up
about this?” through the wordy mish mash appearing all over the
place this evening.
I contributed my share, but it was small and cryptic enough
that one could assume I was writing about whatever one wanted to assume… I will
say that I believe we need to take care of each other and that we will almost
always gravitate towards greed and self interest before looking out for the
interests of others. (The theological reasoning behind that, I will not get
into.) I believe government, while quite imperfect, is one avenue that God has
established to assist us in looking past ourselves to the needs of others. There is a cost to life and a cost to caring
for the less fortunate. We collectively bear those costs.
More stunning were the diverse opinions and comments showing
up on Facebook (I am not a #twit yet…) I am going to post a few of the ones
that arrived on my feed today. I have very
interesting friends and therefore quite an array of opinions appeared!!!
The common denominator among the comments I am choosing to post is that all of
these friends profess faith in Christ.
Jesus gets bashed around in the world of politics and I dare say, he doesn’t
vote Republican or Democrat… nor drink tea or beer. He is, however, living and
active in our imperfect world working through the imperfect lives of imperfect
citizens. And if one professes to have perfect clarity about ‘what would Jesus do?’
one is sorely mistaken.
Take for instance, this sort of diversity on Government Shut Down Day One from the
people of God:
“Saw this bumper
sticker while leaving work, "I love Obamacare" ... Wonder if they
will be one of the employees who will loose their job because of the projected
330 million budget deficit that obamacare will soon cause the clinic...” Ohio
“Reading BONHOEFFER; pastor, martyr, prophet, spy. Where is this
faith today?” Colorado
“I'm sorry - but I must say this: We have a legislative process
in the United States. WHEN both Houses of Congress pass a bill - in this case
The Affordable Health Care - WHEN the Supreme Court - under challenge -after
the fact - declares it Constitutional - WHEN a President wins a convincing
re-election - after the bill has been passed - and when his opponent made AHCA
a key criticism of his failed campaign - you do not destroy the whole economy
by shutting down the Government to change a law you don't like! This is exactly
what is playing out in Washington today. What the GOP is doing in NOT illegal -
but it IS unethical.” Colorado
“I will not patronize any business that alters worker hours to
keep from adhering to the Affordable Care Act. If that business is so close to
the bone that that is the profit margin, then they are not viable in the first
place. I certainly would not invest or hold stock in any such company.” Washington
“Coffees and lots of it is needed to improve the day.”(--small
blog Coffee Break) Washington
“I am ashamed of the government shutdown that resulted from
Congress' inaction last night. Congress is so polarized that they cannot
reconcile their differences and meet on middle ground. Wake up, Republicans
& Democrats! This polarization is unsustainable and will not be tolerated
among the American people as you can see by the uproar today. Hundreds of
thousands of people are suffering furloughs because of your inability to pass a
crucial bill. And might I add, it's absolutely ridiculous that the same Members
of Congress that caused the government to shutdown will still receive their
paychecks!” Texas
“Perhaps the congressmen (red & blue) should be deemed
non-essential.” Ohio
“This is not easy. We all need to read both
sides. We need change, just not sure this change.” California
“Employers
are using "obamacare" as an excuse to not do the right thing by their
workers. Shameful and greedy.” Ohio
That’s all really. We are
entitled to our opinions, of course... I was just marveling at the diversity
among my very small group of friends, all who possess a fundmentally similar
worldview.
Lastly, I will give my son credit for posting the best comment to come
across my feed today, and leave you with this: “Have we tried turning our government off and back on again?”
