You’re right, there was some divisive language in Senator Obama’s acceptance speech. I was disappointed in that too. It was divisive, but not at all sarcastic or immature like Governor Palin’s was. And overwhelmingly, his message has had a unifying theme. His most famous line is still “there is no red state America and blue state America. There is the United States of America!”

I found it to be very interesting that last night Senator McCain called for end to partisan rancor, yet his speech came on the heels of several days of pure… partisan rancor.

Overall, the republican-fueled “culture war” is definitely not good for the country. It allows those in power (!) to cry “victim!” and pits neighbor against neighbor. Ideology breaks friendships, when civil discourse could actually be strengthening them. Above all, these conversations (nee “culture wars”) need to be grace-filled. But there is no grace in war, is there.

you need to take off those democratic blinders you have on and go back and listen to Obama’s speech. His rhetoric was just as “smug, sarcastic, and immature in its divisive, name-calling attacks.” and certainly as much me vs them as well. its the nature of the beast!

That’s a good point about political parties not being wholly able to wage peace. I guess I was thinking about how Obama was against the senseless Iraq war from the beginning. But your’e right, we can’t put our hopes in the parties in order to have peace in the world.

Regarding the republicans being “clearly more Biblical” on the issue of abortion, I’m not so sure. The way I see it, our “blueprint for change” is that we Love God and Love Neighbor. Our answer as Christians to end abortion is not that we just vote for people who ostensibly change the law, but rather, we love our daughters, our sisters, our friends as Christ has loved us! When we do that, they won’t feel that they need to get the abortion in the first place. Government can’t fix all of our problems… republicans should know that! In other words… I don’t think the republican party does (or even can) end abortions. We citizen Christians do that when we act as Christians to the people in our households. (Did you know that 64% of women who have abortions check the box “Christian” or “Catholic” on their intake forms? That means that if all Christian and Catholic families loved and supported their daughters adequately, we could bring down the abortion rate by 64% overnight. Think about it.)

Anyway, thanks for calling me out on suggesting the democrats can create peace on their own. I guess that’s the same thinking error as thinking republicans can end abortions.

Another thought: If I were a non-Christian living in this country, I’d be confused about what Christianity is all about. I would have noticed a president, who was a self-proclaimed Christian, who waged a huge unnecessary war in which tens of thousands of innocent civilians have died. And I would have seen last night a self-proclaimed Christian do nothing but hurl insults at her political opponent. If these people really are Christians, perhaps they need a lesson in PR!

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not saying either party fits the bill better than the other. I am only questioning the target of picking a party because of peace. As Christians we should prayerfully look at the ‘issues’ and then compare the biblical teachings to determine which candidate fits the bill better.

Issues:
Abortion – Clearly the republicans are closer to biblical teaching here

Poverty – Clearly the democrats are typically more in line with biblical teachings

So, it is not easy, but it is our responsibility as Christians to be politically involved and to measure our candidates based on where they line up with Biblical beliefs. And, since neither party scores very highly, we should then exert our influence to move them closer to the ultimate plumb line.

I also felt offended as I watched her months-old baby being passed around as a prop, to remind viewers that she’s pro-life? That baby should have been in bed by that hour! Poor child…

But most of all, I felt discouraged because I was reminded that the Republican party is a party of war–war of all kinds. Her speech was smug, sarcastic, and immature in its divisive, name-calling attacks. It was classic Us. vs. Them-ism, where “we” are always right and justified and “they” are panderers to Eeeevil. I heard fear, self-righteousness, and anger. How wonderful.

If we want war in Iraq AND war in our culture, we should elect these people. If we want peace… we should elect those who wage it.

One further thought: I still don’t understand the argument that because people “identify with” Governer Palin, she should be elected to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency. I mean, I “identify with” Keith Geeding, but I wouldn’t hire him to fix the transmission on my car. Neither would I hire a person to be Vice President just because I identified with her haircut and her appreciation for children’s hockey.

Zing!