The President's Religion

I've been agitated a bit lately by the news.

A recent poll taken states that approximately 1/5 of Americans surveyed believe that Barak Obama is a Muslim instead of the Christian that he professes to be. These poll numbers have been reported and re-reported over the past few weeks, especially in light of the proposed Ground Zero mosque.

I'm a little disappointed that this is news. Millions of tragic, news-worthy events are occurring all over the world right now. I read this week about a village in which 200 women were raped and beaten in front of their own husbands and children by a rebel military group. There's a war going on in Afghanistan that few people in America have any idea about. Towns and communities ravaged by natural disaster are still attempting to recover. Anybody remember Haiti? How are they doing? Or Pakistan? How many Americans are aware of the trapped Chilean miners?

The public forgets what is not right in front of their noses (whether that be a newspaper or a facebook post). The media plays a large role in that. So why are we reading about the President's religion and whether or not he can afford politically to support this proposed mosque at the cost of all of the real problems that could be addressed by the general public? Is this really what matters?

I also realize, however, that only what sells is news. This is news because people are buying it - they want to know. They want information on the president's faith. Or rumors, at least.

Five or six years ago I would have never written what I'm about to write: I no longer believe the President's religion should matter. At least not as much as it does. As a Christian, obviously I align my worldviews better with other Christians. However, if I'm really a Christian, I should realize that God has complete control over this country, not some president. So what if the President is an atheist. Or Mormon. Or Buddhist. Does that somehow render God powerless? The Old Testament is full of powerful nations and powerful kings, many of whom were quite heathen. Yet God used them. To worry about the fate of the country if a non-Christian is President is to cheapen the power of God. Frankly, I'm more worried about the one's paying lip-service to God to drive up votes.

The question lately has been this: is Obama a Christian. One answer - yes. A better answer - it doesn't matter.

Is big government bad?

I had an interesting political discussion with some family members recently.

I've learned enought over 30 years to know that it's best to keep one's strong opinions to one's self during political discussions amongst family members. Sharing ideas or offering observations is usually fine, but I've learned to not express strong political feelings with just about anybody if I want a peaceful day. This is easier now that I don't espouse any strong political feelings (other than a dejected demeanor towards both major parties).

Anyway, the discussion was on the economy and the government programs aimed at helping troubled individuals through tough times. None had good things to say about this. One family member, an employee of Wells Fargo, mentioned a government program that helped Wells Fargo renegotiate mortgages with people in danger of losing their home by cutting interest rates and lowering monthly payments. We also discussed welfare and unemployment payments. A great deal of frustration regarding these plans was uttered across the room: Why should those who bought too much house get a break, when those who made wiser choices and worked hard to pay their bills had to remain in their current mortgage? Why does our government continue to give welfare to people who purposefully avoid reaching a certain level of employment for fear of losing their welfare? Why do those who are out of work by choice and have quit looking for new jobs get to continue to receive unemployment checks, checks paid for out of the taxes from the salaries of the employed?

I can't say I blame them. It is frustrating, and the conservative in me has a big problem with these programs. The realist in me, though, realizes that if people lose their homes, my home is worth less. If unemployment and welfare benefits aren't given out, the economy worsens, and my retirement account and other investments goes further south. Bottom line - I can sympathize with both sides of this argument.

I realized something for the first time after this discussion, though. The government really shouldn't have to be doing this. This need shouldn't exist. Why? Because of churches.

Christ didn't dodge many issues, and he especially didn't dodge money. Two commands come to mind: tithe, and take care of the downtrodden. One command is to tithe (give 1/10 of one's income back to God through the church). I read recently that if every member of American churches obeyed this command, there would be more than enough to overcome poverty and hunger in America. Christ also commanded his followers to look after the hungry and poor and imprisoned. Some are doing this. However, the fact that our government spends as much as it does on benefits for the poor is evidence enough that not enough are. Frankly, the bigger government is, it's likely the smaller the contributions of Christians.

There's only one possible hiccup I see in this theory, though. Would non-Christians accept help from the church if it were their last option? I suspect they would. Perhaps in this Great Recession we are wasting a golden opportunity to display these commands to the world.

Playing First Base: Marty McFly

I had a Back to the Future moment this weekend in a church league softball tournament.

In the great film trilogy Back to the Future, the main character Marty McFly is fairly level-headed and is effective at making decisions and navigating his way through trouble. He does have one Achilles heel, however. If anyone accuses him of being "yellow," or "a chicken," no matter how stupid and foolish the other individual is, Marty feels the need to prove his manhood and courage at great risk to himself. This weakness of his causes him a great deal of trouble across the 3 films.

I mention this because I feel like I've figured out what my Marty McFly weakness is. If anyone questions my integrity, I usually get demonstrably angry. I remember when I was a junior in high school, a baseball coach of mine who I actually really respect questioned my integrity in terms of effort or heart on the diamond after a particularly rough inning. I then engaged in an extended shouting match with said coach, resulting in me getting taken out of the game. It was a proud moment for Mom, I know. I've had others question my integrity in various ways as a teacher or coach, and each time that has also gotten me worked up. Today I got worked up again.

For any player who is deemed injured in some way, this league permits a "pinch runner" to run for them. Anyway, I was standing on second base today and a female player from our team walked. We sent out a pinch runner, since she is pregnant and doesn't want to risk contact with any overzealous church softball all-stars living out their glory days. At this point I hear the shortstop mumble, "She can run. They got to cheat to win." I got pissed. Marty McFly pissed. I turned and looked at him and said, "What?!" He tried to ignore me. I demanded once again, "What?!" He then asked why she couldn't run, and I angrily let him know she was pregnant and that he should just shut up, play the game, and quit accusing us of cheating.

What's dumb is that this guy is most likely an idiot. I know this because we had played this team two nights before, and I my first thought then was that he is most likely an idiot. His actions during the tournament did nothing to change that assessment.

But now I'm the idiot. I got pissed off about what an idiot said or thought about either me or players on my team. I attempted to prove my manhood by scowling and making sharp comments. I bet I changed his mind. . .

Looking at the event in retrospect, part of me thinks that I did the right thing - I defended my team's honor. Reality, though, says that's horse crap. I let pride dictate my actions. Now this guy is probably blogging about how I'm most likely an idiot (albeit an idiot who smoked a homerun against his team and won by ten runs - take that, tough guy).

At the end of the 3rd and final Back to the Future film, Marty finally ignores a challenge of his courage by some idiots to show his growth. That decision saves his life. I wonder when the end of my 3rd movie will be.

Ignore the Extremes

The proposed mosque near Ground Zero (which is more of a cultural center than anything else) has created a big enough controversy in the news lately that I felt the need to make a very few comments.

1. I understand why emotion by those directly affected by 9/11 would drive them to not want this to be built at this site.

2. I don't believe there's a logical argument to stand on to keep it from being built.

I believe the attempted logical argument goes something like this: Some terrorists committed atrocious acts. Those terrorists claimed to be Muslims. Now Muslims want to build a center to celebrate Muslim ideas, the same extreme ideas that killed lots and lots of Americans. If this is built, Muslims win.

I don't care for this logic because the terrorists represent Islam in the same way the idiots who disrupt military funerals with signs that say "God hates fags!" and claim that our soldiers are dead because God is punishing our godless nation represent Christianity. These extremists do not represent me. Nor do the "Moral Majority" Republicans who quote the 2% of the Bible that will get them elected and ignore the rest. Nor do billions of other people just as flawed as I am. I am a Christian. I attempt to follow Christ the best way I know how. Extremists are not the voice of the faith - Christ is. If it were otherwise, "Christianity" would have a lot of answering to do still about Crusades and witchhunts and cross burnings.

Frankly, I could care less whether this thing gets built or not. I don't, as many liberals claim (at least the ones getting quoted, anyway), see the construction of this mosque/cultural center to be some sort of flag we can wave about how great and tolerant and free our country is. The fact that millions of immigrants are begging to get here is sign enough. Build it, don't build it; I don't really think it makes a big difference. What does make a difference, though, is if any of us want to make a habit of labeling groups based on extremists. That's simply a dangerous road to travel.

Jesus Loves the Little Children

So I figured out a few reasons recently why Christ makes such a big deal about needing to have the faith of a child.

1. During my graduate studies this summer, I read about why generally the older students get, the less they care about reading and curiosity about information and learning in general. It's simple, really. Writes Kylene Beers: "As students move through the grades, they come to value their peers more and more. 'They won't try,' we say. Instead, we fail to see that they are trying - they are just trying at what matters the most: keeping some form of respect with their peers."

This doesn't go away. Adults are even worse at this. It's the reason I work hard on my lawn and make improvements to my house. Those are great things to do; but ultimately, my motivation is the respect of my peers. I guarantee I spent more time on my lawn this summer than I did reading the Bible. The more I thought about this quote by Beers, the more I connected it with Christ's statement. He wants child-like faith - the kind of faith that is curious and passionate and joyful, the kind of thing that a child can't wait to tell the next person who walks through the door about. Not the kind that is worried about what his/her neighbor is thinking.

2. Recently my wife was at our table frustrated beyond belief at our checkbook and it's refusal to balance. Mad mad. Tears mad. Throwing the checkbook across the room mad. We've all been there. She isn't there often, but she was definitely there. If I'm honest, my immediate thought was, This is akward. What do I do now to help her stop crying so I feel less uncomfortable? It's what I think when I see anyone crying: I feel akward. I tried to speak reasonably to her and tried to convince her the checkbook simply wasn't that big of a deal. Basically, I tried to smooth things over so I wouldn't feel so akward and could eat my breakfast and drink my coffee without the burden of trying to figure out how to help her. Don't get me wrong, I didn't want her to feel bad. I just don't want to lie and pretend I also didn't want me to feel bad either.

My nearly 3 year old daughter is much wiser. Much more like what Christ wants. She was in the room, probably wondering what the heck was going on. She walked out of the room, came back in carrying a stuffed teddy bear, carried it to my wife and said, "Here you go, Mom. This will make you feel better. I love you." Then she hugged her. Way better course of action than mine.

3. There are some songs in church that I enjoy singing, and there are some songs that I endure being played. My demeanor probably isn't significantly different in either case. The last time we were in church, we just got done singing "On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand." Great song. I'm a big fan of that song. My wife and I have sung the chorus to Elise my daughter a couple of times, and she recognized it. Immediately after the song was done, the congregation was dead silent. Right then Elise yells out, "HEY! They just sang On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand." The couple hundred people in the room all heard it and let out an audible chuckle. I had to be proud. I sang the song and stood dutifully. She was passionate about it.

I am now seeking more and more a child-like faith.

Anniversary

My blog turned one year old this week. It's tough to notice - this is one of the priorities in my life that has been on the backburner for much of the summer. I've written only about once every other week. But it does call for some reflection.

The biggest thing I can say is that I started with a goal - a worthy goal - of seeing daily events (of the world, of my life, in what I read) through a biblical worldview. I titled the blog "Prone to Wander" after the lyrics in the hymn "Come Thou Fount" because I felt I was prone to wander away from this. One year later, I think I might be worse at this. I have wandered greatly lately; and just as all the other times I've wandered, I haven't come out better for it.

I began the digging out process tonight, the "training" if you will to "work the fat off of the soul" (Hemingway quote). I opened my Bible for the first time in about a month and a half. While reading I realized just how stupid I've been during one of the most highly-stressed summers of my life.

Here's why I've been stupid: I tried to do this thing alone. The fact that the stress I put on myself due to my insane schedule was self-inflicted led me to carry the burden mentally alone. My wife helped me out a tremendous amount, but I tried not to burden her with the toll this was taking on my sanity. Mostly I felt guilty for putting her in a position where she was busier because I was busier. My family, especially my and Emily's parents, provided a tremendous amount of help as well. Again, though, I almost felt guilty every time I had to ask for that help. I felt like the guy who took on too much, so much that he had to find others to help him run his family. More guilt. More emotional burden. And the more there was, the more I tried to fight it alone.

I tried to fight it alone because my worldview sucked, because I had been wandering. I may write more about this summer and what I've learned, and I might not; but one incontrovertible fact is that I did next to nothing to maintain my relationship with Christ. If I had, I would have realized that I shouldn't be doing anything alone, no matter how worthy a goal or how much guilt I had assigned to it. Tonight I read about Christ as he's going to the death. In some of his final words to his disciples before he is crucified, he tells them, "Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full." Later, he leads by example: he prays for himself. He asks for help. He is not in it alone.

I'm an idiot.

Year 2 begins with the same goals. I've enjoyed the commentary shared here, and this blog writing has been a very important part of my life over the last year. I enter year 2 with more knowledge, with more flaws, and with more followers than what I started with to hopefully push the conversation.

I pray that none of us be alone.

The Risk of Relationships

I had to read John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men for grad school this week. I've become a big Steinbeck fan over the past few years because I really think he gets it - he portrays human nature very well. One of the aspects of humanity he describes especially well in this book is the reality of relationships.

Most of the characters in the book are very independent. They rely on themselves and don't owe anything to anybody. The two main characters though, George and Lennie, have decided to travel around together. They have taken responsibility for each other. It becomes very clear early in the novel in the passage below that George resents this responsibility at times:

"God a'mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an' work, an' no trouble. No mess at all, and when the end of the month come I could take my fifty bucks and go into town and get whatever I want. Why, I could stay in a cat house all night. I could eat any place I want, hotel or any place, and order any damn thing I could think of. An I could do all that every damn month. . . An' whatta I got, I got you!"

Here's the first thing that came to my head when I read those early pages: What parent hasn't had similar thoughts about the freedom available to them before they had children? What spouse hasn't thought about that when they want to do something or buy something or schedule something but then must check first? Wouldn't life be so much easier?

This is a natural feeling. Yet George remains with Lennie, and I haven't left my wife or my children. Why? Because relationships are worth it. There is a great cost to them - you give up some personal freedom and you suddenly find yourself in some way responsible for someone else's happiness. However, you have someone to give a "hoot in hell" about you, as the characters in the text say. George understands this, and it's part of his grand romantic picture of the American Dream for him and Lennie that drives them throughout the text. The good relationships are worth the cost. The other workers are described as "the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don't belong no place. . . They ain't got nothing to look ahead to."
Those characters avoid relationships because of the cost and the risk involved. They don't want to hurt. The only women they chase are whores, because the only thing required of them is money. They engage in casual conversations and horseshoe tournaments with the other workers because it passes the time, and it's tough for a friend to let you down if all you're doing is playing horseshoes. They'll never know the value of great companionship, but they'll never have to know the hurt of disappointment either.

I teach my students that risk = reward. It's true of goals, and it's true of relationships. You can only win big if you're willing to lose big. If you only bet/risk a little, you can only gain a little.

To me, this is human nature right here. It's as real as it gets. Everyone must decide - is this relationship worth the risk? Do I risk my time, my personal freedom, my emotions, and my dreams on this person hoping that the relationship pays off? Or do I remain aloof and never get too close to family, friends, a spouse? Do I never have children? All to avoid the possibility of risk? I think this is universally true of every relationship - sibling, parental, romantic, friend. I'm sure all of us have been burned - been hurt by those we allowed to get close to us. And I hope we all have seen situations where the risk is worth it.

When I thought about this today, I realized that this is probably a big part of the reason many people aren't chasing down a relationship with Christ. There's risk involved. I'm sure the diehard, life-long Christians out there might be thinking, "Risk? What risk?" Oh, there's definitely risk. Am I willing to risk changing my priorities and my actions for this relationship? What if the reward is fake, isn't real (and there are plenty of voices out there sending that mesage)? What if all the time I put into prayer or Bible reading doesn't produce results? What if Christ lets me down?

The reward can only be great to those who risk greatly. But we shouldn't be shocked: Christ advertised as much - "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it." (Mark 8:35)