The Eagle and Child: What to do about upcoming elections

The Eagle and Child: What to do about upcoming elections:

"As a pastor, I'm generally pretty chary about sharing my political views. As near as I can recall, I've only written once about a specific public policy issue (a permit for a casino downtown) and never about candidates. This is mainly because I get two uneasy vibes from the general public (not from everyone, but this is a general sense): 1) they view pastors talking about specific political details with the same level of trust as they might view a used car salesman on the merits that '76 Volare that you just have to drive home today. 2) When pastors spend more time talking political policy than talking about Christ, they become pawns of political strategists rather than physicians of souls. (you may disagree with me on these two general senses -- but then I humbly ask, what is your inner response when you hear a pastor espousing political views with which you disagree. Do you immediately dismiss those views, or do you internally begin to challenge your own stances.) ..."

I attended a Presbytery meeting yesterday. During worship, one of the meditations was supposed to be about Grace, but seemed nothing more than a political commercial. There was a stunned silence during this meditation, in contrast to the other two, during which there was active participation from the assembled commissioners in the form of nodding in agreement, occasional laughter, and even an "Amen!".

Russell Smith's posting today reminds us all that God is not the property of any political party, and that we should be praying for wisdom rather than the victory of any party.

Partisanship is a corrosive evil in this country, and it is bad enough that we have to endure it during years evenly divisible by two -- but we are the Church of Jesus Christ, not a political organization. We should be setting the standard, not following the crowd.