Back when I taught school, we had a PE teacher who was a gung-ho patriot. Seriously gung-ho. She was ex-military; she had a giant American flag in her classroom, sang the National Anthem at all school functions, talked our principal into having our Grandparents Day theme be “Americana,” talked about how wonderful it was that we had a president who prayed (though I’m pretty sure they’re only one-way conversations), and got us to take a “missions trip” to Washington DC, where our “mission” would be to “pray over our national monuments, because I just believe in the power of prayer.” (So do I. I believe it’s so powerful that you don’t have to go someplace in order to pray over it. At least we helped out an inner-city church's
Her patriotism made me uncomfortable. Not that I don’t love the United States and strongly approve of American ideals. It just reminded me of my own hyper-patriotic phase… back when I was heavily involved in the evil cult we know as the Republican Party. (Yes, I can sense every gung-ho Republican reader’s sphincter tightening as they read that.)
I was a College Republican. I was a member of the Young Americans for Freedom (Pat Buchanan’s club, back before he got even loonier and joined the Reform Party). I proudly wore T-shirts that showed Bill Clinton mugging the Statue of Liberty. I was a dittohead who bought both of Rush Limbaugh’s books. I called registered voters. I attended conventions, fundraisers, and campaign dinners. Yes, hard to imagine, but not so long ago I was an obnoxious arch-conservative.
What happened? I switched religions. I became Christian.
In the process of following Jesus, I came to the conclusion that one can’t serve both God and the party. Just as one can’t serve God and money (the love of which is the root of all kinds of evil), one can't serve God and political power (the love of which is also the root of all kinds of evil). And probably because I had the bad habit of confusing my patriotism with my politics, I’m going a bit too far in the other direction; but sometimes we have to do that if we wish to regain balance.
I’m still registered Republican… only because I honestly don’t care which party I’m in anymore. I still vote; sometimes for Republicans. I still think the president’s a shmuck, but I’m glad he beat John Kerry. My politics are no longer based on the party’s platform (just as the party’s actions are often based only on what is politically convenient); they’re based on what I think will serve humanity best, from my best understanding of God.
But, unlike the president, I admit I could be wrong. That’s not why I pray for him; I do that because God wants me to. But it certainly does give me something to pray for.
Anyway, here’s a fun little rant from Christianity Today that says what I said in a different way. Enjoy.
Currently listening to A.W. Tozer
Today consisted of killing a day. I was waiting on email from a few people regarding fieldwork. In the meanwhile I slept, did some laundry, vacuumed the floor, tinkered with the Xanga page, poked around the internet for free
And thanks to that lack of work, I'm feeling squirrely already. It's like I had a Saturday on the wrong day. Maybe I'm suffering from workaholism again. Dammit!
The good news is that one of the calls was returned, so I know I should have my paperwork finished within the next week. I was hoping for this week, but hey—it's getting done.