Posts Tagged ‘election’

“What do you think about Obama’s Afghanistan plan?” That was the question posed by RELEVANT magazine. “Tonight, President Obama is giving a speech detailing his new Afghanistan strategy, which includes a surge of 30,000 troops. What do you think of his plan?”

Response of Travis Keller:

“Peace is love. Violence is not. Militarization brings death… either physically or by fear. What if Afghanistan sent 30,000 troops to the U.S.?”

To contextualize my comment I will disclose that I am neither anti- or pro-Obama. I did vote for him. I would also qualify RELEVANT’s question by noting that the plan is not “his” plan but rather a plan that was developed by a team of people which includes military strategists and advisors. Additionally, I have a brother-in-law who is in the United States Air Force. My wife and I love him. He has been to Afghanistan and currently is stationed in the U.S. where he controls mechanisms on the Predator Drone planes that fly in Afghanistan.

What is your response to my response (or the original question)?

In honor of our most recent Election Day in the U.S. I decided to republish this post from the archives:

I am somewhat frequently interviewed by students here at MVNU for Research Writing projects, Public Speaking presentations, or Christian Life and Ministry papers. Tonight I was interviewed by Daniel Coutz. It was one of the more thoughtful interviews that I have experienced and I appreciated the approach. The conversation went something like this:

Daniel: “Respond to this statement: The United States is a Christian Nation.”

Travis: “No earthly empire is distinctively in keeping with the way of Jesus. Those who claim the United States to be a Christian nation need to enroll in a post-reformation church history course that discusses the period of American colonization. Also helpful would be a study in theology and philosophy to explore the definitions of theism, deism, and idolatry.

Daniel: “Do you feel the American flag should be displayed in churches? Why or why not?”

Travis: “No. The church is laced with a history of symbol and icon for visual engagement in worship and when one considers what the American flag represents I would have to question what one is worshiping. I would have no problem with displaying a flag in a church if it was displayed beside every other flag of every other nation so long as the symbol is understood to represent equality and unity.

Daniel: “Respond to this statement: The loyalty of a person belongs first to his country.”

Travis: “Why would one view an earthly empire as something to which giving loyalty is necessary or a priority? My suggestion is that most would give said loyalty due to an enculturation that promotes a sense of loyalty as nessecary. I would also suggest it has something to do with the supposed ‘safety’ provided by the military branch of a certain country’s government. Fear would be that which fuels loyalty to an earthly empire.”

Daniel: “Respond to this statement. Christians living in the United States should be patriotic about the United States.”

Travis: “One’s definition of patriotism would be primary. I find it problematic for a follower of Jesus to pledge his allegiance to an earthly nation. So in the sense that the recitation of the ‘Pledge of Allegiance’ is patriotic, then patriotism may be considered contrary to ‘worshipping no other gods.’”

The 2008 election is just over a month passed. Barack Obama has yet to be inaugurated (coming to an unfair and unbalanced new station piping through an overpriced plasma/LCD screen near you on January 20, 2009). During October and the first couple days of November many people had changed their Facebook profile pictures to images of campaign propaganda or the smiling face of one’s preferred presidential candidate. Conversation about political issues was a seeming constant. Debate. Argument. Bantering. Battering.

Does anyone even care anymore? I have been trying to keep on the president elect’s office appointments. There is a life altering "economic crisis" going on. Yet I don’t hear all the conversation and political engagment. Is our reality determined by the media attention given to any certain issue at any certain time? Does anyone even care anymore? Where have all the politicians gone?

I found out that I made a grand television appearance last week. During the week of the election of the first African-American president of the United States I appeared on BookTV on C-SPAN2 . When I went to the Envision Conference this summer at Princeton my learning track was entitled "Beyond Consumption" and was led my Ronald Sider. We took a break from our dialogue on consumption in order for BookTV to record a lecture on Sider’s book, "The Scandal of Evangelical Politics." The lecture is worth watching and you can see the first portion of it below (check me out furiously typing my thoughts). I am in the video more at the end of the lecture during the question and answer time and you can check out the full length video at www.booktv.org . I didn’t ask a question on camera due to the impersonal nature of the filming but I asked Ron the first question when the cameras shut down. That question is posted below the video. Immediately following our session, Sider left for Chicago to meet personally with Barack Obama to discuss "religious issues."

There can exist a certain form of idolatry toward certain candidates or partisan ideologies.
How would you suggest that one goes about influencing public policy with the danger of appearing as if one is placing trust in a certain candidate or party as the ultimate hope and solution for a community or promoting the government as the responsible body rather than the church?

Suppossed citizens of the United States cast their ballots to elect new "leaders" for an earthly empire. I would argue that we are global citizens and neighborhood communities (or pseudo-communities) rather than national citizens (that is another post for another time such as soon). I did end up "voting" (whether or not a vote matters is yet again another post for another time). I was one of the voters in Knox County , Ohio that selected Barack Obama on my computerized touch screen. John McCain won Knox Co. 59%-39% (16,207 to 10,702) yet the state of Ohio favored Barack Obama 51%-47% (2,683,043-2,483,805). The Obama campaign used language such "The New Hope" and "Change We Need." My questions I must consider are these: "Is Barack Obama ‘The New Hope?’" "Is Barack Obama the ‘Change We Need?’" What is hope? From where does hope come? What is change?

I have heard that there are a number of people who are unfortunately voting for John McCain because Barack Obama is an African-American. I am tempted to vote for Obama simply to counter a racist’s vote against him. Is that a valid reason to vote Obama?

I found the amount of comments on my previous "Bantering and Battering" post much more intriguing than the content of the posts. I am not demeaning the value of anyone’s thoughts and contribution to the dialogue (they were quite insightful) but rather am expressing my observation that there are many and various opinions and stances that have generated much attention and use of time. Such popularity indicates that a post with political, governmental, and empire-ical themes unveils the value of Christian (or unChristian) involvement and engagment in the public square. Thank you for your thoughts and comments. I hope the virtual discussion will continue.

One question that I posed in the original post was, "Does my vote even really matter?" A comment indicated that the issues and implications contained within the decision of whether or not to vote "carry with them enormous weight and responsibility." Am I held responsible for the decisions of another person if I voted for that person? Since I (regretably) voted for George W. Bush am I guilty of killing thousands of people in a vengeance-initiated war? Am I responsible for irresponsibly spending billions of dollars that could have otherwise been used to feed and clothe people and provide education and clean water for our national enemies and/or neighbors? Did my vote provoke terrorism? If my vote really mattered then am I really an enactor of love representing the kingdom of God?

I have been perusing some random blogs and reading all the different viewpoints on the U.S. presidential candidates and their running mates (when I say "their running mates" it seems as if they are possessions). There are people from all types of religious and socioeconomic backgrounds that adamantly support either Barack Obama or John McCain . I have several problems not necessarily with either candidate but rather with the election process itself. The first problem is that the candidates, those in the campaigning process, and supporters spend so much of their time bashing the "opposition." What is especially troubling is that a self-proclaimed follower of Jesus will point out everything that is suppossedly wrong and unchristian about Barack Obama and then another self-proclaimed follower of Jesus will point out everything that is suppossedly wrong and unchristian about John McCain. Is such language really reflective of the love of Jesus? Should so much time be spent degraging a human and attempting to unveil the wrongdoing of another? And for what? Power? Political gain? Kicks and giggles? Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy the fun that comes with a new political season. I laughed out loud for quite some time after watching Saturday Night Live’s skit featuring "A Nonpartisan Message from Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton. " We would go crazy if there was not some humor to distract us and interupt the bantering and battering that defines a U.S. election. But what does a follower of Jesus do when real hatred and degradation characterizes the core of each candidates’ campaign?

Should I vote?

Should I choose the lesser of the two evils, thereby still choosing evil?

Should I fill in John Ballenger as a write-in candidate ?

Does my vote even really matter?

What decision best reflects a life that exists for the kingdom of God?