[Occupymendocino] Fwd: Grieving and Hope After

[Linda Jupiter]

An interesting and hopeful blog.
Linda

>
> Grieving and Hope After the Election
> By JenTheVideoGirl
> Many many people are grieving for our country today. My Facebook  
> feed, made up mostly of conservative Christians, is like the day  
> after a bomb dropped. Early polls showed 80% of evangelicals voted  
> for Governor Romney, and many are shocked and grieved by the outcome  
> of the election.
>
> I am grieving for the church.
>
> Many people are posting on Facebook that this win signals people  
> want handouts and don’t want to work, signals the death of our  
> country’s ideals and an electorate who doesn’t care enough to be  
> informed, and is a national endorsement of abortion, gay marriage,  
> and weed. Most of these posts that I saw came from people who are  
> Christians, and to those posts I have to give the following response:
>
> I humbly and sadly disagree. I think this split is about the church.  
> I think it is about the marginalized (the people the church should  
> love and support). The Democrats made a compelling case that they  
> cared about those people. We in the church have not made that same  
> compelling argument. Even on election day, in some of our responses,  
> we demonstrated a lack of care for people and a lack of faith in  
> God’s sovereignty and a lack of obedience to His commands to not  
> fear. I am going to get into the issues and hopefully present a  
> thoughtful view of these things so that we can understand the “other  
> side” a bit better – but first of all let me say this – Jesus gives  
> hope to each of these issues. We have hope in Christ.
>
> The Handouts: On election day, thousands of people tweeted jokes  
> like “Don’t worry if Dems are leading, Republicans will vote once  
> they get off work.” I also saw comments about the over-half of our  
> country that voted for the Democrats that go something like this –  
> “they want something for nothing so they’ll take our country down in  
> debt.” And it breaks my heart. The rhetoric simply isn’t true, and  
> this attitude is what is alienating us from not only the voting  
> world but from the lost world. Our country has one of the highest  
> levels of childhood poverty of any industrialized nation. Over 18%  
> of our children don’t get enough to eat. And the assumption and the  
> rhetoric states that is the lazy parent’s fault. But the facts,  
> according to the Institute of Child Development, are that 75% of  
> poor children have at least one parent who works. The remaining 25%?  
> Mostly single women who cannot afford quality childcare to be able  
> to work. And some call them welfare queens. But guess what, 1 out of  
> 4 of those women don’t qualify for any federal assistance  
> whatsoever. And the ones who do face restrictions to protect them  
> from living off “government cheese.” There are some lazy Americans,  
> yes, but for the most part, the working poor are just that, working  
> poor, and not lazy Americans. These are desperate hurting Americans  
> trying to make a living wage and failing. For example, over 50% of  
> Walmart employees don’t make enough to live and because of this,  
> qualify for food stamps. But they are working. Not full-time,  
> because Walmart fights to keep employees at 39 hours per week. But  
> hard. They aren’t looking for a handout. They are trying. And we as  
> the church have bought into the rhetoric and ignored the reality.  
> Church, we have to quit buying into this political “us vs. them”  
> rhetoric of the working versus the lazy and instead buy into  
> church’s command to love the least of these. Because our command to  
> love is absolute, even when people take advantage of the system and  
> are lazy. We in the church certainly do help the poor – but in the  
> last 20 years we have helped the poor quietly and shouted the  
> rhetoric loudly. Let’s stop the rhetoric and instead let our quiet  
> consistent support of the poor define us.
>
> The Gays: What if, in the early days of AIDS in the 1980s, the  
> church had embraced homosexuals as they struggled in terror to  
> understand this new disease that was wiping them out? What if we had  
> been the ones known for our care for them? What if instead of  
> fighting them on every right and constantly reminding them of their  
> “terrible sin,” we remembered how Jesus treated the tax collectors  
> and sinners and how he got to know them and ate with them, and they  
> followed him because they loved him and knew he loved them? Dr.  
> Stanton Jones, provost at Wheaton College, said at Dallas  
> Theological Seminary that the church has failed in the treatment of  
> homosexuals by treating “them” as our enemy in the culture war, and  
> considering “their” sin as irredeemable while failing to consider  
> our own sin and brokenness. A study by the Barna Group showed that  
> when asked, 91% of non-Christians defined Christianity as anti- 
> homosexual (in fact, this was the first word they used to describe  
> the Christian faith). We have failed. We have defined the grace,  
> love, and death of Jesus Christ to a lost world as “anti- 
> homosexual.” Father, forgive us. Do you think they would still seek  
> protection in a political party if we had been their ally instead of  
> declaring “war” on them? I think that is what this election was  
> about for them. They were aligning themselves with the party who  
> demonstrated care for them.
>
> The Illegals: The Hispanic vote overwhelming went Democratic,  
> despite their dominate Catholic pro-life worldview (much more  
> conservatively pro life than even most evangelicals). Why? I think  
> it was more “us versus them” rhetoric. What if we were the ones  
> fighting for immigrant children, brought here because children have  
> nothing to eat in the place where they live, instead of the ones  
> calling them “illegals” and demanding their deportation, many of  
> them to a place where they don’t know the language and have never  
> lived? What if we not only supported but demanded programs like the  
> Dream Act? And I know there is a legal path to immigration, but I  
> also know it is broken and takes sometimes decades and that path is  
> terribly narrow and needs to be fixed. My friends in ministries like  
> International Friends and refugee ministries, you are doing great  
> work – and we need to partner with you more in that.
>
> The Stoners: What if, instead of seeing the weed legislation  
> movements as “slacker stoners” wanting to toke in public, we  
> recognized the reality that our “war on drugs” has not raised the  
> price of drugs or limited access, but instead only succeeded in  
> imprisoning more Americans than any other country in the world? We  
> have a broken legal system that criminalizes the social and medical  
> problem of addiction. In 2010, 1.64 million people were arrested for  
> drug violations, 80% of those were for possession. A friend’s son  
> took his life before a mandatory minimum sentence would send him  
> away to prison after a repeat possession charge. Over 2.3 million  
> people in the United States are imprisoned, over half of those for  
> non-violent drug offenses. This is devastating the African American  
> community (which plays into both the poverty and abortion problems  
> in that community). I’m not saying legalization is the answer – in  
> fact I think it isn’t, but maybe if we looked at the problem with  
> sympathetic hearts and a willingness to work together toward  
> solutions instead of cynical political goggles, we would join  
> together to find a better solution. Big Brothers and Sisters does  
> great work on the mentoring front, which helps prevent this problem,  
> and Prison Fellowship does an excellent job once people are in  
> prison, but there is room for us to minister alongside these groups  
> to help this marginalized group.
>
> The Babies: I’ve addressed this many times before (here,here and  
> here), and my views on abortion are clear. Abortion is terrible and  
> we are all paying a terrible price for it. But even if reversing Roe  
> was a possibility, which I truly am not sure it will ever be in our  
> country again, at least until there is a major worldview change,  
> abortions didn’t start with Roe. My family was affected by abortion  
> long before Roe v Wade. Abortions are a consequence of spiritual,  
> family, and economic factors. When marriages are strengthened and  
> divorce rates go down, the number of abortions go down. When women  
> escape poverty, abortion rates go down. When the healthcare and  
> childcare options for women improve, the number of abortions go  
> down. When women are in community with people who care and feel  
> supported and encouraged, abortion rates go down. Legislation is not  
> the best answer to the abortion crisis. Jesus and the church is. Our  
> crisis pregnancy centers have done more for life than any legal  
> battle we have ever fought. Well done friends who are part of those  
> powerful ministries. The church is starting to get this right – and  
> we need to continue on that path.
>
> There is a sense that America rejected God in the voting booth  
> yesterday. But I think there is an argument that we as the Church  
> rejected these groups first, either directly or through the party we  
> have closely aligned ourselves to. Church we are not the Republican  
> party. And by the way, we aren’t the Democratic party either. In  
> fact, the parties may be hurting us not only in mindset but also in  
> reputation. I think we need to remember that both political parties,  
> and partisan media sources, have not only financial interest but  
> ultimately derive power from us suspecting each other, fearing each  
> other, and not compromising with each other. And that is the exact  
> opposite of what our faith is about. We cannot let the “us versus  
> them” mindset of the political landscape hijack our message of love  
> for all people and grace by faith in Christ alone.
>
> We also have to be careful not to let extreme personalities like  
> Trump with his “I’m a real Christian” and his honorary doctorate  
> from Liberty, alongside his twitter rants and conspiracy theories  
> about long forms and secret Muslim allegiances, define us. And why  
> do so many I know believe him, but we have a president who has  
> claimed and proclaimed faith in Christ, but people discount that? We  
> should be praying that the Holy Spirit would convict and lead him,  
> not accusing him of secret Muslim religious allegiance. The king’s  
> heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord, he turns it  
> wherever he will. Prov 21:1. The President’s heart is in the hand of  
> God – so when we pray, we can affect where it turns. That is power  
> we have in Christ! We should be encouraged by it.
>
> It feels like we have forgotten that Jesus is our hope. Jesus alone.
>
> My former pastor, Brandon Thomas, tweeted today “Bringing people to  
> Jesus will build our great nation to its best days, no doubt! Life  
> in Christ = love God, love others.” I say Amen. Max Lucado tweeted  
> “Lord, please: Unite us. Strengthen us. Appoint and annoint our  
> president.” I say Amen. I am not saying compromise on any of these  
> things – nor are these pastors. I am saying let’s assume a position  
> of humility in dealing with these really difficult issues. I’m  
> saying when we are kind, we lead people to Jesus, and we make our  
> country stronger. I’m visual – so I keep thinking of nuns (habits  
> and all). Everyone knows what they believe. But how do you see them  
> portrayed, even in liberal Hollywood? Positively. Why? Because they  
> are known for helping people – for humbly working toward the good of  
> the people around them. So they are beloved. We could learn from  
> their example. We need better PR and we need a return to our true  
> hope.
>
> America is not the hope of the world. Neither is a political party.  
> Jesus is. Church, let’s return to him and follow His lead in loving  
> the hurting.
>
> The Backup:
>
> Dr. Russell Moore on a Christian response to the election: http://www.russellmoore.com/2012/11/07/christians-lets-honor-the-president/
>
> Abortion statistics: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr60/nvsr60_07.pdf
>
> Prison Statistics: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/20/americas-invisible-incarcerated-millions
>
> Drug War Statistics: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/04/business/in-rethinking-the-war-on-drugs-start-with-the-numbers.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
>
> Childhood Poverty Statistics: http://www.nichd.nih.gov/
>
> Dallas Theological Seminary Article on Homosexuality: http://www.dts.edu/read/5-failures-on-churchs-treatment-sexuality-5-ways-forward-jones-stanton/
>
> Non-Christian Perceptions of Christianity: unchristian by Kinnamon  
> and Lyons
>
> Ed Stetzer is also calling the church to rise above the rhetoric in  
> this blog post series: both this post and the one from the day  
> before are very very good for those of us who struggle to see what  
> the problem is.
>
> Rich Stearns, CEO of WorldVision, author of the Hole in Our Gospel,  
> and one of my personal heroes, wrote this response to the election: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-stearns/goodbye-christian-america-hello-true-christianity_b_2082649.html
>
> This post has been shared far beyond anything I ever thought  
> possible. Thank you for sharing. I want to clarify a few things.  
> First of all – pretty much everyone I know, love, and respect is a  
> conservative. In my world – that’s the majority. I am not saying  
> that every conservative feels this way or has responded this way  
> since the election. Many millions have not. This post was not  
> intended to isolate or attack anyone. I also did not write this to  
> address voting preference – I don’t want to change your voting or  
> party preference. I’m not advocating a left or right position. That  
> is not my job or my passion. This post was intended as an  
> encouragement for us, in the church, to open our eyes to each other  
> and shut off the rhetoric – to see that the things that unite us (a  
> love for country, a love for people, and a desire to achieve the  
> best for our family and people we love) are far greater than the  
> things that divide us (our differing ideas for how we achieve change  
> in our country). I am a Christian, so I believe in Christ we have  
> hope and in Christ we are brothers and sisters and that disunity,  
> even because of partisanship, is a tactic of our enemy. Thank you  
> again for reading.
>
>
>

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