Child of God, Child of God, Child of God

As we enter the fools carnival that masquerades as presidential politics in this country, the rhetoric about parties, personalities and platforms (and other things that do not start with "p") will heat up beyond the usual levels.  The scorched earth politics of 21st century America will leave few unscathed.  As things progress, it gets tempting for people of deep belief and passion to join in the mud and word slinging.  When those moments come and that temptation is upon us, I hope that we can all take a moment and do one thing.  Look across the political landscape at your "target" and remember that that person (or that whole group of people) is a child of God.

One of the lessons I have learned in my ministry is to respond in frustration or anger only after looking at the person with whom I am angry and saying to myself a few times "child of God, child of God, child of God."  It helps to put things into perspective.  I wish I could say that it has saved me from ever uttering words I would later regret.  Unfortunately, this little trick is not quite that effective.  But it does remind me that the object of my anger or frustration is also the object of the love and care of God.

Our political vocabulary has been hijacked by the vocabulary of division.  The other side of the aisle has become the enemy of all that is good and right.  It is not enough to oppose a candidate, you have to hate him or despise her in order to show your own loyalty to party and country.  In a culture that defines those with whom we disagree as quite nearly less than human, it is no wonder that we use the sort of language that we use.

As a Christian, I am called to remember that we are all part of the family of God.  In our vocabulary of faith, we are brothers and sisters united by God's love for us.  So to demean or dehumanize someone with whom I have a political disagreement is to demean or dehumanize my brother or sister in Christ. 

There are certainly times when we need to speak up against a position a particular person takes or take a stand against a policy or ideal that tends to diminish or dehumanize a person or group of people.  Those prophetic moments are important to our growth as a community striving for greater and wider justice for all.  But when we do that, perhaps we can do it without casting aspersions on the motives of our political opponents.  It is one thing to oppose abortion, another to call those who support choice "baby-killers."  It is one thing to oppose cuts in social programs , another to call those who propose those cuts "uncaring" or "unChristian." 

There are very real issues and very real problems that we need to address as a nation in this election year.   Perhaps we need to remind ourselves that disagreement on policy is not the same as disqualification from the human race.  Perhaps we need to remember that reasonable people can and do disagree and that even in the midst of our passionate disagreements, we need to disagree reasonably.

When in doubt, just remember...child of God, child of God, child of God.