527 Post Election Fallout
“I’m terrified of Obama,” a dude told me just before the election. “I’m scared to death of what he’s going to do if he gets elected,” his voice was literally shaking.
Leading up to the election several folks asked me if I thought an Obama presidency combined with the financial meltdown, global climate change and the United States fighting two wars were all signs that we are entering into the final days of terror before Jesus’ return. The assumption was that in some fashion Obama fulfilled the role of the anti-Christ in that formula. More times than I wish, I heard staunch conservatives interchange Obama’s name with the likes of Marx and Hitler.
Not that conservatives have cornered the market on negativity. Many hard core liberals remain convinced that Republicans literally stole the last two presidential elections and their anger toward conservatives in general and President Bush in particular is often on the verge of psychotic. To say their primary motivation in this recent election was hate is no stretch. Their seething hate was simply transferred from George W. Bush to John McCain in this election.
National election campaigns fertilize negative emotions like Miracle Grow on tomatoes. Politicians know that fear and anger get out the vote more effectively than do political platforms. That’s why nearly every election is littered with negative campaign ads which specialize in character assignation. The goal is to win, period. Never mind the destruction negative campaigning leaves in its wake.
So what happens once an election is over? Where does all that hate, anger and fear go? It certainly doesn’t just vanish from the social atmosphere. Like radiation that lingers long after the nuclear bomb has been detonated, negative emotions have a dangerously long half life. The morning after the election, I called the same dude I quoted at the outset to see how he was doing. “I’ve never been so disillusioned in all my life,” he said. “I listened to McCain’s concession speech then turned off the TV and cried. I didn’t even listen to Obama’s acceptance speech I was so angry.” He sounded just like many of the liberals I talked with after the last election.
All of this reveals that we have been duped. Contrary to what Jesus taught we have allowed ourselves to believe that we are at war against fellow citizens of our own country. That people with contrary opinions are not only our enemies, but they are to be feared and hated.
How can we forget that it was Jesus who told us to “…love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. …This is what God does. He gives his best – the sun to warm and the rain to nourish – to everyone, regardless: the good and the bad, the nice and nasty (Matthew 5:44-45).
John was even more blunt. “Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love – so you can’t know him if you don’t love (1 John 4:7-8).
If this toxic waste sight of American politics with its harsh lines of division called Red States/Blue States, Republican/Democrat, Liberal/Conservative is ever going to get cleaned up let it start with those who should know better. Followers of Jesus, God does not indorse fear and hate. Let us follow our leader and instead practice faith, hope and love – the greatest of which is love.
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