On religion, politics, and family.

For our Sunday Family Dinner tonight, My sister Jennifer and her two sons, Greyden and Trenton joined us for pulled pork tacos and chocolate cake and Ice cream.  I have missed seeing my sister, and I really enjoyed the time we were able to spend together.  Her husband Dan has been working in a small town outside of Houston, TX, for the last several weeks, and we were able to skype with him, and see how he was doing.  I realized I will most likely be in his position in a couple of years if, no, when I am deployed in the Navy, and I am going to cherish those times that I get to talk to my wife and girls.  I am really proud of Jennifer and Dan, how they are making the best of a hard situation, and I pray that things will work out soon so that they can be together.  In this hard economic time, Dan had to make a very tough decision to put the welfare of his family before what would have been comfortable for him, and for that he has my utmost respect.  We will see you soon for Christmas!!

My studies in seminary are creating more questions than they are solving.  Not that I was lost adrift in a world of theological confusion before, but not I am not completely sure that what I thought and was raised to believe is what the Bible actually teaches.  Take Politics for example.  On Saturday, I attended The Institute for Contemporary Theology: New Wine- New Wineskins Fall conference "Church and State."  For someone who HATES politics with a passion, my mind was opened to new thoughts and ideas that I had never before processed.  Being raised in the conservative Baptist church, I always thought that Christians should fall on the republican side of the party lines.  Whenever I saw democrat bumper stickers in the church parking lot, I wondered if they were visitors cars, or if someone from my church was actually going to vote for Michael Dukakis?  Well, I did grow up a bit between then and now, but I still find myself with mostly conservative ideals.  At the conference, I was challenged to think outside of my political comfort zone.  Dr. Paul Louis Metzger challenged everyone in the attendance to put aside partisan principles and focus of working for the common good.  He said "WWJD applies to politics too.  Jesus trumps all other obligations." Being a conservative, I am against outrageous government spending by principle, but I have been challenged to consider the alien, orphan, and widow, along with the other disenfranchised and marginalized parts or our culture.   I am not saying that I am going to vote to raise taxes to help them, but I think it is important to see how the Church and government can come together to help these needy among us.  Like St. Paul (not Metzger) wrote in Ephesians 4:4-6, "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all."  We are all in this together (to quote an abomination of a Disney movie)

Another area that I was forced to reconsider was the Muslim Moment in American Politics.  The question was raised, if most conservatives are going to vote for a Mormon for president, would it be out of the question to vote for a qualified Muslim, if one ran? Old Daniel would have said that he under no circumstance would ever vote for a Muslim, because their values are so much different than my own.  After listening to Mr. Harris Zafar, national representative for the Ahmadiyya Muslin Community Intentional  I must admit that I have been open to considering the possibility. Not because I believe that the Christian and Muslim (or Mormon) faiths are the same side of the coin.  Not at all, but if the candidate was actually following what the Koran (4:136) teaches about government being separate from religion, and if this candidate was going to work for the freedom of religion, justice, defense of OUR country, and assistance for the poor and needy that they base their views of government on, I could consider voting for anyone with whom I shared similar beliefs if the alternative was more against my beliefs.

The reason I say that I hate politics is not that I think the government is evil, but I believe the system is broken and needs an overhaul.  In my mind, the 2 party system is flawed, and nothing is ever going to change for the better until something is done about the way our government works.  I hate that my choice for president in several of the past elections felt like picking the lesser of two evils.  I am not really concerned about this up coming election either, because which ever person wins is not going to be able to change anything.  Look at all that Obama has done in the last 4 years (or not?)- I am pretty sure that I am not any better off than I was before, and I am sure that if McCain was elected, he would have had just as much trouble enacting any changes that would have put America on the "right path." Don't ask me how to fix it, I have no clue (and that is why I stay out of it as much as I can) but something needs to be done so that all of us can see a change that puts America back on the map as a country that "Love's its neighbors as itself" and strives to work for the common good.

I am grateful for all the experiences and new ideologies that I am being exposed to.  It is a lot to take in.  Music school was way easier, but I know that God's plan for my life includes this season, and with His strength, I can do great things.