Election...

Nationally, the mid-term elections are just around the corner. Please vote, people. If you can't get to the polls, reach out to the many organizations that will give you a ride, provided you haven't already made provisions to file an absentee ballot. Anyone who declares themselves a patriotic American, and who doesn't vote in every election is lying to her or himself. The one thing that keeps the American "experiment" going is that its people vote. Did you ever stop to think that the myriad problems we face as a people may be directly linked to the increasing decline in the voting ranks? In this past presidential election, about half of eligible voters actually voted. Only half of this democratic republic have raised a voice. Vote! Vote! Vote! I'll make you a deal: if you promise to vote, I'll promise to not rag on you for how you voted. Even if "my" candidates don't win, I'd still feel better--we should all feel better--if at least a majority of voters in the country actually voted. If you know someone who doesn't vote, hound them--nicely, but hound them. Better yet, bribe them. Offer to take them to breakfast, lunch, or dinner after they have voted. Something's got to wake this nation up. Maybe it'll be a stop at Bob Evans or a Big Mac, or something.

Speaking of election, did you know that some famous theologians in the history of the Christian faith believed in it? John Calvin is often labeled as the "father" of the doctrine of election, but many others down through the centuries, including more contemporary writers such as R.C. Sproul, believed in it and promoted it. In its simplest form, it is the idea--mostly gleaned from the Apostle Paul, with some padding from Hebrew Bible poets--that because God is omniscient (all-knowing) and omnipotent (all-powerful), God already knows who will be "saved" (redeemed from the ash-heap of condemnation) and who will be "lost" (dispatched to the ash-heap of condemnation). Hence, if God already fore-knows, then God must necessarily fore-ordain this reality. The end result is that some will be of God's "elect" and some will lose the "election" without the privilege of a consolation speech. I could never get my head around this. I'm guessing it goes to one's idea of the nature of God. If you are one who believes God's justice means the "good" get rewarded and the "bad" get punished, then you could be attracted to this theological model. Of course most of the proponents of this theology don't believe that our actions can have this effect, only God's "choice" of who's good, and who's bad. They also tend to believe that God's "choice" in the matter is affected by "salvation by faith." It seems this means for them, though, that "salvation by faith" is what happens when God chooses you; it's not something you can choose to receive. Those who really push this "election" model would say that "evangelism" is just calling out the elect. Again, as a life-long Methodist, this gets weird for me.

That's because Methodists--adherents to the theology of John Wesley--are "free will" folk (again, an oversimplification). Generally, we believe that God puts before humanity the option to make choices as to how one will live (either "good" or "bad") and whether one chooses to respond to the grace of God, which we believe God offers to all persons. Our view is that just because God may be omniscient (all-knowing), it doesn't mean God is therefore fore-ordaining. The prophets of Israel most often highlighted two potential pathways for God's people, one of which would lead them to ruin, or at least some really bad real estate, and other to prosperity and full bellies. The prophets preached a choice of these paths as being up to the community as to which they would take. The better path, of course, required keeping God's commandments and being nice to each other and the "strangers" in their midst. The undesired path was the "default," if the people only cared about their OWN real estate or how full their OWN bellies were. I guess I find it hard to see any "election" in the Hebrew Bible, which becomes the basis for the New Testament and the teachings of Jesus.

Why am I putting these two "elections" together? Maybe you should ask my therapist. Seriously, though, here is my "thought for the day" thesis: If we tend to believe in "fate" (a type of election) or that nothing we do makes much of a difference, we probably lean toward not voting in elections, and toward just trying to carve out a decent life for ourselves and our own family. If we believe that we are charged with making choices that will seriously impact the course of our lives and possibly even the broader course of our community, our nation--or even our church--then we will probably vote in elections, volunteer in community-building or benevolent organizations bent on improving everyone's quality of life, and advocate for equality, inclusion, and justice.

Thankfully, in the world of theology, hardly anyone goes to either of the extremes of "election" (which some call predestination) or "free will." The Calvins knew and wrote that we do have important choices, although none of them can trump the sovereignty of God, and the Wesley's agreed that "free will" still functions within a big, divinely-crafted picture that moves toward redemption and wholeness for the creation. Of course we grassroots theologians (pastors) can argue these points--and do--just as a kind members of spiritual fantasy league.

Unfortunately, our national voting record has, most recently, belied a brand of American fatalism that is far more dangerous than the Wesley/Calvin theological chess match. To reiterate: the American "experiment" is based on the people having a voice and a vote. When the "journalist" in me spars with "friends" on Facebook, I often wonder if the people taking the other side of the political argument are actual voters. I suppose I could start asking that of them: "Do you vote?" And, if the answer is one of these fatalistic cop outs, "No, because what difference does it make?" I should immediately abandon the repartee.

So, what am I really saying here? Come November 6, drop the theological clap, lose the "que sera sera" fatalism and vote...vote...vote...VOTE!!!