My America

There are a plethora of issues that are weighing heavy on my mind as we will soon have to decide who the next president of the United States will be. With the subprime mortgage crisis, the quagmire in Iraq, the failing economy, the surge in energy and food prices, the paucity of accredited teachers working in American classrooms, dishonest lending practices and increasing interest rates on late fees and annual fees, the middle man in this country is being squeezed to it's breaking point. It seems that over the last few years, the rich have only gotten richer, and our government has only taken the side of big business and corporations as opposed to the middle man who depends on the government to protect them from most of what they've fallen victim to in the last 8 years. A balance is required; so what is it, and what's next? What is the balance between faith, and personal interests? One party has embraced the conservative Christian idealism that to me feels full of propoganda and hypocrisy, where another party doesn't put God in the agenda, but seems to care more about the lives regular people have.

Going to the polls, I come in with a varied perspective, as most people do. I am a black man in America. I am educated. I am employed. I am a Christian. Do I believe that one man, and one legislature can fix the ilnumerable problems the United States is facing right now. No, I cannot say that I do. I do believe that whomever is appointed will need to have the trusted council of persons who look at life from an empathetic, compassionate viewpoint, instead of a capitalistic one. Greed corrupts, and the abuse of power is often rooted in a desire to attain more and more items of opulence at the expense of any and everyone that is considered a lessor. I often feel that "Christians" miss the whole point of the moniker when they fail to love first and judge second. Given that viewpoint, voting is not a decision that is to be taken lightly.

When we're all standing before God and being judged for our actions, it is not going to be a public screening, it will be done in private, one man/woman before their creator. James tells us that true religious devotion to God is to bridle one's tongue, to visit orphans and widows in their afflictions, and to keep oneself unstained from the world (Jms. 1:27). The world is coming at us rapidly and if Christians are caught sleeping, we will wake up in a world that we were supposed to be influencing, but seems to have left us behind.