Today on the God’s Politics blog, an online project of Sojourners, Duane Shank posted an entry entitled, “What Would Yoder Do?”, about the famous Mennonite theologian and ethicist John Howard Yoder’s views on faith and politics.

Yoder, who died in 1997, graduated from Goshen College in 1947. He is best known for his book, “The Politics of Jesus.”

At my high school in rural Ohio I was part of a small group of students who were thought of as rebellious and unpatriotic, and given names like “hippy” and “tree-hugger.” I was a Democrat.   » Read more…

Presidential campaigns carry with them a collection of temptations for Christians (and non-believers) we seldom acknowledge. Both candidates and their running mates profess to be Christian, and yet who among them or their staff could claim to have never distorted their opponents record, never taken a quote out of context for political gain, never embellished their own record, never ducked an opportunity to speak prophetically about a sensitive issue, never taken money from a questionable source - and the list of pecadillos goes on and on and on.   » Read more…

In thinking about the post-election climate, I somehow gravitated to John D. Roth’s 2005 essay “Called to One Peace: Christian Faith and One Witness in a Divided Culture.” (Sorry John, but I read your piece after I had cast my ballot early . . . maybe the fact that I found your essay is evidence of God’s prevenient grace.)   » Read more…

From my perspective, the liberal arts education is one of the most important foundations for civil discourse and civic engagement in our democracy. There is a basic assumption built into the liberal arts education: that one perspective is never enough because truth is not something we can fully grasp, but rather something that we must pursue through disciplined study.   » Read more…

I frequently hear comment about how bitter and divisive American politics is, and to a degree it’s true: red state/blue state rhetoric can be pretty harsh. But the nasty language may be an example of what Sigmund Freud called “the narcissism of small differences” and serve to obscure just how minor are political differences in the United States compared to many other countries.   » Read more…

Students submitted these views during the vice presidential candidate debate between U.S. Sen. Joe Biden and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Oct. 2.   » Read more…

At the east end of the giant Wal-Mart parking lot in this northern Indiana town of about 32,000, there’s a metal-roofed building accommodating as many as 20 horse-drawn buggies. People in plain dress—flat black hats, white bonnets—can be seen around town. Goshen is a population center for Mennonites and their religious “cousins,” the Amish. Both are Protestant Christian faiths built on foundations of pacifism and keeping government, politicians and politics at arm’s length.

The Amish remain non-voters who believe in the strict separation of church and state. However, some Mennonites, especially younger members such as those on the campus of church-founded Goshen College, are seeing an opportunity now to integrate politics into their lives in a way that furthers rather than diminishes their religion.   » Read more…

As my Saturday afternoon attention waxed and waned, I sat listening to a surrogate of one of the presidential candidates speak when my heart skipped a beat and my mind lurched forward to face the fact that I may bring children of my own into the world during the next president’s terms in office. For me, this is why this election matters so much.   » Read more…

I remember my first voting booth: a cardboard refrigerator box in the hallway of Oak Street Elementary school in Orrville, Ohio. In the 1972 election between Richard Nixon (R) and George McGovern (D), my sixth-grade class studied the electoral process, ran campaigns for the candidates, and cast our votes in our own polling station.   » Read more…

Tomorrow, Indiana residents will play a significant role in the Democratic presidential race. It has been a long time – at least 40 years – since voices in this great state in the country’s heartland have had such influence and were so valued.   » Read more…

Ok, I admit it. I am a political news junkie. I have 12 websites bookmarked that I regularly check throughout the day…in case a new poll has come out or to find out what the candidates said in the last hour that might affect the race.   » Read more…