On November 5, I hope to be remembering that I am (still) among God’s many adopted children on this earth, people with many different skin colors, countries of origins and deeply held beliefs. As a Christian, I believe I am here to be open to God transforming me more and more into the character of God’s son, Jesus Christ. This is what mattered to me yesterday, matters to me today and will matter to me tomorrow.   » Read more…

In The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe, there is a character who doesn’t know he is a descendant of Attila the Hun. He can’t figure out why herds of marauders in fuzzy hats occasionally charge through his consciousness. That is sort of how I feel when people start disagreeing about politics: they turn into ranting barbarians.   » 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…

When I was in the sixth grade, Dwight Eisenhower became president, defeating Estes Kefauver. After the election one of my friends said, “We all must be for Eisenhower now.” I have remembered his comment because of the wisdom he displayed. Regardless of whether we have a President McCain or President Obama, we must be for him. To be otherwise is to be obstructionist.   » Read more…

Given the substantial and continued drops in the stock market these past days, I am more concerned than ever about the shameful situation that exists in our historically Christian nation. That is, I find the prevailing notion that healthcare is a market commodity and not a basic human right in the US an affront to my Catholic Christian beliefs, the core values of my ministry site, Goshen College, and the ethics of my nursing profession.   » 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…

In the wake of the September 11 events, I began to wonder about my identity as an American. How it feels. How it is expressed. As the nation reeled in shock and grief, I found it difficult to explain, even to myself, my conflicted feelings of anguish and anger on the one hand, and my desire for understanding and reconciliation on the other.   » 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…