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…

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…

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…

At a town-hall style meeting in early October, Republican supporters booed John McCain for calling Barack Obama “decent.” McCain said Obama is a “decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared of as president of the United States.”   » Read more…

Life in Jesus Christ is the truest expression of who we are: our identity is rooted in His love. This life in God’s Son is lived by faith and through the gift of grace we can live, even in our temporal existence, as daughters and sons of God. When lived with a full prayerful understanding of these essential truths, faith becomes an integral part of all that we are. This includes informing our decisions in the political spectrum.   » Read more…

The starting point for my political views is the question of what is best for my country and for the world. At one time in history, a person’s allegiance was to his or her city, for example, Rome, Venice, Ragusa, Paris or London.   » Read more…

General Petraeus and President Bush are right. So is President Ahmadinejad. Bad relations between the U.S. and Iran are a major international crisis of our time. Into a volatile mix of Iraqian chaos, peak oil, uranium enrichment and domestic election campaigns, Washington and Teheran persist in striking sparks that could ignite a catastrophic regional war.   » Read more…

How did my Goshen College experience influence my views on political issues? As a student at Goshen in the latter 1950s, I moved within in an intellectual and spiritual climate much invigorated especially by: (1) the “Anabaptist vision” emphasis of seminary dean Harold S. Bender; and (2) the social ethics of Guy F. Hershberger, which for Mennonites brought a fresh emphases on applying Biblical pacifism to a wide variety of social issues   » Read more…

How does my faith inform my political views, engagement and assessment of candidates? My faith is in a God revealed in Jesus who ministered to all, but especially to the poor and marginalized of his time. I am drawn to candidates who have compassion for the many in our nation and world who struggle with inadequate food, health care and shelter.   » Read more…