Faith and Politics

So, the live blogging failed, mostly because my phone was set to post drafts instead of actual published posts. The battery on my phone was questionable as well. So I retired the Treo 700w for a trusty sheet of paper and pen. (Thank you Thomas and Kim.)
Essentially here is what I found interesting about this discussion:
1) It was a discussion and not a heated debate. Both Jim and Greg were civil and in many cases agreed with each other more than they disagreed. I think that is the wonderful thing about their discussion. Both men are Christians and after kingdom things. They go about it in different ways.
2) Jim focussed more on being an independent who considers all the issues and votes the way your faith guides you. Greg focussed more on digging deeper and being a compassionate Christ-centered individual.
3) Both detest the co-opting of one stance as "the Christian stance" and I have to agree. To question anyone's faith as a result of their politics is purely the work of evil.
4) Both think that we should look at all the issues behind being Christian and not just focus on the "big two." Most Christian's would place these issues as abortion and gay marriage and most people polarize their faith based on this. It is much much bigger than all that. Poverty is huge. Gobal warming is huge.

Now on to some general thoughts...
The real issue is that when a party claims Christ and calls another "Unchristian" we are judging. It is not our job to judge. The big two issues are deep down what many people just go with as being the only reason they vote on way or another and that pains me (Greg and Jim as well).

I think that ends most of my general thoughts. My favorite image tonigth came from Jim regarding what a politician looks like. They all look like pilots testing the wind with their finger in the air. They vote whatever way the wind blows them to. We cannot change things by selecting a new "wind-testing politician" to really change things you need to change the wind.