Some election thoughts as Super Tuesday turns into Boring Old Wednesday:
– My wife’s absentee vote for California will make all the difference, she says.
– Web 2.0 plays a role through Facebook stuff and videos like Yes We Can on YouTube.
– Mike Huckabee looks like Kevin Pollack and sounds like Larry the Cucumber.
Mike . . . . . . . Kevin . . . . Larry
– Interesting how many young people voted and see themselves connected to the political process. Reminds me of Scot McKnight’s comments on the emerging church, one of the streams being “political”.
– Speaking of which, two of my kids might be voting in the next election four years from now.
– Mitt Romney’s speech was a little scary. He should read “Everything Must Change” by Brian McLaren, who, btw, also has some election thoughts.
UPDATE:
Mark in the comments shows us another lookalike:
“McCain looks a lot like Anthony Cooper, who plays John Locke’s Father in Lost!”
Technorati Tags: election, super tuesday, usa
The latest Time magazine here in Oz has a few pages about the youth vote in the upcoming US election. Haven’t read it yet, yet but skim read through the report indicates that more and more youth are becoming politically minded and motivated. Worth a read – now, off to read my copy of Time…
Hmmmm, your right. I listened to some sound bites on National Public Radio this morning…Huckabee does sound like Larry. No wonder the Evangelicals are strangely attracted to him.
And McCain looks a lot like Anthony Cooper, who plays John Locke’s Father in Lost!
McCain:
http://nazret.com/blog/media/blogs/new/john_mccain.jpg
Cooper: http://lost.cubit.net/images/profile/acooper.jpg
Go Hillary!
mark – you are right. i have added that to the blog.
What amuses me is the fact that MTV has done absolutely no rock the vote stuff this year, yet the Student vote (at least in the primaries) has increased?
Maybe MTV doesn’t have the power they think?
My favorite bit (which I hope you’ll comment on Andrew) is watching the evangelical power brokers go ballistic over the prospect that McCain might be the nominee – Dr. Dobson said he won’t vote (http://www.townhall.com/blog/g/37ca159a-4f77-4926-8396-9f7d1e9a6689) while Ann Coulter said that if McCain winst he nomination she will campaign for Hillary (http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/02/coulter-i-will.html). Hard to tell who’s blowing smoke and who’s serious but this is satirical gold.
The McCain/Lock’s Father look alike is just scary! I said the exact same thing last Thursday when I was watching the season premier.
Andrew – thought you might get a kick out of this now that Romney is suspending his campaign – With Romney Out, Will Coulter Campaign for Clinton? (http://blog.beliefnet.com/godspolitics/2008/02/coulter-to-campaign-for-clinto.html)
“Dr. Dobson risks playing the role of Dr. Kevorkian in ushering in the end of the old-line religious right.”
hey – thats you talking, Becky!
That quote is from David Kuo – I just know how to find the really juicy quotes.
Another problem is starting to arise here in the states where I suspect your wise counsel is in order. On the left, I am seeing a number of US emergent church leaders endorsing Obama on their blogs. How is that any different in theory than the Religious Right pushing their candidates?
As you well document on this blog, there’s a definite sea change happening in terms of religion, politics and the culture at large but I am sensing a danger here that the left may fall into the same rabbit hole that the right fell into years ago.
To quote Tony Campolo (who I think is quoting someone else): “When government and church begin to mix, you got a problem. It’s like mixing ice cream with horse manure: You will not ruin the horse manure, but it will ruin the ice cream. I think to mix the church and state is to, in fact, put the church in a compromising position.” (This is from the man who is still banned from some Christian colleges for using the S— word, which was uttered while talking about Christian crapola.)
becky, i have heard of a few people saying who they are voting for, and McKnight feels the emerging church in USA lean towards democrat, but i havent heard anyone say that all believers who care about God should vote one party or another
. . well . . lets leave Jim Wallis out for the sake of argument . . .
I have seen blog postings that give me pause – once you are seen as a pastor/published author/spokesman (or some combination thereof) where what you say has an impact to influence others in the Christian sphere, should you endorse Barack Obama on a public website? (I’m not referrring to facebook groups that are semi-private.) I’m raising this Q because there’s been a lot of flack (and rightly so) about other religious leaders excerting undue influence. Should emerging church show a third way here? Just wondering.
its a good question, especially blogs are supposed to be a way to show what you are thinking and doing [voting??] in a vulnerable way.
i dont have a problem with someone saying “i just voted democrat” or “i voted hillary” or whatever. only when they suggest that to vote the same way they do is what God would expect of them – but then i really didnt come across that in the last month.
maybe the third way is openness without coercion?
Andrew – During the 2004 election, I left the church I was attending when it was clear from what I heard from the pulpit and at coffee hour that Bush would not be welcomed at the Communion table (The Clintons have worshipped here as have other major political leaders so Bush could conceivably visit this place during a trek to NYC.) I’ve also been in enough conservative churches where it’s clear if I said the word democrat, I’d be chased out of there lickety-split
That’s why I am very leery of even casual blog postings where someone seen as a religious leader says they voted for X or belong to Y party. Next thing you know, a rather unhealthy discussion ensues where anyone who does not subscribe to this leader’s way of thinking is made to feel unwelcome. And when this religious leader comes out and endorses a candidate, then the wheels start to churn and next thing you know this partisan picture I outlined above happens. (How one defines religious leader in an emergent culture is a topic you’ve covered very well in other posts — I think it’s safe to assume that once one establishes oneself as a speaker/author especially if one is a spokesperson for a religious organization, then that man [I can’t thin of a woman in the emergent culture who has risen to this stature] would be perceived as a leader.)
And on a very practical note, if someone pastors a church or head a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and they endorse a particular candidate, they are putting that organization in danger of losing their tax-exempt status. Then they become great fodder for The Wittenburg Door but it really sullies the kingdom.
Jon Birch’s Cartoon #369 gives a pretty good illustration of this discussion – http://asbojesus.wordpress.com/
Check out Shane Claiborne’ and Chris Haw’s Jesus for President – due out in March. Andrew, I’m sure Zondervan will give you a copy. That gives an excellent starting point for talking about how to do be a prophetic witness in the political arena.
I thought Huckabee looked like Kevin Spacey. . .
he does!!!!!
I think we will all agree that Mike Huckabee bears a striking resemblance to President Charles Logan from “24.”