Presbyterian Church (USA)

Election 2012, What Presbyterians Should Care About – Adam Copeland

Photo: LWVC

As part of the ongoing Patheos 2012 election coverage and commentary, I am opening up my blog for Presbyterians to answer this week’s question, “What are the key issues at stake in this election for people of your tradition?” I gave no guidance other than to keep it around 500 words and to avoid bashing and dehumanizing rhetoric. If you would like in for this week, message me via my FB Page.

Next up, Adam Copeland -

I have a particular interest in the issues we aren’t talking about this election season. I’m can’t be totally sure this is due to my faith rather than my penchant for debate. Either way, though, the Presidential candidates’ focus on the undecided middle-of-the-road voter has left many important issues untouched. (In fact, this post is greatly influenced by a FM League Night conversation on the topic last night.)

What I Care About That’s Not Talked About

Climate Change. A friend said last night that this is the first election cycle since 1980 during which climate change was not mentioned in the Presidential debates! It’s a social justice, creation care, and global hunger issue that requires immediate action, not denial.

Two Party Politics / Congressional Inaction. In our system the President’s power to affect much of anything is limited by congress. Gerrymandered districts, the cost of elections, and the payoff for extreme positions handcuff the system. We need politicians who play well with others. Compromise must not be not a dirty word. Friendships across the aisle must drastically increase.

Gun Violence. The current system isn’t working. Too many people die from guns. Period. Addressing the problem will take courage and working outside of NRA-sanctioned norms.

Prison Reform. Our incarceration rate affects every aspect of society. 1 in 100 Americans is in jail. 1 in 15 black adults is behind bars, as is 1 in 9 black men aged 20-34. The US represents 5% of the world’s population, but holds almost 1/4 of the world’s incarcerated persons. We must address this problem from every angle.

Health Care. The Affordable Care Act is a huge step in the right direction, but it’s only one step. Implementation of the law will take time, and if Americans keep eating and exercising as we do (or don’t), if we continue rewarding physicians as we do, the health cost curve will not bend downward. As always, it’s the poor who will be affected most.

Poverty. “The middle class,” is mentioned at every rally this year, but it’s the poor whom I really worry about. Their voice is not heard. Their stories are not told. The cycle of poverty is not being broken.

Supreme Court. Three justices will reach their 80s during the next presidential term. The current court is among the most conservative in decades. Due to lifetime tenure, the next president’s appointments will affect the country for decades.

Looking back at this list now, I do see that my commitment to every one of these issues is directly connected to my faith. Though I am prepared to argue for these issues in the language of the public square, each one is central to me because of my Christian foundation.

Submitted by Adam and reposted from www.adamjcopeland.com.

[Adam Copeland, a Teaching Elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA), teaches in the Religion Department at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, where he also serves as Faculty Director for Faith and Leadership.]

Content Director’s Note: This post is a part of our Election Month at Patheos feature. Patheos was designed to present the world’s most compelling conversations on life’s most important questions. Please join the Facebook following for our new News and Politics Channel — and check back throughout the month for more commentary on Election 2012. Please use hashtag #PatheosElection on Twitter.

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Election 2012, What Presbyterians Should Care About – Laura Garwood Meehan

Photo: LWVC

Next up, Laura Garwood Meehan -

Proverbs 19:17 (look it up)

I am Christian, Presbyterian, and have been from the cradle. One of the reasons I vote the way I do is because of an issue that was dear to Jesus’s heart: the poor. So often, there is a heartbreaking callousness toward their plight in this country. I’ve been told, straight faced, by fellow Christians that if you even give “those people” food, it will “enable them to mismanage their money.” I guess I missed the lesson where Jesus cautioned against enabling the widows to mismanage their money.

Jesus didn’t seem concerned about the reason people were poor, begging, or otherwise in trouble. We just hear this, in Matthew 25:34–40:

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”

The King goes on to tell those on the left (ha ha, I know) that they will be cast into the fiery place for failing to do the same.

We hear repeatedly, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” (Matthew 7:1). And yet we persistently judge those in need. They should have worked harder. My father pulled himself up by his bootstraps; why can’t they? Why does her family get food stamps, but here she is, buying cigarettes?

We are to take care of and love those who are weak. It’s all fine to say that that is not the government’s job. But who else can do it? Even if you want to argue for a small centralized government with few programs, the states can’t do it, especially my broke state, California. Our churches are hurting and our food closets are shutting their doors. Many who claim the government shouldn’t do it also strongly look down on individually giving to people on the streets. So if the churches can’t do it, and the states can’t do it, and the individuals won’t do it—does anything about Jesus indicate that we should just let them starve?

Does the Bible allow for “Someone else will do the right thing”?

In closing, I often hear the maxim about giving a man a fish versus teaching him to fish used as an excuse for cutting back on aid. But don’t we need to do both? Doesn’t he need a fish to get him through the crisis? Jesus didn’t hand out fishing lessons; he did divide up actual fish among a hungry crowd. But I also value teaching him to fish. I call that education. It also must be funded, and both that and feeding people may take some sacrifice on our part. But it’s the right thing to do.

[Laura Garwood Meehan is a deacon at Carmichael Presbyterian Church, as well as a freelance editor and writer. www.laurameehan.com]

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