This Election Campaign

Jim Wallis calls Americans to examine the discourse.

What do you think of his observations?

The deep religious teachings of the “common good” could have guided our discussions about the role of government in an economic crisis. The scriptural priority of the poor could have led us to focus on the significance of the new and alarming poverty rate increases. Just war criteria could have been used to evaluate our nine year war in Afghanistan and even made it an issue in this campaign. Religious instructions to love our neighbors and welcome “the stranger” would have been a nice contrast to the political use of false rumors about undocumented immigrants. And the command to be good “stewards” of God’s creation, found in all our faith traditions, might have caused us to reflect on whether the BP oil spill might cause us to reflect on our energy future. But I have missed all that this fall. And in the midst of the most poisonous election campaign in recent memory, we certainly have lost many values important to faith, like humility, honesty, compassion, patience, civility and, oh yes, truth.