Tonight, a McCain-Obama forum is being conducted at the Saddleback megachurch in California.  I’ve not been turned on by the prospects of watching this event since I’ve long supported a separation of politics and religion, no matter who the candidates are.  I probably won’t watch it.  Well, maybe I will.  While I could be bitter about this event, since my dog, and a number of dogs to whom I’m more sympathetic, were not allowed to participate.  But since this is a forum billed as being about faith and “the social gospel”, that’s what my commentary will center around, not on the horserace of who will win the most Evangelical voters.

Christians must seek to understand Christianity, which is based off of what Jesus discussed and advocated.  He most assuredly talked about the poor, the homeless, the meek, those living and dying by the sword, etc.  But the biggest problem I have with a concept of a “social gospel” that requires forums to ask political candidates what they will do as government officials to enact these ideas is that this isn’t what government does or is supposed to do.

In Jesus’ day, he went to individuals and groups of individuals and asked them to do things about the sick, the poor, and every social problem that existed.  He could have easily gone to the government and used his awesome powers to change government and government bureaucrats.  Even if you know absolutely nothing about the Bible, if you’ve watched “The Ten Commandments“, you know how well this worked for Moses.  Thus government and politicians being what they are, Jesus and his followers would have had to deal with the Roman government — a government that believed in torturing prisoners and publicly executing them.  Now contrast that with the American government of today.

But Jesus didn’t try to change the rulers of his time.  If better government was the answer, I’m pretty sure Christ could have hooked that up.  But that’s not what Jesus did, he took his message directly to the people who could actually do something about the issues, the people who actually experienced the suffering and the hurt, he took his message to you.  He said, in a sense, “I want you to do something about poverty, sickness, and morals.”  He didn’t ask you to lobby for laws that may only help the suffering in an indirect way (if it truly helped at all) or vote for the lesser of two evils.  Jesus asked you to be more direct in your actions in order to know compassion and closeness to others, as opposed to the distance and robotic nature at which government claims to fix problems.

While I am theologically universalist and do not believe that some people go to heaven (or a desert oasis filled with virgins) and others do not, there are those who believes this is a mechanism for justice in the universe.  For those, who do believe this, believe in the importance of a social gospel, and still crawl to kings and presidents for the resolution of all perceived societal problems, what will Judgement Day be like?  Will you be held accountable for government’s failure to live up to a Christian vision of helping your fellow man?  I kind of think using “the Devil made me do it” excuse (or in this case “the government made me do it”) to describe why the homeless haven’t been given homes won’t fly.

So what we’ll see tonight is anyone’s guess.  Maybe they’ll spin, or triangulate, or have a genuine religio-politico epiphany right on stage.  I’m sure the media will continue with its nit-wit blather about “who won the Evangelicals” as if a group of people, especially Christians, could be owned by a politician or political party.  Anyway, I’m pretty certain that we’ll see the emergence of a huge Pander Bear of enormous proportions, which in this case would seem to be an eighth circle of hell situation.  We definitely won’t see much social change in this world until we all understand that what we do in this life is up to us — for good, for evil, for indifference, for apathy — and not up to the governments and politicians.

I’ve been really, really turned off by the thought of blogging for the past few weeks. It’s not because there’s nothing interesting going on. During my recent soul searching I’ve realized that politics usually makes me very anxious. And combined with all the other anxious moments in my life, a lot of potential personal happiness has been wasted. Thus, I’ve been trying to divorce myself from the news, the political horseraces, and the hopes that politicians will someday make the right calls.

Two situations of note (and a lot of little things) have led me to where I am at this time. The first, is a recent ballot access petitioning project that I worked on that took a toll on my health and emotional stability. That will more than likely be a topic of discussion sometime in the next few days when I’ve fully gotten up the nerve to face my demons. The second situation was Barack Obama’s recent vote on domestic spying. It’s becoming obvious as to what he means by being the owner of the “change” meme. Other than changing his positions, ala triangulation, his vote to give immunity to telecommunications companies for breaking the law represents a level of change that we haven’t seen since… err, umm, George W. Bush ordered telecommunications companies to break the law. Obama’s vote prevents us from ever knowing to what extent American citizens’ rights have been violated and what specific role the President and his men had in this conspiracy. In a response to a follow-up question during Libertarian Party’s Presidential nominee Bob Barr’s testimony in front of the House Judiciary Committee, Barr voiced investigation of Bush’s wrong-doings in order to send a message to future administrations that such abuses of power wouldn’t be tolerated. But that requires the House Judiciary Committee to make the right call.

Anyway, I’m sorry that I’ve ever said anything nice about Obama. He’s no different than McCain. Well other than, of course, being a black guy. Otherwise, he’s doing the bidding of the “techno-slavery” establishment that runs this country. This action is the clearest signal possible that the day is coming very soon when the decision to put men in slavery and chains will not be based upon the color of their skin, nor the content of their chracter, but by the vast technological resources possessed by the slave master. For this, I truly hope Jesse Jackson changes his mind about cutting off Obama’s nuts.

I don’t comment on school, church, or workplace shootings. Unfortunately there’s so many that I wouldn’t be able to keep up. But today, I can’t help hanging my head now and thinking to myself, “Maybe I should have said something, maybe I could have done something…”

Yesterday’s shooting at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, however, was poignant in a number of ways. First and foremost, I’ve attended more UU services than I can mention while living in Terre Haute, Indiana and Durham, North Carolina, as well as having been to political meetings at my current local congregation, the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh (NC). While I don’t describe myself as Unitarian-Universalist any more, UUism still holds a place close to my heart. Happening geographically close to home in the Unitarian Universalist Association’s southern “Thomas Jefferson District” and having a number of friends who’ve been personally affected by this action have made the feelings associated with this incident seem nearly crushing.

Anytime something like this happens, there’s a natural tendency to think, “What do I do?” While I mean no disrespect to my UU friends — some of the most colorful, joyful, peaceful, best coffee making people you could ever hope to meet — I’m afraid the collective answer about what to do may be misguided.

When considering next steps, UUs need to follow the suggestion of Thoreau and “strike the root”. Not all of the details have been released as to the suspect’s motives, but we do know the following — he was unemployed, he was alone and had little or no social support, his basic needs of food and shelter were being taken from him, he lacked self-esteem and a feeling of success in his life. While this man could have lashed out in violence at any number of groups or individuals, it’s sadly ironic that he chose to assault an institution with such a long standing committment and fervent dedication to helping the poor and the downtrodden. Unfortunately, making a stand on issues brings both wanted and unwanted attention to those things you advocate.

Being both a theologically and politically liberal denominational body, there might be more of an emphasis on beating swords into plowshares, but that’s not the answer. Violence has never been the fault of the tool. Mankind is creative enough (and depraved enough) that if every gun was destroyed today, by tomorrow morning humans would already have a new-and-improved favorite way to kill.

The solution for UUs and their family, friends, and neighbors is found in three things that are not very far away. First, as a community of similarly-worshipping people, individuals can find solace and provide comfort to one another. Second, as a spiritual body UUs can look to the wisdom of the past to emphasize the spark in each one of us, the same spark that is extinguished when we believe the world, and not spirit, is the ultimate reality and power over us. Third, as an institution for social change, UUs must accelerate those efforts to find those who feel they are without hope and bring them into a welcoming, accepting, and loving community.

While this won’t prevent every possible episode of violence in the near future, it’ll go a long way. Even though, UUs were targeted for their beliefs, I think that in the recovery process, UUs will reflect upon their successful advocacy in the areas of human rights, religious tolerance, and social justice and understand that the good they have unleashed upon the world is far greater than any evils one man can commit.