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.

It’s that time of the year again. Independence Day is one of my favorite days of the year, but for the past six years it has been more of a bittersweet experience. Ever since that first July 4th after 9/11, I just haven’t been able to really feel free. I often sarcastically say that we are still free to pay our taxes, still free to get a driver’s license, and when we want to say something, we are now free to go to a “free speech zone” to say what we want to say — so why am I complaining? Yeah, there’s been a marked reduction in freedom over the few years. A frog will allow itself to be boiled alive as the temperature in the pot is slowly raised. So goes our freedoms.

As typical also for this time of the year, I am also railing on about the perception that we have a choice — a choice of two polished, professional politicians to vote for every year. While this angst is typically geared toward getting political parties on the ballot, my focus is now encompassing the plight of the lone write-in candidate whose votes get thrown out if they can’t complete a petition drive before the election (as is the case in North Carolina).

But even getting past the politics, I’m finding more and more that I’m not free. Getting past the existence of the government in my life, I am a slave. I look at where I’m at situationally. Who got me there? For the most part I did. How do I deal with my situation? Not well usually. I’m angry, anxious, exhausted, fearful, nervous, and depressed most of my waking hours now-a-days. I could live in an anarchist paradise, with only myself calling the shots for my life, but I still wouldn’t be free because of what I’m feeling and how I’m dealing with it.

As I reflect upon the true meaning of freedom, independence, and liberty, I’m reminded of the title of a book by 1996 and 2000 Libertarian Party Presidential nominee Harry Browne. It’s called “How I Found Freedom In An Unfree World“. I’ve read excerpts. It sounds like something we all start reading immediately as we not only reflect, but as we begin to realize what being free truly is. Hey, it’s Independence Day — what are you doing just standing there? Watching fireworks?!

My boss posted a link this morning in an online teamroom. I bookmarked it for later perusal. Once I got some free time this evening, I went to the site and played to my heart’s content. It was a warning sign generator. Here are some of the favorite ones I created: