bobby posting:

Me and Taido did our usual hang out in the school lunchroom once a week thing today at North Little Rock High School.  There’s nothing easy or non-awkward about being there in the first place, but then some of the students from the youth ministry here at the church begin getting into political discussions about the two presidential candidates (sorry Taido, Nader doesn’t really count).  The discussions then turned into the revelation that a group of them had a heck of a time ripping out one candidate’s signs from yards all over town.

“Were they Nader signs?” Taido asked.

“Who’s Nader?” the kids asked with that same quizzical look they give us during our talks on any given Wednesday night.

“You don’t know Nader?”

“You mean NATO?  No they weren’t NATO signs,” they responded.  “They were signs for one of the presidential candidates.”

“Yeah…Nader is one of the…ahh…forget it…”

Again Taido…Nader doesn’t count.

Anyway, this whole discussion reminded me of the fall of 2000.  Me and my girlfriend at the time (now my wife) engaged in the same exact presidential-candidate-yard-sign-extraction-program back then too.  I have since repented of this, and also noted, that this in no way changed the outcome of that election.  That election also jaded me for the next go-around of Picking-a-President.  After all that happened in ‘00, I just couldn’t muster the care or desire or energy for another election.  Kerry and Bush really wasn’t all that exciting anyway…was it?

“Nader ran in that election too, Bobby.”

Anyway…

This election actually has me and the missus interested once again.  You see, we went to school in Chicago for four years.  While reading the newspaper in the dining halls at breakfast every morning, we were updated on a certain young, rising political star that represented the state of Illinois in the U.S. Senate.  We became very fond of this man.  In fact, this certain politician even spoke at our university’s graduation ceremony in 2006. At that point, as if we weren’t already, we became hooked.  But just how hooked can I be now, given my new-found role within ministry?  That is the question here today.  I guess not hooked enough to even reveal said candidate’s name anywhere in this paragraph.

Several days ago, I came across this story.  Nestled right along side it was the results of a survey that says “74 percent of Americans strongly oppose pastors endorsing candidates from the pulpit.”  All of this got me thinking about the whole role of politics within the church.  Me and the missus don’t really consider ourselves all that “political”, but we do have a real interest in this Presidential election.  We do hope for change (you see…both candidates are now for “change” so I’m still not showing my colors, right?  What’s that Taido?  Nader’s for change too?).  Anyway, we believe one candidate can bring about that change more than another.  But how much can we really say that?  Can I put a sign in my yard (I guess it doesn’t matter if the kids are gonna rip it out anyway!).  Can we finally put that bumper sticker we’ve had sitting on our computer desk at home for months on the car?  Can Amy wear that pin on her shirt instead of hiding it somewhere in her purse?  Can I engage in a real political discussion with students at the lunch table and give them my opinion?  Heck, you always hear “never talk politics or religion”.  Well…I’m a youth leader so I’m going to talk religion.  Why not do both then?!

Teenagers can be swayed by the littlest of things.  I know I was at that age.  That’s why Hollywood really believes this kind of action can help with an election.  The young can be fickle and malleable.  Can’t we all?  I would never want a student’s opinion of our ministry or leaders within our church or Christianity in general affected by my political taste.  If a student tells their parent that their youth leader is all about “So and So” and that parent’s on the other side of the fence…Well let’s just say many parents probably wouldn’t think twice on sharing their own “opinion” with me after that.  I suppose safety = silence here.  Just know I’m voting…and that I’m not voting for Nader.

“Really?  You see Ralph Nader is a great candidate for our country because…”

Actually, after listening to Taido, I believe I’ve changed my mind about who I’m going to vote for.  In fact, I’m so confident and sure of my decision that I’ll even pass my choice on to you.  I’m sure after seeing this, you’ll feel this exact same way.