It's Not Easy Being Green

I'm blue. No, I'm not depressed, nor am I cold. I was talking politics.

Ah, that changes everything, doesn't it. Cable news networks have made it easier to talk politics by color-coding everything. Instead of getting into a long discussion about the course of our world, I just told you that I'm against the war in Iraq, I think Bush is a bad president, I'm weak on security issues (or maybe I just have morals), and I probably support gay marriage (or maybe I just have morals).

All teasing aside, since EMU is a Mennonite institution, it is quite wary of any labels with political labels being the worst. Having just two colors is way too restricting. Some of you shun the whole system with statements like "I hate both colors. I'm just off-white." Then there's the loving bunch that goes around saying, "Deep down we're all just purple."

Tuesday night was a banner evening for the purple crowd. The Student Lecture Series outdid itself in bringing Jim Wallis to speak to a full Lehman Auditorium. Wallis spoke with a commanding voice and inspirational tone about reclaiming our religion from the politicians and in turn taking the debate in Washington to a higher moral road.

His path is vaguely reminiscent of the Buddha who called for his disciples to take the "Middle Way." Ours is not to choose Republican or Democrat. We are to support the issues that matter to us. We are to tell Washington that we support social justice and can do so without selling out our values.

I can't agree more with Wallis. In fact, I've already given my elected leaders a piece of my mind (in a peaceful, Mennonite way, of course). They listened, or at least thats what the nice letter I got from one of my senators said after I participated in an EMU letter writing campaign last year. With that knowledge that I have spoken and the powers have listened, I have waited for close to a year now.

One of my senators started dying his hair in preparations for a run for the White House. It's now a nice deep shade that will surely appeal to both reds and blues and maybe even a few purples. His policies, which were the subject of my letter, have not experienced any noticeable change.

No, I do not expect my elected leaders to change their policies merely because one constituent sent a letter. It has nevertheless not worked, and now I must wonder what I am to do. Conversations with both sides of an issue are important, but lobbying politicians and signing up for Wallis' frequently touted SojoMail emails are only part of the solution.

A commitment to another way requires vision. I was thoroughly glad to hear Wallis encourage his audience to not follow either the Left or the Right. Yet Wallis failed to give the long term vision for his call to action.

I subscribed to Wallis' SojoMail for slightly more than a year. The nebulous value-driven analysis of current events did not balance out the frequent requests for donations to Sojourners. Wallis provides a welcome and refreshing perspective, but trying to change the world requires more than telling everyone that deep down we actually agree.

I am well aware of the frustrations of trying to be purple - trying to be everything to everyone. EMU struggles with this. In the attempt to add new programs to attract new people, the university has found itself both needing money and looking for vision.

A great visionary and personal childhood hero Kermit the Frog once said, "It's not easy being green." Indeed, it's not easy to command a way that is free from the polarizing forces in our world. Taking a middle way leaves us sandwiched between the Democrats and Republicans. In EMU's case, we easily become a mediocre player in the Church, academics, and the World. A true vision cannot rest on the shoulders of divergent wishes. A true vision commands its own future.

Contact Galen at galen.wenger@emu.edu