I Admit It, I'm Ready

I admit it. I'm ready for November 7th. I'm ready for the end of this election season. The reader must be aware that this is no light statement. I live for politics and the news. I wake up Sundays with The Washington Post. I dine in the evenings with CNN. I laugh at night with Fox News. Ok, ok, perhaps I just laugh at Fox News, yet the point remains the same; I find politics fascinating.

But even I have grown weary of the election season. Perhaps it was the flier I received in the mail telling me to vote for pro-life Republican George Allen, like life depends on it, while displaying the picture of a newborn baby. Maybe it was the salacious television ads dripping with pictures of terrorist camps and saying that a vote for a certain candidate is a vote for the terrorists. Possibly it's the increasing news of malfunctions with the electronic voting systems that seem sure to cause problems, and possibly prevent a fair election. Whatever the cause for my weariness may be, I look forward to the end of the election.

For all the focus that an election season casts on Washington D.C., very little is said about the actual policy issues. I have learned that Republicans want to "stay the course" in Iraq while Democrats want to "cut and run." Neither phrase deals with the over 100 U.S. deaths and countless Iraqi deaths in this month alone. Neither deals with the true threats to peace and stability: Iran, North Korea, and ourselves.

Likewise the debate in Virginia concerning same-sex marriage has lost the true issue in political platitudes. I am sure you have seen the signs telling us to "Vote ‘Yes' for Marriage" as if liberals hate the tradition of marriage. The proposed constitutional amendment in Virginia would merely define marriage as between a man and a woman. Whether it passes or fails, it does not touch on the underlying discrimination against gays and lesbians in our government and society. And the political posturing does no justice to this question.

The absence of the real debate and questioning of our nation's policies underscore the crucial role that we as citizens, as Christians, and as a university play both on November 7th and afterward. American Mennonites have historically had a distant role in our nation's political system with many very smart and influential Mennonites calling for no participation in politics at all. The nature of this year's election gives credence to their call. It is so very hard to be the clear witness to the powers that we are called to be in the midst of these muddy political waters.

At the writing of this article, I have already cast my absentee ballot and am proud to have participated in the official decision-making process of this nation. If more than a mere fraction of this nation's people, if more than a mere fraction of the EMU community, would participate in politics, our nation would be far more just in its policies.

But the job of the EMU community does not stop with Election Day. The disengagement of EMU from our local community and from the national scene is a disgrace to our responsibility. If we truly hold to our mission of "doing justice," will we speak a vision of peace to a community around us that may disagree? If we actually believe in "doing justice," will we form a community that does not discriminate against gays and lesbians? If we will follow our mission statement, then we must speak truth to these issues long after Election Day.

Contact Galen @ galen.wenger@emu.edu