Influence

Cool Scripture Cite

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden." (Matthew 5:13-14)

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Alternatives to Voting
Mark Sibley Jones

Ronald Reagan warned against the "Evil Empire" of communism; George W. Bush refers to terrorism as the "Axis of Evil." Yet another political evil is threatening the peace: voter consternation.

Political scientists maintain that the two-party system of politics pushes the issues of both sides toward the middle. May I present to you the governor of California as a prime example? So, with the moderating of American politics, why all the hoopla over political differences, which are supposedly minute? Political histrionics, it seems to me, have two results. One, the polarizing of the populace around such candidate qualities as personality (cowboy vs. aristocrat), culture (Texan vs. New Englander), rhetoric (flip-flop vs. flim-flam), and body image (Mutt vs. Jeff). Having learned the power of such supposedly secondary factors from Nixon's five o'clock shadowy defeat by Kennedy's good looks, candidates appear on screen so freshly shaven that their cheeks are rosy.

The second result of the Evil Polarization of American politics disturbs me most: apathy. By apathy, I'm referring to the psychological condition that is akin to Seligman's concept of "learned helplessness."

If you've contracted the apathy bug, let me suggest a few healing alternatives:

Presidential politics as the newest sporting event. More salient than fantasy sports, politics offers the windfall of feeling that you've actually made a small, minute, chad-defying difference in the world.

Entertainment. If reality TV shows like American Idol and Big Brother can stir up so much vote casting and online mania, why not presidential politics? More humorous than Saturday Night Light, more dramatic than CSI, and approximately as accurate as CBS' Sixty Minutes, presidential politics has much going for it as a new entertainment venue. Look for candidate debate computer games and action figures to appear soon in your favorite high-tech boutique.

Online academics. With U of Phoenix championing the cause of online degrees, the academic value of presidential debates should not be overlooked. In three televised classes, the debates presented a veritable liberal arts degree, including history lessons (from senatorial voting patterns to the Vietnam era), geography lessons (who knew where Afghanistan was four years ago?), math lessons (higher math in computing the cost of the Iraq war and in quantifying the nature of the international coalition). Here is a sample question from the final exam. Question: construct a logarithm for computing the mathematical nature of the international coalition in the Iraq war. Multiple Choice: (a) 1 into 30, (b) 1 set of US troops factored into 30 thirty international coalition partners times 99% of the burden.

Political participation as an expression of faith. People of faith who have intelligence are bound to approach elections with mixed feelings. Seldom are the issues simple and clear. Seldom are we privy to the full measure of a candidate's character. Seldom do with agree with all the the planks of a party platform. Our religious ancestors could not have imagined a political process in which the populace had such a direct influence on government as we do in the USA. Their political involvements often required great sacrifice and even martyrdom. Our involvements require only time and responsibility.

Let your voice be heard! Vote!!