What I'll Be Doing This Election Cycle

Note: Oops! I’m sorry, I’m cheating and posting on my wrong day. I wasn’t able to get this up in time for my regular day last week. Sorry, MMWs!

I’m sure I don’t have to point out to any of our American readers—and possibly not our international readers either—that this has been a rough presidential election year for the US. Now, what I want to say here is somewhat political, but it’s more about who we are as people. So I hope you’ll stick with me in a dicey subject.

Many of us have struggled with who to vote for, and I’m not going to address that at all. That’s your decision, and I only suggest that it be made with prayer and consideration. But no matter who we vote for, there are some things I think we can and should do.

I was reading this past week about when Christ gave the Sermon on the Mount. As you may remember, He says this: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matt. 5:44). This struck me forcibly as I thought about the news, the general world that we live in, and this election in particular.

There’s a nearly 100 percent chance that we will end this cycle with a president I personally am unhappy with, someone I am not naturally inclined to love (since, to be frank, I don’t like either of the major party candidates). Regardless of who wins, around the country there will be anger, name calling, scandals, fights. This is inevitable and I can’t change the general climate. But what I can change is my own response.

I can pray for the future leaders of this country, even if they feel like enemies. I can pray for those who show their displeasure in immature, unpleasant, and even violent ways. I can pray, and by praying I can increase my love (even if I still don’t like them).*

But how can you pray for them sincerely, you ask? I have given some thought to this, and here are some of the things I feel like I can genuinely pray for, no matter who it is:

*That they will be guided to choose the best possible advisors and friends.
*That they will listen to wise counsels to the greatest extent possible.
*That they will be moved to strive for nobility in action, even when it’s difficult.
*That they will experience the true joy that comes from choosing righteous paths, and that that joy will lead them to seek more good.
*That they will be protected from making choices that will lead to their own and others’ suffering.
*In general that they will find wisdom and then find joy in following wisdom’s path.

Are these not things that we can ask for anyone who enters an office, no matter whether we consider them enemies or those who despitefully use us? Are these not things that we should be able to pray for all?

I guess no matter how we feel about our elected officials this election season or any other, no matter how we feel about our neighbors, our acquaintances, the anonymous commenters on news articles, I hope we will find the moral courage and the true charity (AKA love) to pray.

*Yes, contrary to popular belief, it is possible to love someone even if you don’t like what they do or want to hang out and get pizza together.

It's Almost Over, Folks

by Jewel Leann Williams

This (Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad) election cycle is almost over. It does not need to be said that the country, nay the world, is ready for it to be over. Our collective sanity and IQ's have all gone down at least 10 percent.

Most of us have had some button pushed at one time or another during the past year, and we've maybe said some things that we shouldn't have. Been a little more contentious than we should have, or less patient, or a little judgey.  It has been a LONG campaign. Check this paragraph from a New York Time article about the length of our election cycle when compared with the rest of the world:

So, where does voter fatigue come from, and why does it seem to be getting worse? One part of the problem is that our election season is simply too long. The United States has the longest head-of-state campaign season by a long shot. Senator Ted Cruz, the first serious candidate to announce he was running, announced on March 23, 2015. That means that, by Election Day, the campaign will have gone on for 597 days. In the span with which we’ve been paying attention to the same presidential campaign, we could have instead hosted approximately four Mexican elections, seven Canadian elections, 14 British elections, 14 Australian elections or 41 French elections.  (Roller, Emma for http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/06/opinion/campaign-stops/yes-it-does-feel-like-this-election-is-never-ending.html)

597 DAYS. Wow. No wonder we're all tired and cranky.
Here's another interesting article about how our elections compare with several other countries:

https://mic.com/articles/118598/7-facts-from-the-around-the-world-show-how-absurd-america-s-elections-really-are#.srJMnXl1U

Another reason we are so fatigued and downright belligerent about this election (aside from the candidates, but I'm not going there) is the negativity in the campaign. Somehow we've let the attack-dog atmosphere influence our interactions with strangers, friends, and even family, and turned us all into rabid zombie tribes tearing out each others' throats.

But this campaign season isn't the meanest or dirtiest ever... well, maybe it is... but for a little historical perspective, let's review some of the things other candidates have said in their attacks in the past:

• Republicans told everyone that the Catholic Smith had commissioned a secret tunnel 3,500 miles long, from the Holland Tunnel to the Vatican in Rome, and that the Pope would have say in all presidential matters should Smith be elected  (Herbert Hoover about Al Smith, 1928)
• "Are you prepared to see your dwellings in flames... female chastity violated... children writhing on the pike? GREAT GOD OF COMPASSION AND JUSTICE, SHIELD MY COUNTRY FROM DESTRUCTION."  (John Adams, about Thomas Jefferson, 1800)
•  Jackson's people said that Adams had sold his wife's maid as a concubine to the czar of Russia. (Andrew Jackson, about John Quincy Adams, 1828)
• Adams supporters attack Jackson's family, calling his dead mother "a common prostitute, brought to this country by the British soldiers," after whose service she "married a MULATTO MAN, with whom she had several children of which number General JACKSON IS ONE!!!" Jackson's wife, who was previously married and (accidentally) not completely divorced prior to her second marriage, they call a "convicted adulteress." When she dies within days of Jackson's victory, he blames Adams' vicious campaign practices, exclaiming at her funeral, "May God Almighty forgive her murderers as I know she forgave them. I never can." (John Quincy Adams about Andrew Jackson, 1828)

I know, just because everyone else is doing it doesn't make it right. But, this isn't a unique election, mudslinging has always been around. 

I know, I know. It's all so depressing. In an effort to remind us all that America is the greatest nation in the world, here are some Canadians telling us why they love us: 

And lastly, a beautiful rendition of a patriotic song and prayer, God Bless America: 

Hopefully that was a little bit of a tonic for the giant stomachache of the past 594-ish days, or at least a reprieve. 

Please remember, God is still in charge--if we are righteous, we will all be okay in the end.