Does God care who you vote for?  No.

Let's just get that straight. I am sick and tired of politicians and ministers telling us that there is one candidate that God wants elected and one the God wants to lose. The fact of the matter is, God just doesn't care. You see, God's will is much bigger than any single candidate. God has set Creation on a trajectory toward God's peaceable kingdom. Even elections we point to as historically important, like whether Bush or Gore won the Presidency in 2000, do not change the reality of God's plans for humanity one little iota.

So to those yelling from the stump that they are God's chosen one or yelling from the pulpit that they can tell you who is God preferred candidate... STOP IT!  I will not sit idly by as you use God's name in vain to serve your own self serving purposes.

Because that is the thing God actually does care about. God doesn't care who you vote for, but God does care why you vote for your chosen candidate. Are you voting based on self-serving perspectives or focusing on something higher?  More specifically, are you letting your biased '-isms' (classism, sexism, racism, heterosexism, etc.) guide your will, are you letting your fears control your mind, or are you witnessing to the teachings of Jesus as you sort through mountain of mis-information in hopes of finding the pony in the room full of malarkey?

Are you looking for the candidate that shows outward signs of loving their neighbor? Because if your candidate is telling you that some people don't deserve to have their basic needs met, you are not.  Are you looking for the candidate that encourages you to love your enemy?  Because if your candidate encourages you to fear Muslims, you are not. (Not that Muslims are actually our enemy, they are not, but some candidates would have you believe they are).  Are you looking for the candidate that believes God created us all equally?  Because if your candidate is interested in taking away someone's ability to function as equal, you are not.

Because that's what matters. You see, this isn't about the candidates, this is about you. God isn't interested in who is elected but rather in why you elect them.  With absolutely no uncertainty, we are told by Jesus to seek first the peaceable kingdom of God. That is not a place were some people have more rights than others; where fear not only rules the day but it rules our minds; and where the sick, the hungry and the thirsty go without their needs being met.  God's peaceable kingdom is a place where all are welcome at the table of God; where there is no suffering or sorrow; where the first shall be last; and where the meek inherit the earth, the merciful obtain mercy and those who work for justice find the peaceable kingdom.

When you vote are you voting to bolster an earthly kingdom or are you voting to help usher in God's peaceable kingdom - that's what God cares about.

Of course, there is no candidate that ever comes close to that standard, but there are some that are very clearly nowhere close to it. So, yes at times the reality will be voting for the lesser of two evils. But the only thing more evil than voting for the lesser of two evils would be not voting at all out of some personal sense of a higher moral ground, because doing nothing is the theological equivalent of pointing to Jesus and saying, "I do not know this man." For when you do it unto the least of these so too you do it unto him. 

Does God care who you vote for? Clearly not, but God does care why you vote for your chosen candidate.  So go vote.  Do it wisely. Do it with biblical integrity. And for heavens sake, seek first the kingdom of God rather than earthly kingdoms.

The Republican party has finally jumped the shark. “Jumping the shark” is a T.V. production term that refers to the “Happy Days” episode where Fonzy literally jumped a shark.  It was originally meant to indicate a point at which a T.V. show's plot goes so far it becomes absurd. Colloquially, the term has come to mean the point at which a one time successful organization or project takes a turn for the worst.

A Republican group with a typically misleading name, Latinos for Reform (update: this group is backed by the Swift Boat people), bought up $80,000 worth of ads on Univision in Nevada. They were not promoting all the good things the Republican party has done for the Latino community (how could they?). They were not making promises to the Latino community about how they will champion their causes (because they won't).  They were trying to encourage them not to vote!!

Why? Because they, and I quote, they “can't ask  people to support a Republican candidate who has taken a completely irresponsible and bordering on racist position on immigration.”  So, they try to run an ad to encourage the Latino population not to vote. And (big surprise here) they aren't exactly upfront about why they are doing it.
The argument in the ad is basically, the Democrats haven't done anything for you, so show them a little something by just not voting at all.

Wow...just wow.  The Republican party's willingness to manipulate reality all for the sake of a win speaks directly to their lack of respect for the citizens they are suppose to represent if elected.   An ad that pretends to support the Latino community's cause is actually designed to do the opposite, insure that the person elected will continue actions that their supporters themselves call “irresponsible and bordering on racist.”  Basically, they use double talk and false sincerity to encourage inaction, so that their candidate can win and promote racially motivated immigration law.

As far as I'm concerned, they jumped the shark on this one.  Like them or not, just based on shear effectiveness alone, you have to admit that the Republicans are pretty good at the mudslinging and political double talk that has become unfortunately essential in a candidate’s T.V. ads.   And they always manage to walk that line of deniability even when their accusations are out and out lies.   This time they didn't.   They jumped the shark in both understandings of the word.   They crossed the line that that have so carefully walked for so long in their blatant disregard for the Latino community.   In doing so their successful ad campaigns have clearly taken a turn for the worst.   It also has taken a turn to the absurd.

Their false motivations, political lies and willingness to sacrifice truth for winning could not be clearer on this.  I am astounded that the general public still manages to identify the Republicans as the most Christian party.   Jesus was the truth.   Those who play fast and loose with the truth do not follow Jesus.   Jesus ' primary message was love.  Those who step on the least of these do not understand what love of neighbor looks like.   Jesus spent a great deal of his time with the marginalized.  Those who would encourage a terribly underrepresented segment of our society to not vote clearly do not grasp the bias the Gospels have for the marginalized.

The ad that they planned to run asked the question, “aren't you tired of politicians playing games with your future?”  Well, Univision certainly is.  They decided not to run the ad.  Viva La Univision!