This is Pastor Tim’s article which appeared in the Evening Leader on Tuesday, March 12, 2024
I would like to invite you to join me in a struggle I have been having over the past few weeks. When it comes to paying attention to politics, what is the perfect balance between not getting overwhelmed by it and not knowing anything about it at all?
With Donald Trump wrapping up the Republican primaries, we are about to enter into the longest presidential campaign season in history. I am offering no opinion on that, it is just fact. No candidate has ever wrapped up the non-incumbent nomination as early as Trump has this one. That is because it has been over a century since a presidential candidate has run for non-consecutive terms. Grover Cleveland did it, being both our 22nd and 24th president. I do not believe anyone else has ever run for non-consecutive terms. I would guess that is why Trump was able to gain the nomination so quickly, because we are in unprecedented times.
The Ohio Republican Primary is on March 19th and it is unlikely that Nikki Haley will have enough money to really be a factor in our primary. Again, I offer no evaluation of that, I am simply stating that is that case. We begin the long slug to November 5th has unofficially begun. That means we have 8 months of campaigning, and I am already weary of it.
Which brings me back to my original question. Where is the line between oversaturated and under informed? I feel as a voting American, it is my duty to stay informed. I also believe that as a Christian, it is my duty to pray for my country. That means to fulfill both of these roles as well as be a resource to my community, I need to stay informed so that I can answer questions and do my best to calm fears. At the same time, watching two people who would be the age of my grandparents if they were still alive sling accusations at each other is not my idea of a good time. There is only so much of that I can take and maintain a semblance of sanity.
I am legitimately worried about the future of this country. If I could go back a few decades to when I started my career as a pastor and told 23-year-old me about the world that 49 year old me would live in, 23 year old me would have laughed in your face. Just one example, the moderate position on abortion held by Donald Trump who says abortion should be legal up to 16 weeks. That is the moderate position! How a baby magically becomes a human at that stage of development is a question no one seems to ask yet that is the moderate position. I follow Joe Biden on X (formerly Twitter) and I can tell you, that guy loves abortion!
This is an example of the callous attitude many people have toward a wide variety of topics and it frightens me. We are just getting started and I do not know if I have the stomach for what is coming. Which is why I am wondering where the line is between ignoring this circus and getting overwhelmed by it.
What I have decided to do is focus on issues. What do the candidates stand for, and how do those stands line up with my own personal beliefs and my desire for the future we are building for our children? I gave you one example of a standard earlier where I do not agree with either candidate. There will be a ton of egos and grandstanding because that is how we seem to do politics anymore. I am going to do my best to get past that and try to focus on what the candidate stands for and then vote accordingly in November.
Maybe if we all commit to not being sucked into the vortex of name-calling and agenda pushing, we can get down to what really matters in this election and that is the tomorrow we are building. We should be voting for those values rather than voting for personalities. I look forward to the two candidates being on stage together to talk about these issues so we will have the chance to cast ballots based on those differences. Let us have a real comparison so that we can vote on principles rather than on which personality cult we happen to subscribe to.