My Political Memoir
Written by Steve Holt : September 16, 2008
(originally published on Steve Holt’s blog)
If you haven’t noticed, 2008 is an election year.
(Some of you just muttered to yourself, “So that’s why they keep showing that toothy guy and old man on the news!”)
A certain excitement surrounds presidential elections. Much of it is media-induced, as was evident by the earlier-than-ever start to the primary season (summer 2007). But a lot of it is, I think, a genuine yearning in the hearts of Americans to start fresh, wipe the slate clean, or move in a new direction. That’s why every candidate in the race is using buzz words like “hope” and “change” and “new direction.” I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t more than a little caught up in the political fever myself.
But I’ve come to a point where I can no longer attach any of those adjectives - hope, change, etc - in their deepest, truest meanings, to the political process. Though I am still a deeply political person, I refuse to be political in the way we are told to be political - by voting, by supporting one of two major parties, by pushing for legislation, by seeking to leverage my own power and strength.
It hasn’t always been this way, however.
My parents raised my brother and me to be good Democrats. We denigrated Reagan economic policy around the house and rooted for Dukakis to defeat George Bush and the Republican machine in 1988. The 1990s were political glory days around our house … Bubba could do no wrong. He was a guy to whom my dad, who has spent much of his life in Arkansas’ neighboring Memphis, could relate. In his smooth, Southern accent, he spoke of compassion and peace and health care for all Americans. Even Clinton’s legal woes with Watergate and Monica-gate didn’t diminish the big guy’s celebrity around the house. Heading off to college, I had received more than my fair share of political indoctrination - not in a heavy-handed way, but in the subtle way parents pass along their own ideologies to their kids. Needless to say, I went off to college in Texas with my mind made up about whom I was going to vote for in the 2000 election.
In fact, when I arrived on campus at my overwhelmingly Republican university, I immediately joined the tiny but faithful College Democrats club. At the first meeting, I was even selected to serve as the vice president during the 2000-2001 year. That election year, we would show up for debates against the College Republicans (a veritable machine on campus…), sign folks in town up to vote, attempt to broaden the debate on campus from just two issues dealing with sexuality to issues of justice, the environment, and the economy. Looking back, this snot-nosed freshman really didn’t know what the heck he thought about much of anything, certainly not enough to deserve the VP position in the college Dems. I think I was more concerned with being different from my “war-loving, vitriol-spewing, poor people-oppressing, trust fund baby” (my perhaps misguided thoughts at the time) Republican friends. (you should have seen my Al Gore Halloween costume, though…)
I think we all remember what happened in the 2000 election.
“Projected Winner: Al Gore” … oh, wait. Hanging chads. Gore wins the popular vote. Florida Supreme Court. Bush wins, weeks later, by a hair. Gore cries (has he stopped?).
We were all devastated.
Most of our friends were electrified. A Texas boy had made good and gotten to the White House. Bush’s supporters at the university that gave him an honorary degree (along with Charlton Heston) could finally say they knew him when…
I developed a much more robust personal political philosophy over the next few years, primarily because I had so much material to work with. Right out of the gate, George W. Bush’s cowboy attitude just rubbed me the wrong way. (and as a writer, the Bushisms annoyed the heck out of me!) Then came 9/11, which I helped cover for the school newspaper of which I was a member, and the political poo hit the fan. We were staging an all-out retaliation in a country that had little, if anything, to do with what happened to us on that Tuesday morning in New York. America’s leaders, led by Bush himself, took a page from the Toby Keith school of foreign policy and threatened to “put a boot in the ass” of anyone who crossed us.
Patriotism was also at an all-time high. One could see flags everywhere, and often they were accompanied by pithy statements like “These Colors Don’t Run” or “Freedom Isn’t Free.” Even many so-called progressives rallied behind the flag and our president and supported returning the slap that Islamic terrorists had given us. Through all this flag-waving, though, I kept thinking, “What about the Afghan children? Are they less precious than our own children? Is our own ‘homeland security’ more important than Afghanistan’s?”
Then we invaded Iraq. The rationale never quite squared with me. Tension had been building for months over supposed WMDs inside Iraq, but to date, none had been found. Then came Dubya on the TV set during primetime saying we had begun a “shock & awe” attack on Baghdad in an effort to free the Iraqi people from tyrannical Saddam Hussein. No mention of WMDs. There was, however, some connection made to what happened to us on 9/11, but I couldn’t (and still can’t) see how any of that rationale adds up. All I saw was an emboldened empire seeking to expand its reach using military might. It was way beyond retaliation at this point … this was pre-emptive war. I saw it then and I see it now.
The night of the shock & awe campaign, I wrote an editorial for the school newspaper applauding the US for attempting to root out Saddam quickly and without much collateral damage. A quick in and out procedure. Five years and 60,000 deaths later…
These events, as well as the ongoing war, kick-started my disillusionment with the tactics of the U.S. Government in foreign policy. I began to see that the American project doesn’t exactly square with my primary identity as a citizen in God’s kingdom, and that both political parties (not just one, as I’d previously thought) were guilty. Sure, the parties talk a good game with regard to justice and values, but in the end, the status quo must be maintained. (which means people around the world and right under our noses are squeezed to the margins or destroyed) These realizations were further underscored when I began investigating the un-reported intimidation, extortion, dishonesty, and even murder US officials were committing around the world to bolster the wealth and power of the nation. (John Perkins’ memoir, “Confessions of an Economic Hitman,” was especially eye-opening) This is about when I began referring to America as an Empire. That’s right, empire - like Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Great Britain. (watch this video if you’re not convinced)
Indeed, the lily-white history of the United States I received in elementary school was, for the first time, in question in my mind. As my eyes were opened to the reality that my fellow countrymen and women were killing my brothers and sisters in Iraq and Afghanistan while the American church stands behind such action - even cheering it on - a new light was shed on how the last 200 years or so have proven to be a slow march toward empire-building for America. In light of these realities, how could I comply with the political system, as is? How could I put any hope in a system that, at its very essence, places nation over the Cross? Furthermore, how could I continue to support candidates and parties that support economic systems that run counter to God’s economics policy of Jubilee?
In the 2004 election, my wife and I placed opposing votes in Texas in order to cancel the other’s out. This was our first act of political subversion, albeit largely insignificant. It was, however, significant for us personally, setting us on a pathway of deepening our identities as citizens first and foremost in God’s kingdom, not man’s.
For the last four years, my political theory - in light of my theological convictions as a follower of Jesus - has been shaped and formed, and the writings of Yoder, Hauerwas, Wright, Claiborne, and others have impacted me greatly.
Many have traded the political ideologies of the Religious Right (a failed experiment) for more progressive political views, still informed by faith. Leaders in this movement, which include Jim Wallis, Brian McLaren and Tony Campolo, among others, have correctly called Christians to broaden their view of justice and righteousness from a couple sexual issues to include the environment, poverty, economic disparity, consumerism, and peace. In many ways, I have these thinkers to thank for sparking the conversation about the problems in the current political system and foci among Christians. I have come to see, however, that these leaders are still calling for participation in the politics of Empire in order to attain societal justice. And while the movement claims to be “non-partisan,” anyone with their eyes open can see that it has become the Christian Left. And because the Left is just as hell-bent as the Right about maintaining and expanding empire, maintaining a consumerist economy, and waging war, I cannot with a clean conscience adhere to this movement. (though I consider many who do my friends)
I recently read Shane Claiborne & Chris Haw’s new book, Jesus For President, which to a great degree spells out where I’ve come politically. It’s the book I would have liked to have written.
JFP maintains that Jesus was in fact political (it is a common misconception that he wasn’t), but not in the conventional way of the time. He subverted the Roman Empire with his words and deeds and even the names people ascribed to him, which were all dripping with political irony and meaning. He continually established and underscored his own kingship (not Caesar’s), and promised that true, sustainable change would occur when people fix their eyes on Jesus and join Jesus in the work of reconciling all things. A thorough and open-minded reading of the Gospels sheds light on this convincingly, I think. So it’s not a question of whether Jesus-followers are to be political, but how this is done. (more on this in the days to come)
Furthermore, God knew that too much power in the hands of sin-proned humans was a dangerous thing. (see the Old Testament for example after example) Yet the cries of the people - “We want a king!” - prevailed, and God gave them over to their wishes. (with a not-so-subtle warning, of course) Today, millions of Christians are yelling, “We want a king!” Their ideal king may have an (R) or a (D) after his name, may make promises that fit their values to a T, and may in their minds hold the last hopes for a just and righteous society, but in the end, the candidate is an imperfect, frail human. And I’ve said it before, but I’m convinced that the office of President - or state rep, senator, congressman, mayor, or any political office - shapes the person much more than the person shapes the office. In the end, Barack Obama and John McCain will be just as interested in Empire-building and war-mongering as any other president who has come along. The machine simply cannot be stopped.
So this is where I’m at politically. I want to stand with the poor and marginalized now more than ever, but I don’t believe the voting booth is where I should stand. I want to see God’s “kingdom come on Earth as it is in heaven” now more than ever, but the Empire - with its penchant for war, expansion, wealth-creation, and being first (Jesus told us to be last) - is diametrically opposed to this dream. God’s peculiar people must continue the work set forth by our brothers and sisters throughout history to affirm that only God can create a new reality, establish justice, and sit on the throne - as King.
Author Bio:: Steve Holt is a disciple, writer, husband, and proud father to an apricot mini poodle, and he lives and conspires in East Boston, MA. You can find his musings about faith, culture, and mission at harvestboston.wordpress.com.
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