Jeff Iorg Blog
Election results
| Nov 07 2012
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The national election is over and Barack Obama was re-elected President. Except for some dreamers on Fox News, this was not really unexpected. President Obama was elected by both an electoral and popular majority, after leading almost all pre-election polling for months. So, no surprise there.
My greater concern was the pattern of social change evident in votes on key statewide issues. Maine and Maryland approved same sex marriage – the first time that issue has ever won in a popular vote. After more than 30 states’ voters have said no on this issue, the first two have now said yes. This is a harbinger of change to come, threatening gender roles and family structures with devastating potential consequences.
Two states, Colorado and Washington, approved recreational use of marijuana. This is also a significant social change, and also a precursor of future events. My expectation is this change will creep, state-by-state, to many other areas in a short time. The widespread self-medication with alcohol prevalent in our country isn’t enough – apparently we need something even stronger!
The first lesbian Senator was also elected, further validating homosexuality as a protected class – not a behavioral choice. Her election was symbolic of even greater changes coming as homosexuals become more and more influential in making social policy for our nation.
These are significant decisions reflecting the changing moral climate in our nation. They are also further evidence of the erosion of values threatening our social fabric. While redefining marriage, moral behavior, and methods of intoxication might seem like tolerant, accepting, nice acts of charity for all, they are not. These are choices revealing cultural decay and leading to further unraveling of healthy societal structures.
Whining or yelling about these changes won’t do any good. The Church must rediscover both its prophetic voice and its winsome ability to communicate the greater good of Judeo-Christian values and their benefit to society as a whole. We must find our voice – and quickly – calling not only for repentance from what is wrong, but for positive social change leading to the outcomes most people desire – strong families, good jobs, stable communities, and healthy opportunities for the future.
These times are ripe with opportunity. Now is the time to find new ways forward – moving past carping and complaining – to strategically supporting people, platforms, and programs reflective of our values and committed to communicating them in ways creating a longing for the greater good they represent.
Deciding the Election
| Sep 04 2012
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North Carolinians may be the deciding voters in selecting the next president of the United States. They are a swing state, with polls showing a virtual dead heat between Barak Obama and Mitt Romney. The election may be influenced by a simultaneous state-wide vote on the definition of marriage – whether to uphold the traditional view or approve gay marriage.
In a recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle about voters in North Carolina, Alexandria Pitts, a 19-year-old elementary education major at a major university offered her opinion. She said, “My religion is Christian, but I’m still going to vote for Obama. My politics and religious beliefs are separate.”
As a Christian, Ms. Pitts is certainly free to vote for either candidate – Republican or Democrat. The most alarming thing about her comment is not that she plans to vote for Obama. The troubling statement is her conviction her “politics and religious beliefs are separate.”
Too many Christians today live compartmentalized lives. They have religious beliefs – but those beliefs are kept separate from what we decide about money, moral choices, relationships, and ethical decisions. Too many Christians believe religious beliefs are private, with little impact on public behavior.
A few years ago, a friend of mine refused to participate in an activity in his workplace. When asked by his boss for a reason, he replied, “It violates my Christian convictions.” His boss told him, “That’s your problem. You are letting your religion affect your life.” Wow! Somehow I thought it was supposed to work that way.
Today, if you base your political decisions (or any other aspect of your life) on your religious convictions, you are stigmatized. You are a legalist or a fundamentalist. You are out of touch with reality. You are inflexible, or worse, intolerant. There is little respect, if any, for the person who tries to base life on principles drawn from religious convictions.
My hope is you will do better than Ms. Pitts. My hope is you will take seriously your responsibility to understand Christian convictions and base your decisions – political or personal – on them. We live in an unprecedented time when politicians and political parties are staking out positions with clear moral dimension. It is our responsibility to understand the choices we face and base our decisions on convictional Christian thinking.