"Ain't free will a bitch?" I was walking with one of my favorite theology professors through campus one day and his comment totally caught me off guard. First, because I had never heard the man cuss before. Second, because we were talking about how hard it is to love our enemies like Jesus commanded.
One of the biggest things I've learned is that the myth of a unified nation is really a white man's dream more than it is a black or brown man's experience. It is a white male's dream more than it is an Latino or Asian woman's experience. It is a heterosexual man's dream more than it is an LGBTQ experience. It is a Christian man's dream more than it is a Muslim man's experience. And in the wake of the shattering of such national myths, I find myself crying out with the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah, "Is there no balm in Gilead? No physician there? Why is there no healing for the wound of my people?" (Jeremiah 8:22)
There is a "moral vision" in the Bible that we can draw wisdom from as we vote on issues that affect us in the 21st century. It will confront us. Challenge us. Force us to come to grips with the fact that we too often settle for what is most expedient rather than what is best for our nation in the long-term. We too often settle for the "lesser of two evils" without acknowledging that the lesser of two evils is still evil. We too often don't consider our own biases, prejudices, and privilege when we vote and that prevents us from walking a mile in another person's shoes. Ultimately, we tend to vote for what is in our own best interest rather than the collective good.
