A WORD TO VALUES VOTERS

I am unapologetically anti-flood and drought. I believe God wants me to oppose these affronts to our survival as a civilization. The toll on human life brought about by floods and droughts such as we have seen in Louisiana or Indonesia or in Sub-Saharan Africa must be stopped. My personal values require that I not compromise with anyone who tolerates such life taking horrors. Therefore, I demand that laws be passed banning all flood and drought forecasts.

How ridiculous you might say. But in reality some of us have behaved in exactly this manner when it comes to various so called values issues upon which we have taken a stand. I offer it as a parable of what happens when “values” go political.

Politicians and media types are powerless to change values. To win our vote candidates may promise to uphold our values, but the truth is they have about the same chance of bringing about meaningful change as would a weather reporter speaking out against floods. Values have been at the forefront of several successive election cycles and virtually nothing has changed. At the end of the day, politicians prefer to have values issues they can use to mobilize the voters more than solutions which are totally beyond their control.

Values issues are always complex. Take the prolife position as an example. Can I be considered genuinely prolife if I oppose abortion on demand but not preemptive war on demand? Is it hypocritical to say I want to protect life in the womb because it is helpless if I celebrate as victory for our side the successful bombing of a poor neighborhood where the enemy was but also housed innocent women and children who were equally helpless against such fire power? Can one be truly prolife and support any policy intentionally expecting and allowing “collateral damage?”

Shouldn’t my defense of life be consistent whether it is in or out of the womb? Can one claim to be prolife and passively do nothing to stop genocides and famines going on in places like Africa? Can I claim to value life and at the same time buy products from nations with abysmal human rights records because they are a bargain and it is good for business?

We all have a set of values. And well we should. Let’s make certain, however, we’re not being exploited by politicians and political parties. If I allow a politician to emotionally manipulate me and capture my vote before I have worked through all the complexities and broader implications of the issues, I’m a dupe.

Meteorologists can’t stop floods. Washington won’t bring an end to abortions. The values of a society can only be changed one heart at a time. When I cast my vote this time I intend to look beyond political slogans and party platforms and vote for the candidate who best represents in the most consistent and far reaching manner all the issues I care about. Judging from the present crop of candidates I’ll probably have to hold my nose as I enter to voting booth and make a choice.