On Being a Citizen, Part 2-2 of 5

(I'm posting this first so that the continuity flows better, as I feel the post is simply too big for one entry. Please read 2-1 before reading this.)

Just like the Republicans we’ll begin the Democratic Party with their guiding philosophy. (I apologize if I mess this up a bit, as I have only taken interest in Democratic policies in recent years.) My understanding of the Democratic philosophy and guiding principle is the government should take more control so as to take care of her people and give less power to the Corporate Machine. Here’s how that fits…
Economics

Like the Republicans, the philosophy pretty well drives the Economics. “It’s not fair that people make billions of dollars while some people go hungry. We should tax more so that people can be taken care of instead of abused. We’ll be responsible for collecting and distributing the money, so the power will reside here in the Federal.” Seeing the failure of people being taken care of they decide to take matters into their own hands.

Environment
The Earth’s resources are slowly dwindling, and who’s protecting it? “Nobody,” is the Dem’s response, “So we’ll step in and do it ourselves.” The Democrats push for more Federal control to restrain the Corporate Machine and make them more responsible for their actions. They promise stricter observance of the rules and that the environment must be protected.

War/Diplomacy
Most Democrats will argue left and right against war. My understanding is that while they do believe in good reasons for war, these are rare and that diplomacy should reign. We should continue trying to talk to people to convince them when they’re wrong.

Life
“We believe all life is precious!” cry the Democrats, too. They argue against war because of the lives lost (foreign and domestic). They argue against the death penalty (for the most part) for the value of life is precious. We should help the suffering, the poor, the sick and the orphans because all life is precious.

Religion
I know it’s hard for some people to believe, but plenty of Democrats call on the name of Christ just like the Republicans. (I mean that in respect to the Democrats, not as a joke. Remember, this is positive time.) What’s neat about the Democrats is that they seem more willing to accept other religious perspectives as well. From a political standpoint in a country that claims the importance of all faiths, that’s really impressive. Plenty candidates and such will still argue fervently for their membership in the Church, but nevertheless, the point is interesting.

Barack Obama
Now here is a man for the history books. At just over the age required by law to be president, he is practically there. Not only is his young age incredible but the man is African-American! It is not only a testament to his motivation of the public or his courage but also of the growth of our country that he has made it this far. Regardless of whether or not he wins, Kudos to him for being willing to take the fight this far. He also seems to be holding a good sense of humor when teased by his opponent McCain at a dinner recently. And while he may be inexperienced, maybe that’s just what the country needs – someone not so tied to the way the system works.
If nothing else speaks for this man’s credibility, it would be this one thing: Colin Powell has endorsed the man. Now if Colin Powell was a Democrat, you could simply push it aside as party politics. But Powell is a registered Republican!! What a blow! And it wasn’t just because “he’s black.” Powell has said that it was because after talking with both men about the economic crisis and how to handle it, he felt Obama had a better chance. Colin Powell is a man most of this country would vote for in a heartbeat if he ran. American trusts him, and many countries respect him. If he’s got Colin Powell’s endorsement, he’s at least got my ear.

But I showed the bad for the Republicans, it’s only fair I do the same for the Democrats. So here it goes.

Barack Obama
Maybe his inexperience will help, but he’s just that: inexperienced. Sure, he’s had some time as a Senator, but 5-7 years in a Senate seat isn’t much compared to 20-30 years of watching the political machine move. From a political standpoint, you tie that together with the fact he doesn’t have any military experience and it’s a bit concerning. Again, maybe that’s precisely what America wants and needs right now, but if we’re talking negatives let’s get these out in the open. Also, let’s be fair and remember that while Obama may not be throwing much mud right now, he threw enough mud of his own at Hillary during the Democratic convention.

Religion
Again, maybe they are more diverse, but they play the game just like the Republicans. As soon as candidacy time comes the question becomes who is more Christian and who has the better Church connections? They pander to the Church like a man with money walking down a neon-lit street.

Life
Just like the Republicans, let’s see some consistency here. If we’re going to claim that every life is precious, then why are we so eager to claim that unborn babies are not alive and give them up to abortion? Maybe the idea is simply putting more government control on a situation that is occurring anyhow, but if life is precious then it is precious – period.

War/Diplomacy
Forgive me if I’m mistaken, but I believe after 9/11 we saw all the politicians were voting for strikes. We were mad, we wanted justice… No, we wanted revenge. We had been hurt and we wanted to put the hurt back. My personal experience of Democratic officials is that they will pander to what the people want here. They will make the promises to whatever the people want.

Environment
While the Democrats do seem pretty steady on this issue, it is strange. If they truly are so adamant about the health of the environment through government control, why not push harder for alternative energy methods and pushing the energy companies to work with the car companies to provide faster methods of obtaining alternative energy solutions? And how odd is it that we value the life of a tree over the life of a child?

Economics
Here is where much of the Democratic power loses its sway on me. Because the Democrats need the Corporate Machine just as much as the Republicans do. Because while they don’t want to admit it they rely on the Corporate Machine just as much for their campaign money so they can stay in office. They rely on the Corporate Machine to provide jobs for the people that vote for them just as much as the Republicans. And at least the Republicans admit they pander to the Corporate Machine. The Democratic officials simply smile and make promises to the guy on the assembly line while they just talked to the owner twenty minutes prior to promise just the opposite.

In general, like the Republicans, while I believe the Democratic philosophy is good in theory it fails in practicality.

That will really have to be the end of my evaluation of the Republican and Democratic parties for tonight. I’m sure you’re relieved, but before I close completely I want to end with this:
Both parties have good and bad aspects to them. But I don’t want you to come away from this looking at Republicans OR Democrats thinking that they’re despicable people, or how dare they claim faith in Christ and pander us the way they do? Because the fact of the matter is that a) we’ve let them do it and b) they’re children of God. As much as it may frustrate us on one party or the other of the terrible things we view either party to have done, or whether they truly believe in Christ or are only using his name to promote themselves, the fact of the matter is that they are God’s children and we are called to love them as Christ loved us. We are all shattered and broken and it’s only through Christ that we are made whole again. For those of us that have put on Christ we must remember that we, too, once lived a life very similar to that. We have to remember that it is only because of Christ that we have any hope at all, and we have to show them that as well. Our response cannot be like the Unmerciful Servant but like that of Christ. Faithful and loving to the end, even throughout all the tragedy, brokenness and horror. Because Christ has loved us through all of ours.

I know today’s post has been long, and I hope I haven’t scared you off. I hope you’ll return tomorrow for the role of government, because we’ll go from there to what a Christian nation might look like…

*I apologize if some of these entries were shorter than what they probably deserved. The fact of the matter is that I am typing this late at night and have to be in to work early in the morning for a long work day. Again, I'm not targeting specific people with this, simply the political machine. Also, sorry if I get some of my information wrong as far as party policies to certain matters, but this is my general opinion of politicians right now from watching the way the parties act.*