This post is going to be quite different from my last posts. Before I go any further, I want to emphasize that the following post contains my thoughts and opinions. It in no way, shape, or form represents the opinions, thoughts, or positions of Christ the Servant Lutheran church, the Church Council, or any other entity connected to the church. I am not speaking in my capacity as Council member or Worship Coordinator. Rather I am speaking for myself as an individual.
One more thing before I continue on. I have heard some people say that they wish church was less political. I feel the need to point out that there are two meanings of politics. The first is a narrow version of politics, a partisan version. This is the one where a group explicitly comes down for one political party of any others or support a particular political candidate. The other version is a broader vision of politics. According to one definition in Merriam-Webster dictionary, politics is "the total complex of relations between people living in society". This is the version of politics that churches should embrace. It transcends partisan politics to embrace an ethos about how society should work. It looks at how society treats all of its members and how the members relate to the political society. In America, we all too often conflate the two, but they are really different things. The first one can very easily lead to theocracy (or at the very least theocratic thinking) but the second informs peoples decisions and helps to guide them to vote in a way that is consonant with their religious beliefs and their conscience.
I have become increasingly concerned about the US (and by extension the world, but I am going to focus on the US) over the last few years. Ever since the 2016 election cycle started, our country has taken an increasingly dark turn. From the time that a certain candidate (I cannot and will not say his name, so I will refer to him in other ways) stepped onto an escalator to announce that he was running for president of the United States, the darkest regions of our political thoughts have come to the forefront. Nativism, racism, xenophobia, sexism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, and white supremacy have come to dominate our national conversation in a way they haven't previously.
That is not to say that they did not previously exist (they clearly did), but they had been banished from the mainstream of society, and for good reason. America has always aspired to be a melting pot, a place where people from different countries and backgrounds can come and join together to form a new society, a "city on a hill". Regrettably, America has never quite fulfilled that promise, but we have tried in fits and starts. The course has meandered and we have never really dealt with structural issues that are holding some people (particularly people of color) back, but we have been trying, particularly the last 50 years or so.
But these last few years, it has felt like we have seriously backslidden. The current occupant of the Oval Office, supported mainly by white people (particularly white Evangelicals), has done everything he can to entrench white supremacy in all walks of life. We have had crackdowns on immigrants, we have had rollbacks of environmental protections that are mainly affecting poorer areas, we have had voting rights restricted in the name of "law & order", we have had the queer community affected by "religious freedom" rules that use religious belief as a sword to attack other people, and so much more.
Fortunately, we have had people fighting back against this trend. While the fighting back is been somewhat successful, it is more like fighting a rearguard action than anything else. We are losing ground for a lot of reasons, many of which are structural and systemic. But there is also the problem where people don't fight back because either what happens doesn't affect them, they don't want to be political, or they don't see where they can make a difference.
In the first and second cases, that is privilege of the utmost order talking. There is a meme that says "tbh being apolitical is a privilege. some people can't ignore politics bcs politics attack their identity on a daily basis". To translate: "To be honest, being apolitical is a privilege. Some people can't ignore politics because politics attacks their identity on a daily basis." For those people who can avoid politics, it is imperative that they not do so. They should absolutely use their privilege to help out others as much as they can. Yes, it is very tiring and exhausting, but imagine doing it because you have to in order to survive and to validate your very existence. The more people we have supporting and lifting up marginalized groups, the less tiring it will be for everyone involved.
As for the third reason, I do understand that. There is so much structurally which is standing against change. That however, is not an excuse to do nothing. It may take a long time, it may even take a lifetime or multiple lifetimes, but it can happen if enough people try hard enough for long enough.
So why am I writing a blog post about this in Footnotes? Before I answer that, I must say that if you've stuck around this long, thank you. The reason I am writing this is because I want to ask people to do something to make a difference and to be active politically. I'm not saying you need to go to every march there is because I know we are all very busy. But maybe take a few minutes at some point during the day and go to your congressperson's website or your senator's website and send them a brief note asking them to support a piece of legislation. Maybe we could start a letter writing group at church to encourage people to call or email their government representatives. Or you can submit written testimony in support of legislation (I've done this at the state level, not the national level) or leave comments for proposed regulation changes. If you have time to march or protest, that would be a good option too.
As Christians, we are called to live out a life of service. We are called to care for the poor, the orphans, the widows, the disenfranchised, the marginalized, and the outcasts like Jesus did. We are called to love radically and fully like Jesus did. We are called to charge into the temple and turn over the tables like Jesus did. We are called to bring forth the Kingdom of God on earth now, not wait passively for it to come.
So I am asking you to seriously consider what you can do. I will not shame anyone into doing anything, but please do think and pray about it. Are you doing what you can to help others? Or are you simply letting it go in the name of "ignoring politics"?
Mychel Vandover
Queer, non-binary person
Citizen of the United States
Member of Christ the Servant Lutheran Church
"Go in Peace. Care, Teach, and Serve."