“When you need a plumber, you want a good plumber. You don’t hire one only because he’s a Christian.”
That was Rev. Pat Robertson, decades ago on his 700 Club broadcast. He was talking about government and elections. “You want someone competent in positions of responsibility,” he said to co-hosts Ben Kinchlow and Danuta Rylko. “By the same token, you don’t ask a Christian plumber to do neurosurgery just because he’s a Christian.”
He was spot on. Competency and responsibility are the primary qualifications for an office or position in civic institutions.
That should go without saying. There have been many candidates who were completely confident, even enthusiastically so, about their own hi-gloss quality.
They may even think that God spoke to them and urged them to run. They may be one hundred percent sure that they will win because God told them so.
This is tragic thinking. It reminds me of many instances when, while a youth minister and seminary prof, moonstruck young men would tell me that they just knew that God had chosen for them a certain pretty girl to be their “helpmeet.”
And I would always ask, “But did God tell the girl this?”
How many candidates for office will find out on election day that the Lord must have forgotten to tell the voters the same thing He said to them?
I don’t think God calls anyone to political office, mainly because He wants everyone saved.
I do not doubt that such passionate candidates are sincere. But they are sincerely wrong.
Sincerity cannot be the sole qualification for office.
Then there are some who are not sincere. These are the ones who have agendas that are contrary to their community and to democracy. One good way to flush out such a ruffian is to ask whether he (or she) will accept the results of the election, or if he’ll be just another sore loser.
In putting together a nonpartisan voter’s guide for the perplexed, one might consider a few more qualifications to add to competency and responsibility.
That’s assuming, of course, a shared commitment here to democracy and civilization. If there’s a desire for a dictator or some other malodorous un-American society, then number one, that would count as a hidden agenda (see above), and number two, dictators don’t need voter guides in the first place.
The last thing dictators want is a fair and wide-open election. The only election they like is the predictable sort – the kind where only their friends (dead or alive) vote.
So add this to the voter’s guide: American. That is, a person committed to the democratic republic. A person who respects the institutions and traditions of our political system. It is really not a good thing at all that being a maverick or going rogue has become such a fad.
And, dare I say it, could it be that populism is no good for the population?
Here’s an idea: for every candidate running for political office, from local to state to federal, he or she must first pass a hard test on American history and civics. It should be at least as hard as the one given to people who want to be naturalized as American citizens.
What grade do you think today’s politicians would get, circled in red at the top right-hand corner of the exam? And please, no essays on this test for obvious reasons: a maximum of 25 words would drive most lectern-pounders madder than a Wampus Cat in a rainstorm.
And that brings up another item on the guide: Civility.
I don’t just mean “decency” here. Although it sure wouldn’t hurt a candidate to have a passing acquaintance with genteel speech instead of being an enemy of the English language. These days, we poor Americans are awash in a storm surge of uncouth knavery.
“Goodness,” the peanut gallery raises an objection, “Andrew Jackson’s campaign was mad as a mule chewing on bumblebees. Jefferson and Adams went at it hammer and tongs.”
Objection overruled. Just because a problem is old doesn’t make it not a problem. An old problem is still a problem. I think we all agree that sin is bad and sin is old, but it’s still bad.
Civility means that a citizen (or candidate) addresses his fellow Americans (even the opposition) with respect. It means that a politician is willing to work with the other side of the aisle and compromise for the greater good.
Civility also means that a politician is never going to only vote with his party. He’s going to say no to the Whip. A lot. And Republicans will play poker (literally) with Democrats over bowls of Senate Bean Soup (which is pretty good, by the way).
Civility is a nice Johnny Walker blend of rationality and courtesy. On one hand, a rational candidate would avoid conspiracy theories like a red light district. On the other, a courteous candidate would debate, with dignity, his opponent on the issues and actually answer questions posed by the moderator, instead of squirreling off to that miserable and craven tactic of “pivoting” to memorized lines from his stump speech.
I try to vote at every election. This is the American thing to do. I also pray that the Lord will protect our beautiful country and democracy, and establish peace, justice, and reason in our world. This, I’m quite sure, is the Christian thing to do.
I pray, too, for clarity in perplexity. And for leaders who are grown up. Who are not partisan.
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