As 2008 begins it is already apparent that this year will be littered with political banter from beginning to end. Republicans and Democrats fighting amongst their own for a nomination and then a battle for President that has the potential to be the most monumental in our lifetime.
That said, if you're anything like me you wish you had more time to read up on the Presidential candidates and their platforms. So I thought it might be good to start early. The below link is to a quick online quiz that may help you narrow down your list and focus in on those that make the most sense. It's a pretty quick set of about 15 questions that gives you a list of each candidate and how they align with your answers.
http://www.wqad.com/Global/link.asp?L=259460
Although I consider myself relatively moderate when it comes to politics the quiz has resulted with Mike Huckabee as my top candidate each time I've taken it. I originally didn't know much about this former Governor of Arkansas, so I started keeping my eyes out for his comments and read up on his platform. The media has seemed to categorize Huckabee as 2008's "evangelical" candidate, thus I was really surprised to see that he not only supported the death penalty but actually carried it out several times during his tenure as Governor. I remembered being equally perplexed four years ago when reading the same thing about current President George W. Buuuuush. In addition I found a website that gave each candidates position on capital punishment and all but 3 of them support it! Regardless of party lines it seems like everyone believes in putting some criminals to death.
I don't pretend to know the numbers but I'm sure that the death penalty is a successful deterrent to serious crime. I imagine it wouldn't exist otherwise. That said, I find it shocking that Christian people in leadership positions don't speak out against it. While a pro-life position on abortion seems to be a "no brainer" for Christian politicians, the same apparently does not apply to the death penalty. I'm not saying those two issues are the same, but the death penalty does seem to me to be a lot like "playing God." The Bible teaches us of grace and that people can be reformed after a multitude of sins. None of us is worthy, but I'm not sure it's up to us humans to decide if anyone is so unworthy that he/she should not be able to continue his/her life here on Earth. Wouldn't it be compartmentalizing one's faith to be able to support putting a person to death for an action that our God may have forgiven him/her for?
Regardless of where you stand politically, it's an interesting issue to consider. Unfortunately each time I do that , the more I become convinced that politics is simply a game of saying the right thing to get elected with only a small possibility of those things ever actually coming to fruition. Perhaps speaking out against the death penalty would make a candidate appear "soft" or not tough on crime. I also feel like it's on us as Christians to ask these kind of questions and truly look beyond each candidates' basic faith. I am then left to wonder why no conservative Christian voters are calling out against the death penalty. I must assume they are also in support of it, which leaves me even more baffled.
Stay warm this weekend,
Adam
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