I have some links to share, in light of the recent election results.
1. Republican Senator from Indiana Richard Lugar lost the Republican
nomination for Senate to Richard Mourdock, who was backed by a number
of Tea-Partiers.
I remember working at a Food Pantry one summer, and I was talking
about politics with some of the ladies there, one of whom was the head
of a Republican women’s organization. We were discussing which
Republican would be the best one to run against Bill Clinton in 1996,
and one of the ladies there said that she never heard anything bad about
Lugar.
Years later, I was reading a web site, The Skeleton Closet at realchange.org,
which goes into the scandals and alleged improprieties of people
running for President, both Republican and Democrat. But it couldn’t
really find anything bad on Lugar (though it named one thing, and then
questioned whether it was really a scandal). The article said:
“Richard Lugar is by almost all accounts, one of the candidates [for
President in 1996] with the best character and fewest skeletons of
anyone running for President. He’s a former Eagle Scout and Rhodes
scholar who is still married to a strong women he met in college, and he
even served in the military (Navy). Politically, he’s more
conservative than the moderate image he is projecting, but he is an open
minded man of apparent principle, who opposes his party’s positions on
banning assault rifles, cutting back school lunches and affirmative
action. There are far too few politicians who have the guts to oppose
their own party mates on one or two issues just because they feel it’s
the right thing to do, and Lugar seems to be one. In fact, we are hard
pressed to report anything negative on him. If you have any tips, click here
to send us the information or a lead. Perversely, the press — which
gets so incensed at the minor scandals they dig up — seems to be
ignoring Lugar in part because he is so squeaky clean.”
As a former Hoosier, I am honored that a decent person like
Richard Lugar represented the state of Indiana for so long. I wish him
the best.
2. In North Carolina, Amendment 1 passed. Amendment 1 declares
marriage to be between one man and one woman, but people have argued
that it could impact, not only homosexual couples, but also heterosexual
couples and health benefits (see here).
I read some posts this morning: Michael Varrati challenges Billy
Graham’s support for Amendment 1 on the basis of the Bible, arguing
that the First Amendment is about not legislating religious beliefs;
Justin Lee of the Gay Christian Network talked about the importance
of not marginalizing people from the other side but rather seeking to
correct misconceptions people have about homosexuality (i.e., that it’s a
choice); and Rachel Held Evans argues
that conservative evangelicalism’s emphasis on the cultural wars may
alienate younger evangelicals and the younger generation, period.
I can’t say that I agree entirely with these three pieces, though I
agree somewhat. On Varrati’s piece, I am not convinced that many of
America’s founders intended to insulate religion completely
from public policy, though I can understand Varrati’s point that “the
Bible says” is not a sufficient public policy argument. Regarding
Justin’s post, I think that opposition to the state recognizing gay
marriage does not necessarily flow from ignorance about homosexuality,
for there are concerns that recognizing gay marriage could lead to a
slippery slope, beliefs that a man and a woman each contribute something
special and important to the raising of children, etc. On Rachel’s
post, I do not know if “most” younger evangelicals are as alienated from
evangelicalism’s preoccupation with the cultural wars as she suggests,
for I do know a number of younger evangelicals who are socially,
culturally, and politically conservative. (Rachel does refer to a study, though.)
I do think, however, that Rachel made an important point when she
said: “And when it comes to homosexuality, we no longer think in the
black-at-white categories of the generations before ours. We know too
many wonderful people from the LGBT community to consider homosexuality a
mere ‘issue.’ These are people, and they are our friends. When they
tell us that something hurts them, we listen. And Amendment One hurts
like hell.”
And Alise Wright said under Justin’s post: “I’m incredibly grateful
to friends who walked me through understanding, rather than simply
writing me off as a bigot.”
In my opinion, what is important is that we learn about
people’s stories, so that we remember that there are people involved in
these debates, not just issues.