Reading, Pondering, Smiling

There are several posts out there in internet-land lately that have spoken to me greatly. 

I am tired, people. I am so tired of judging and being judged for who I am, for what I believe, for how I think. I am tired, people. I am so tired of being told that my values and ethics are not Christian and I am tired of allowing myself to think those thoughts about other people.

I am tired. Tired of people claiming doom and gloom and the end of the world. I am tired of people assuming that somehow the American political system is completely Godly and has no fault.

I am tired of the religious right, the extreme liberal left, of strong religious leaders trying to tell me who I should vote for instead of explaining to me why they think the way they do.

I firmly believe, and continue this morning to believe, that we could all learn a lot from one another if we would take a breath and choose love instead of constant judgment.

On Facebook, I have unknowingly been called an idiot by several family members because of who I voted for. Unknowingly, they have called me a murderer, a lazy person, and an uneducated fool.

I am here to say this: I am intelligent. I am somewhat articulate. I am not lazy. I am not a murderer.

I am an American citizen. I have the right to vote. I am a Christian woman, and my ethics and values dictate my vote.

I may not know your mind, but I understand that not everyone thinks like me.

Thank God for that.

However, here are some things that I love. Things I am happy about. Things that I think you should read. If you want to disagree, be kind and open. It is possible. We can all do it.

First off, a couple posts from Kristen Howerton:

One about her perspective on being a Christian and a Democrat: Here. The other is a video with some ridiculous things people have posted on facebook in this election from both sides: Here.

Secondly, I am proud today to be an Iowan. Proud. I am proud that Justice Wiggins was retained. Proud. Here is a story on that: Here. I firmly believe in marriage equality under the law. Firmly. I believe that churches should be able to decide themselves who they choose to marry, but I believe that all citizens of this country deserve the same rights and privileges as my husband and I. Because of this belief in equality in this nation, I am really happy about this decision for Wiggins.

Thirdly, a woman named Rachel Held Evans recently came out with a book entitled: A Year of Biblical Womanhood. The book is basically Evans wrestling with all the biblical commands given to women and trying to sort out why we choose some of them to be literal and some of them to be sluffed aside. She writes from an egalitarian perspective, but she lovingly engaged people in the complementarian camp. She wrote a post today: Here trying to engage with her critics. That is not so much the thing that I love, what I love is how she speaks so lovingly about the Bible and asks real questions of people who disagree with her. Her post is worth a read. 

I stand firm in my belief that honest debate, fiery disagreement, and nonjudgmental questions could change this world. We need to figure out how to lovingly talk to one another. My heart aches for the names I have been called by people who have never even talked to me. People who assume things about me when they have no idea how I think. As I said earlier, I myself have had a difficult time being nonjudgmental. Some of these issues bring out the fiery side of me. I believe in equality and love. I believe that women are maligned in many major denominations and that this needs to change. These sorts of things are hot topic, yell out loud sorts of issues. People strongly disagree about these things.

But let us take heart and also a lead from both Governor Romney and President Obama. Let's take both of their words to heart and talk to each other. Let's make a vow to actually listen instead of interrupting. Let's decide together to actually have a conversation that ends with people still being friends.

Let's decide, together, to put the kingdom of God first and our political differences a long distance second.

Let's rejoice together that there will be no more political ads for at least 2 years. 

I hope that you, whoever you are, and I can learn to love one another despite our differences and convictions. I hope that we, together, can change the world. I still believe that changing the world is possible. I still believe that good comes out of horrible brokenness. I still believe that love truly does conquer all.