Romney's Problem

The political pundits are all discussing why Mitt Romney can’t seem to win. George Will on This Week  this morning moderated by George Stephanopoulos,  says it is because of his “Romneyness.” Another said it was because of his “Mittness.” They mean that Romney just cannot connect with the supporters of Republican candidates. There is likely a certain amount of truth in that; some folk just don’t seem to be able to connect with others.

I think Romney’s problem is more systemic than that. I believe that Romney’s problem is not so much with himself but with the party itself which is splintered in all directions. You have heard me write about that the Republican Party has moved from traditional conservatism since Reagan. That I believe is truth. The question is where it has moved? The answer to that is that it has moved in several directions all at once. They are like the man who jumped on his horse and rode off in all directions.

There are those who believe debt is the big problem and total ignore that the majority of our debt today was created by Reagan and G.W. Bush. But we always blame the Democrats as the spenders whether it is true or not.

There are those upset with big business and bankers, which is the heart of the Republican Party and has effectively taken control of it if not the mind of the voters, they have manipulated them. They just keep blaming Obama for the problems they created and Obama was not able to fix with a Republican congress, and a strong business lobbyists system.

Then there are the Tea Party folk who want to run pell mell back to the 18^th century, ignoring that the country is entirely different than it was then. They have a mantra of small or best yet, no government, yet if you take away anyone of the government programs which benefit them they will scream bloody murder.

Then there is the radical religious right with a great desire to outlaw practices in the country with which they disagree: abortion, stem cell research, birth control, etc., all of which stand in stark contrast to conservative values of non government interference with individual choices. They, in essence, want big government but one that enforces their particular values.

Romney has a real problem in that he is the closest to traditional conservatism which the Republican Party has moved away from those values into many different ones.

Today’s voters just seem against things and for very little. And the world looks at us for the leadership we should have and demonstrate and find it lacking.

Integrity/Character, Relationships and Competency

Proverbs 22:  ¹A sterling reputation is better than striking it rich; a gracious spirit is better than money in the bank. [The Message]

We are in the long and laborious process of choosing the leader of our nation, the President. We have various values to assess leadership values. But in today’s political debates it is very hard to figure out what those criteria of leadership are.

There was study done some time ago asking folk what they admired most of their leaders, and the most often stated response was integrity.  Amen to that. The coach John Wooden once said, “Be more concerned with you character than with your reputation, because your character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”

In the book, Leaders that Last by Dave Kraft I mentioned in the last article, he writes about a seminar he led entitled “Critical Factors for success” which he listed in three categories: 1. Character in your person, 2. Caring in your relationships, 3. Competence in you endeavors. I like his values and the order he puts them in. He then goes on to quote Arthur Friedman, “Men of power are feared, but only men of character are trusted.”

In my leadership of churches over the years it was clear to me and I tried to make it clear to the congregations I served that they were not my boss and I was not their employee. My boss was God, and I was responsible to God for the care and leadership of the congregation and they were as well. In the Presbyterian form of government that was also true that the Session, which included pastors (teaching elders) and ruling elders, were responsible to the Presbytery (the highest level of government in the church) for the welfare and care of the congregation. And, it was my experience when congregations realized that they worked well, and when they forgot it, became more concerned with personal issues, druthers, preferences and personalities, they were at sea. Leadership was lost or in big trouble.

As we look for a national leader I believe these are leadership criteria we should be looking for, but you see little evidence of it, or reporting of it or that evaluation taking place. Several looking for the most important office in government seem to just plain lack competency, they often are more abusive of relationships with those they disagree with than reconciliatory, and as for integrity, the most important characteristic; it’s hardest to find.

Now to be honest, I do see those characteristics in our President, Barack Obama, but I think political pressures make it difficult for him to maintain them. As to the morass in the Republican Party that has veered so far from the conservative tract, those values seem to have been lost.

I have written that the dominant morality of today is the morality of expediency. These candidates seem to follow that morality, and have found that fear tactics, and outright lying about their opponents is very effective. And the values of character (integrity), relationships, and competency are lost in the rush.

This also says a great deal about us as a nation. While I believe the ultra rich has pretty much stole the national leadership and we have become a type of oligarchy; we have allowed this condition to take place. So, our character is called into question as well as we have not done all that we should have done to stop this condition and even condemn those who are trying to restore democratic principles.

While I do not believe in the mixture of church and state, I certainly believe the religious values mentioned ought to dominant political debate and they are not. If we seek to faithful in our religious beliefs I believe it will make far better citizens and encourage those folk who share our basic values to be the true leaders of the land.

Language, Liberals, and Conservatives

The following is the first reading from the daily lectionary.

First Reading Genesis 11:1-9

[1]Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. [2]And as they
migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and
settled there. [3]And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and
burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.
[4]Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its
top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall
be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." [5]The LORD came down
to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. [6]And the LORD said,
"Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only
the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now
be impossible for them. [7]Come, let us go down, and confuse their language
there, so that they will not understand one another's speech." [8]So the LORD
scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left
off building the city. [9]Therefore it was called Babel, because there the
LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered
them abroad over the face of all the earth.

It amazes me that people who supposed speak the same language, cannot communicate with each other. Politicians and Religious folk stand out in this area. Conservatives of the past, such as those who called themselves the silent majority (which were neither silent nor the majority) made the term liberal a dirty word. Liberal means board minded and tolerant of different views and behaviors of others. That’s the social definition. Politically it means those who favor political reform that extend democracy, distribute wealth more evenly and protect the personal freedom of the individual. These are dictionary definitions not something I made up. Liberal sounds good to me.

Now for conservatism: reluctant to accept change, in favor of preserving the status quo and traditional values and customs and against change; avoid showiness, cautious. Again, some pretty good values, especially the traditional values and caution. As a liberal I can affirm those qualities. And it reflects the problem of modern Republicanism, it that they no longer follow those values.

I’m also reading a book, Leaders Who Last by Dave Kraft. He has lots of good things to say about leaders and the passion we should have for our work. He relates many sound principles of leadership, but I find myself uncomfortable with some of what he says and his style. He leads one to believe the true leader is constantly manic, always up, always enthusiastic and passionate but the truth is we all have times when that just is not the case,  unless you are mentally ill. Perhaps it raises the hackles of my Presbyterian traditions, who have on occasion been called the Frozen chosen. I like to think in my ministry I was basically a good news type of preacher who lifted the human spirits with the teachings of Jesus and the prophets; but the prophetic part was also called us to task when warranted. I also liked to think of myself as one who chose to appeal to people's intellect and thinking rather than just to their emotions. There needs to be a balance between the two, but reason with the one I trust if it fits with a good feel.

Again, the same language is often used but we find ourselves in religion at cross purposes and load words with positive or negative meanings depending upon our predilections.

God confused our language in the biblical story for a good reason, so we wouldn’t get so uppity and full of ourselves and think we could build ourselves (earn our way) to heaven. Heaven is a gift from the Almighty.

And so we turn on the news or go to church and listen to Babel. However, I firmly believe that if we do our work, think through the terms, remember our history, and used our God given talents and most, rely upon the inspiration of God’s spirit, we can hear and see truth. We also need to realize people view truth in many ways; we should be liberal in accepting the variances, know our history and traditions to see how the fit and move forward in loving and caring ways.

Psalms of Relavancy

The daily lectionary had the following psalm for this morning.

Morning Psalm 15

[1]   O LORD, who may abide in your tent?
         Who may dwell on your holy hill?

[2]   Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right,
         and speak the truth from their heart;
[3]   who do not slander with their tongue,
         and do no evil to their friends,
         nor take up a reproach against their neighbors;
[4]   in whose eyes the wicked are despised,
         but who honor those who fear the LORD;
    who stand by their oath even to their hurt;
[5]   who do not lend money at interest,
         and do not take a bribe against the innocent.
    Those who do these things shall never be moved.

With the candidates courting religious groups so covertly you wonder if the courters or those courted take serious the scriptures with which they like to bludgeon each other.

Why Do I Play Golf?

There are lots of reasons why I play golf, here are some. For one thing I needed sometime to occupy my time when I retired, and I like new challenges so why not golf. I really didn’t think I would like it as much as I do. Like playing bridge, there are always things to learn; you just can’t know everything in golf and things keep changing. Physically it has been great; my body feels better now than it did 20 years ago or when I was playing tennis. It keeps me limber and my arthritis has improved vastly. I also, like a lot of guys, like toys and there are a ton of them when it comes to golf. That’s also a negative, it costs too much to play this sport but fortunately we’ve been able to find places to make it affordable for us. There is also the esthetic part; with rare exceptions almost all golf course are beautiful. If you don’t think so, just walk a golf course backwards and you will find beauty that you may have never seen before.

The primary reason I like to play golf however is because of the people. Oh golf has its share of boneheads, but I have found for the most part golfers when nice folk to be with. It is a social game and golfers possess a type of integrity involved in the playing that is morally rewarding. You are your own referee. The few cheaters just hurt themselves more than anyone else.

It many ways it has the same things that I enjoyed about serving in churches. Nice people, who have fun and delight in each other when they follow the rules. And, the Lord’s name is invoked often; perhaps not the way it is in a church sense, nevertheless, there is a spiritual aspect of the game. A friend of mine, Matt Molke, gave me a great sermon from golf. He told me one day, “Golf is like Christianity. You try to do your best and you know you never will be perfect, but you get great joy out of trying to do so.” I find that profound.

Delusions of Adequacy

Delusions of adequacy is a phrase I heard the other day, I forgot where, but I thought it was most interesting. Marj K noted on Facebook today that 6 companies give us 90% of what we see and read: GE, Newcorp, Disney, Viacom, Time Warner and CBS. I think they reflect delusions of adequacy. Reporting of news today is basically aimed at reporting bad news. No wonder we sell millions of dollars of antidepressants; with what the news tells us who wouldn’t be depressed.

Since being down here Doreen and I have been watching the Anderson Show. Anderson Cooper is a good smart man who communicates well also Gloria Vanderbilt’s son. But his is like so many shows that concentrate of horrible problems of our society and strange people. Today his show starts with a man who is selling his own sperm to couples; need I say more? And, of course, the audience claps when the whackos they invite get stomped on in the interviews. I prefer Regis and Kelly, now just Kelly which has very little substance at all, but is fun to watch and is positive. I like those movies that make you think and pull at your heartstrings, but they need to be balanced with 10 light hearted comedies.

One place we have found that is in no way deluded by adequacy, is the church where we worship here, the First Presbyterian Church of Dunedin. It is a great church with sterling pastoral leadership, demonstrating and proclaiming the good news in their community and beyond. It is a joy to attend there and get to know the parishioners.

Jesus did not come to teach us about adequacy but unqualified faithfulness and commitment. And he certainly did not push us toward delusions, despite what Marx might say about religion in general. Christianity is about excellency with the full knowledge of human limitations. God loves us unconditionally and we are to respond with that same unconditional love. Churches sometimes reflect that truth and often just become another secular type institution proclaiming negativity, and these are the ones the deludedly adequate media report. But then there are those churches like the one in Dunedin that restore faith.

Here’s to good news, but you have to look for it because it is not readily available in our delusions of the adequate society.

Magazines have come

The postal service has found us and a lot of mail came here yesterday including: two golf magazines, the last to copies of Christian Century, Time, and those things that Doreen enjoys. I always like getting my copy of Christian Century and immediately turn to the “Century Marks” section which always has nifty quotes and often interesting poll survey information. Here are some that caught my eye this time:

One bit was on nuns versus corporations. Apparently this one order of nuns buy the minimum amount of stock needed to make resolutions are stockholders meetings. There they push for reining in executive pay, corporate transparency and concern for the poor. Apparently it works as some corporate exes flew their helicopter to the convent so they could meet with them privately; and hopefully not at their stockholder meetings. Atta go nuns!

Data: Obama’s health care reform would be paid for my increasing taxes on investment and those making more than a million per year, meaning the top 400 tax payers would pay an additional 11 million annually; don’t worry, they can afford it.

 More data: it costs $37,000 a year to go to Princeton University. It costs $44,000 per year to house an inmate at the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton. High education between 1987 and 2007 increased 21%, correctional spending went up 127%. 

Great quote as a spoof on the Serenity Prayer by cartoonist Brian McFadden: “God, grant us the austerity to defund America back into recession, courage to ignore basic economics, and wisdom to know everything we do we can be reversed by a future Congress before it takes effect.”

And finally this informative graph: