Bummed

@ Duck and Decanter in Phoenix, AZ

I am really bummed this am. The final straw was reading that Billy Graham has taken out full page ads in Ohio newspapers backing Romney. Another hero bites the dust. This is so wrong in so many ways.

Billy, it is one thing to have a revival to convert souls to your religion. It is quite another to try to get votes to convince people to vote for your religious convictions by using your standing as a public figure. It is also less than honest to say “... I strongly urge you to vote for candidates who support the biblical definition of marriage between a man and a woman, protect the sanctity of life and defend our religious freedoms...” You wouldn’t even mention him by name. Of course, you could not. You don’t even consider Mormons to be “Christians”. Yeah, that’s just a guess, but one founded on consideration of your messages. I have listened to many of them over the years.

You were a hero to me. In my younger years, it was because of your theology; in my later years, in spite of it. You desegregated seating in your rallies despite your Southern upbringing. You shared pulpits with Martin Luther King. You bailed him from jail. You did that before these acts were popular. You stated your beliefs clearly, unwaveringly.

Now you say “defend our religious freedoms” by voting for Romney. Who else could it be? What about our freedom not to have religious ideas forced on us? Aaargggh!

Maybe, I wouldn’t be quite as bummed if I had not been thinking about heroes. George McGovern was a WWII hero. He died Sunday. He was not one of my heroes until I read about his death and life. (These two links are different and both worth the time to read.) He should have been a hero to me. In 1972, I thought he was a wimp. Naturally, I didn’t vote for him. I did vote for Nixon. You know how that turned out. I voted for image. Nixon had a great first term. George thought so too. When Nixon died, George thought that Nixon “...would have been the greatest one term president, had he [McGovern] not lost the election.” He was a man, a politician that stood for almost everything I now believe in. How could I have been so taken in?

Thinking about George led me to think of Sam Steiger. It turns out he was a decorated Korean War Veteran. Who Knew? After reading his obit, I still didn’t like him, despite his bravery in war and painting a crosswalk that the city of Prescott neglected to paint. He probably did other things I could admire, but won’t. The reason for my disliking Sam is a newspaper article that he wrote and I read in the East Valley Tribune. It was written as a news article and not as a political opinion column. The article was an attack on Bruce Babbitt, his family and his integrity. Nothing was said about Babbitt’s politics. Neither Sam nor Bruce were running for office at the time so why the personal attack? I like and admire Bruce so the attack really riled me. I like him for his conservation politics and his straight forward answers to political questions. The first time I saw him answering a question on TV, my mouth dropped open in disbelief. He actually answered the question!

Looking at my reactions the actions of these political figures, – unfortunately I include Billy in this grouping – I think I see some errors in my thinking.  First off, I have made some terrible errors in picking heroes, people to admire. The errors were due mostly to looking at images and thinking that my judgments are always correct.  I was wrong about the Vietnam War, Nixon and McGovern. I have repented of those. The second is that men are neither perfect nor infallible. Even decorated war heroes can do things I don’t approve of. Related to this idea is the fact that those I don’t care for or endorse contrary politics can have good qualities. It might behoove me to listen to them and look for good instead of demonizing them.

Forgiveness on my part is in order.

Richard, I forgive you for Watergate. I will remember the good you did in your Presidency.

George, I forgive you for losing so badly to Richard. I will remember you as more than a loser.

Sam, I forgive you for that awful article and killing the burros.

Billy, I forgive you for the political ads. I thank you for your entertaining sermons.

Bruce, I am sure that if I searched hard enough, I could find something I needed to forgive you for, but I am not going to bother.

God, please forgive me for having made idols or demons of these men.