"During polite conversation you never discuss religion or politics." I remember both my mother and father telling me that several times. I've heard other people say it at bars, lodges and in restaurants - and then they go on discussing one or the other or some ugly mix of both. As I sat pondering this one day I idly wondered why these two particular topics seemed to hold such great potential for angry debate. Now mind you, the key word there is "angry". If we could all hold civil conversations about our different beliefs the world would be such a better place. Just imagine if no one wanted to kill anyone over religious debates? How about if politics didn't inspire assasinations? How cool would that be? Perhaps the more important question is, Why isn't it that way?
I think one of my largest problems with politics in general is that the successful navigation of it merely supports MORE of the same. Think about it...
Here I am, Joe Citizen and I decide I want to get into public service. There are any number of jobs I could actually seek where I'd be in "public service": policeman, fireman, deputy sheriff, social worker, prosecutor, public defender, nurse, etc. But I don't choose any of those. I look around and realize that I should start small in an elected position and I run for my local home owners' association (HOA) board. I get elected and take on that part time job as one of probably six to ten people responsible for over-seeing the management of a small neighborhood. (As I type this my "small" neighborhood has about 25,000 people living in it)
I do a good job in my position and about two years later I run for, and win, the spot of President of the HOA. Now I realize that I'm in a position of slightly greater power, certainly greater responsibility, but also greater time demand. Some of these positions have a small stipend attached to cover related expenses, but many don't have any pay at all. People do it because they believe in what they're doing and because they enjoy having those around them say, "Yeah; you're right. We agree with you." Hopefully I'm a person of integrity and I do the right things and my neighborhood - which is also my constituents' neighborhood - starts to see improvements. It does and I start hearing people tell me, "You should run for county council." My ego is pleased and I'm happy thinking about doing this full time which means I don't have to juggle my REAL job with this representation / management stuff. So I run for the County Council and thanks to the backing of my 25,000+ neighbors which make up about 1/4 of my county's population I actually win!
Now I'm two things:
- I'm an elected public servant with a duty to fulfil and the public trust to uphold, and
- I'm a politician.
Unless I want to go back to doing whatever it was I did for a living before part of my job is now to KEEP MY JOB. That means focusing on issues and building relationships that will get me re-elected the next time I'm up for it. The moment I focus on that re-election as a mandatory part of my job I've become a politician and stopped being a public servant. Yes, yes, I know: I can still be a public servant and do the job even if I am a politician, but I argue this: When someone gets elected to public office, no matter how small the responsibilities are, they should be focusing on doing the job they were elected to do. That requires a certain impartial level of judgement. When I'm making those decisions if my choices or judgment are impeded or affected in any way by my thoughts about re-election then my service to the public has been tarnished by my personal concerns as a politician.
For argument's sake, let's assume I do an okay job in the County Council. My next step is either Governor or House of Representatives. I could run for the Senate but I'd really have to expand my voter base for that. "I can do that," I think to myself and I start a campaign. This, of course, requires me to travel around the area I want to represent to meet with people, hold fund raisers, give presentations, etc. All of that takes time away from my actual job on the County Council. So now I've put myself in a position where I don't even do my job in public service right because I'm trying to get a more important job in public service - or at least one with a bigger paycheck.
Therein lies the problem: campaigning to seek or keep office prevents the public servant from properly performing his or her job - and should therefore disqualify said individual from further public service pursuit. Think about that one: Barrack Obama "worked" less than six months in the Senate before starting his presidential campaign. So, for all the time he's been an elected public servant he's only done six months worth of "work". The rest of that time he's completely neglected his job as Senator to try to be President. The same can be said of McCain except that he's actually worked for a lot longer as has Obama's running mate, Joe Biden. By the same token, even McCain's running mate Palin has more time actually working in a public serivce position than Obama does.
So what does any of this have to do with religion? Many of the same philosophies cross the border into the preaching field. You get a new minister, priest, pastor or whatever and they usually start out either assisting or serving a small congregation. Part of their job is to help the congregation grow. Ostensibly this is so that they can serve a larger "family" but it also translates into bringing more dollars into the church coffers. And, of course, the whole thing grows. The bigger the church becomes, the more money it makes, the more money it invests in growth, the bigger the church becomes ad nauseum. Is this good or bad? How about BOTH?
It largely depends on the minister. If the minister is honest, devoted and motivated about his true purpose - to serve the spiritual needs of his "flock" - then it'll likely be good for the church as it grows. Still, one person can't provide the same service to 3,000 as he can to 30. It's simply impossible. So if he's really good at his job and grows the Church well he works himself right out of ministering to the flock and into managing a team who ministers to the flock. That usually catches some higher-up's eye and the next thing you know that minister is being promoted right out of his church and into greater responsibility. No longer is he even doing the job he originally took on. Sound familiar?
I wish I knew what the answer was to solve these challenges. Unfortunately, I don't have all the answers (you have no idea how disappointed my kids are to hear that at times). I'd love to hear your suggestions though.
What do you think?
