The Audacity of Hope

This is, by my count, the eighth attempt I've made to restart the blog since the birth of my paternity leave ended in July. Not that I've been inactive since then... there has been a lot going on in the church and Nerdfighters will be able to testify (with varying levels of irritation) that I have been loud and proud flying my political colors in the forums during that time, but not a lot of faith based posting.

This has been largely due to the fact that, well, I've been fairly angry lately. This has at least something to do with the general reduced amounts of sleep I've been getting (which are nowhere close to what my wife has lost in rest in that time, so I'm not complaining too much) but mostly to do with my attitude towards the election rolling down the tracks towards us.

I'm frustrated, in that vein. Frustrated with the willingness of certain groups to wield hate as a political weapon, even while sacrificing their ideals to the votes it gains. Frustrated with the general reduction of politics to meme warfare, predicating entire political stances on emotional reactions rather than an examining of fact and circumstances.

My attitudes towards Donald Trump have been plainly stated... if you want to see that, check it out here. While I do support Clinton, stumping for her is not what this blog is supposed to be about, and so other than that stating of my preference (which most people who read this probably already knew) I don't want to spend too much time doing it. Instead, I'd rather like to say something about the Democrats that I have enjoyed ever since that first Obama campaign...

I will take a party that runs on hope over a party that runs on fear EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

It would have been easy for the DNC to simply run a hate-fest... inflaming fears of what a Trump presidency could mean to various constituents would be pretty standard for the current climate of politics, a 4 day tale of doom and gloom meant to hide the failings of Hillary Clinton behind a red painted coat of fear. But they didn't.

Oh, they certainly named the stakes, but the polls make it clear that American minorities do not need a picture painted... the unanimity of their polling in favor of Clinton is nearly unprecedented. Instead, the DNC chose to highlight hope... showing how much we have achieved, and rather than hiding from what MAY happen, choosing to guide what WILL happen in the future.

A White House built by slaves now home to our first African American President and his family. A woman nominated to take his place. Muslim Americans proud of their sacrifices for their country and enraged at the insults toward their son. A left wing of the party bolstered by unprecedented levels of youth involvement thanked and recruited to push their revolution further, not scolded to get in line but invited to stay plugged in and keep the party honest.

A recognition that the US has a long way yet to go... but also that we have the tools to get there. A candidate who in response to her mistakes can name her successes, her victories and her passions. As I held my daughter while Michelle Obama spoke I remembered why I care so much about this stuff... I want her future to be as bright as possible. I want my daughter to live her whole life seeing that it is clearly possible for a woman to be President by the most obvious route, raised in a political climate of hard work and hope rather than hatred and fear.

This won't matter much to my atheists, but to Christian readers (I have those, right?) there is a video circulating that compares the opening prayers of the RNC and the DNC. The RNC had the better prayer, no doubt (which is hardly surprising, as the RNC has stopped even pretending to represent non-christian interests) but as a Christian it was obvious to me that the message of Christianity, a message of love, welcoming, and hope, the Bible I always read growing up, was found not in quoted platitudes from ancient texts or coopting of ancient hatreds, but rather in the welcoming hope of the DNC.

Was the DNC more Christian? Certainly not explicitly, and not in the way such a word has been weighted in todays culture.  Was it more Christ-like? Beyond even the shadow of a doubt.

And that is why I will always choose the Audacity of Hope over the Hysteria of Hate.