The Road Previously Traveled

I’ve refrained from writing about Palin. Frankly, she’s a herring, well played to distract from the complete lack of substance offered by the McCain campaign. I don’t see that adding to the noise about her serves the nation, whose citizens are justifiably alarmed by the faltering American economy, the exorbitant cost of the Iraq invasion/occupation and the nose diving dollar. They are freaked out by the size of the deficit and the staggering and escalating debt we have with China.  They are disgusted by the selfishness of the Katrina response, the idea that 5 million is the cut off for the middle class to an out of touch McCain, and that tamping down American innovation on alternative energy and drill, drill, drill, will somehow resolve our oil energy crisis.

Our citizens are looking for answers. Americans are a nose to the grindstone kind of people. We work hard. We like it. Give us an insurmountable task, and we’ll do it. We think it’s because we’re Americans, and that’s how we roll. To a degree, that mindset is part of it, but we tackle things like going to the moon or building railroads across and entire continent because we’re winners. We interact in a highly competitive mindset. American companies who set their people up to grow and excel in their work kick ass. You can almost predict when the middle age spread, in the guise of too many layers, too much compartmentalizing, and too much self-positioning robs the essence out of a company. Right now, our nation is feeling this bloat.

We’ve felt this way before, and we tap our best tool to dig ourselves out. We call it American ingenuity, this ability of ours to continually reinvent ourselves. In reality, it’s not a we as much as a few. A few Americans (or people who have adopted us) burst into our consciousness as the right people at the right time. In my lifetime, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Tim Berners-Lee, Helen Greiner and Al Gore are some of the people who moved us, inspired us, and changed the way we tackle the world.

There are unknown citizens out there right now who are on the cusp of being the next amazing Americans. There are people who will harness renewable energy in an economically viable way. Still others will tackle the distribution issues, while others will build the new technology for transportation of the next decade and beyond. It’s an exciting time to be an American innovator. This is a cyclic opportunity, and for a few thinkers and doers, their time is nearly here. Barack Obama sees this. He sees that this country can renaissance yet again, be the global phoenix, cement our innovation superiority, lead by example and wean the world from a self destructive fossil fuel addiction by making it more profitable to embrace the new greener business model, mindset and markets.

That smells like a win. Breathe it in, folks. Remember that smell? It smells like the moon.

This brings me back to Palin. One of the publications I read regularly is the National Catholic Reporter.

If she is a “post denominationalist” today (see the analysis earlier by NCR senior correspondent John Allen (McCain’s VP choice a woman - and a post-denominationalist) her language at times clearly comes out of her earlier Pentecostal formation. Two examples that are making the rounds in recent days occurred in June when she returned to the Wasilla Assembly of God, her previous church, to speak to a graduating class of commission students.

“Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right,” she said in a presentation that was video recorded. “Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending out [troops] on a task that is from God. That’s what we have to make sure that we’re praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God’s plan.”

Later in her talk she turned to the subject of a $30 billion national gas pipeline project that had been proposed for Alaska. “I think God’s will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that.”

Many have drawn the conclusion that such lines provide an insight into how Palin would govern and assess issues, determining whether something was “a task from God,” or “God’s plan” or “the will of God.”

It’s the kind of “God talk” - certainty that a public policy or strategy finds favor with the divine - that can raise eyebrows beyond the church walls. - NCR

It’s certainly raising mine. This is a road previously traveled with George W Bush, and with despots, zealots, the unscrupulous, the maniacal, and the Machiavellian for two thousand years. History is rife with manipulation through religion for personal gain. We are closing the book on an administration that talked to God and screwed the pooch. I think attempting to justify profitable policy with the words “will of God” is a big fat sin. Period.

Greed is one of the seven big ones for a reason.

He (Cecil M. Robeck Jr., a Pentecostal and director of the David du Plessis Center for Christian Spirituality at Fuller Theological Seminary) emphasized that discerning God’s will within Pentecostal denominations is not a matter of “hoodoo” or some magically determined direction. Determining the will of God, he said, occurs in a variety of ways, through using Scripture, for instance; or common sense and personal feelings about a situation; or seeking direction in concert with others in the church or family.

Questions such as “Where can I make a difference or where can I do the greatest good?” are also means for discovering the will of God, he said.

“Often times, within our circles,” he added, “people will say that they think something is God’s will if they have a strong inner sense that something is right.” - NCR

My strong inner sense is that voters need to run as fast as they can from this potential path towards the ruination of America. We need leaders who listen to experts, marshal facts pertaining to topic, use critical-thinking skills, decide, and lead. I am personally sick of my faith being cheapened by shills who subscribe to the philosophy that if they “want” something with a strong inner sense or persuade others to want it with them, that somehow constitutes a divine intervention. As someone who believes the ways of God make sense in his time, not mine, it is a farce, or worse, to hold forth that some public works project or church gymnasium is holding God’s attention. Famines hold God’s attention, and WE are supposed to step up and fix them. As you treat the least of these, so you treat me. Feed the world? Yes. Profitable pipelines? I don’t think so.

We can’t afford another executive officer who listens to her gut more than facts and figures. America stands at a crossroads; we either continue this long slow decent into self destruction or we choose to innovate into a revitalized leader ready to tackle the challenges of the 21st Century. This won’t happen with people who govern on a whim, it takes leadership, vision and analytical critical-thinking skills to meet difficulties head on. We have big problems; we must select leaders that understand fixing a problem requires owning the problem first. Once we all accept where to start from, the spirits of entrepreneurs and individual endeavors ignite to solve the myriad of problems we face. But first, voters must choose leadership that wants to deal with reality.

We tried touchy feely for eight years and it’s nearly bankrupted us, literally and figuratively. Our country is broke, one of our cities drowned and we stand at the edge of a global famine. This is our window of opportunity to solve our problems and lead the world in a sustaining direction. McCain and Palin offer us only the option to squander this historical moment. God’s will is his, in his time; ours is now, manifested in the willpower of hard working Americans and responsible leadership that will see us through this crisis and seize the opportunity to better our country and the world.

Crossposted at Bring It On!