Christspeak, Rx

...or fail to take control over either house- what are you going to do? How is your life going to be different? How would your life be different if the Democrats win?

I hope your answers will be the same as mine, that is, nothing really important will change at all in my life. I'm not saying politics and elections aren't important, of course they are. What I am suggesting is that politics has its place and too many of us, (especially bloggers), forget this.

Remember the survey most of us answered about blogging? Almost everyone I read admitted our closest relationships, our familiy and friends, were at best- indifferent about our blogging. That should be a clue for all of us to lighten up.

The truth really hit home for me during the recent flap over the Foley/Page scandal. A powerful man approaches young pages for sex. Evidently alot of folks knew about him, warned him to straighten up, yet he couldn't stop the flirting. (To date, there is no evidence of physical involvement with minors). Here's what I'm getting at- the man resigned immediately. Though we don't know how much people knew, almost everyone involved with the man, the pages- Republicans, Democrats and the press, all of them knew about this for months and months- and not one person saw it as a problem. Here's the damning part, they all viewed Foley's behavior as an opportunity.

• What kind of young man or young woman would play emotional games with a man like Foley?
• What kind of friends were Foley's fellow Republicans when they knew his behavior was close to crossing the line and yet did so little to intervene?
• What about all the Republican and Democrat staffers, was there even one among them who would do the right thing?
• And how is it that the Democrats, with no regard for anyone involved, would use this man to try and win an election
• And the press- evidently they hear about horrible things that powerful men do in private, with no regard at all for the victims.

This whole Foley mess revealed a tragic lack of character with everyone involved. (Well, perhaps Foley's immediate resignation is the exception.)

How would you react if you knew your friend or boss or loved one or neighbor, was seriously flirting with pedophilia? Would you shake your head in disgust and look the other way? Would you intervene on the child's behalf? What about the preditor, would you not care enough about him to put an end his destructive behavior? The truth is that the real tragedy in the Foley story is that plenty of people were sent to Washington, but there isn't a Smith among them.

Politics has a place in our society alright, but it shouldn't be on our front page. No, its rightful place is buried behind what is really important, far behind our faith, family, work, friends, hobbies and maybe even sports.