Upfront October 31, 2011 Issue

Pick the good side

Jenny Nelles, Staff Editor

A friend told me a sweet anecdote about his grandparents. His grandfather preferred one political party, and his grandmother the other. One voting day, his grandmother had just returned from the polls, announcing that she’d cast her ballot. “What’d you do that for?” his grandfather complained, “You just canceled out my vote!!”

When it comes to thinking about government, lighthearted anecdotes may help us laugh and relax a little bit about differences of opinion. But progress breaks down when political dialogue turns vicious.

Lead writer Jeremy Carper suggests that we often see those who disagree with us as “the other,” living across a metaphorical river (p. 6). But it’s a river that can be bridged. He also writes of how the Bible encourages us to pray for all that are in authority: “Our prayers might lead us to . . . become more active citizens . . . but this exhortation [I Tim. 2:1, 2] keeps us from petty partisanship.” Alessandra Colombini shares how acknowledging God’s, divine Love’s, wisdom supports burgeoning efforts to strive for more transparent governments around the world (p. 10). And if you’re looking for a healing uplift, our evergreen “News of Healing” section is just pages away. 

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