Duped by the Make-up Man

I've been sucked into the political circus. All over the T.V. and radio there are thousands of people saying millions of words that amount to nothing and the thing that makes me mad is that I like it. I talk about politics at work, I listen to the circus on my way to and from work, I watch the conventions at night . . . it has subtly become an idol. I'm not at all suggesting that politics are a waste of time. In fact, the stakes of this next election are massive and the issues our country faces are not insignificant. Yet, the media is trivializing the governing of our country and we the people are eating it up. We should be looking for a great civil servant who desires to govern in wisdom and we are enjoying this political game like drunks at a cock fight.

I read a quote last week in J.P. Moreland's Love Your God with Your Mind that speaks directly to the political fluff I've been entertaining myself with lately.

"Our society has replaced heroes with celebrities, the quest for a well-informed character with the search for a flat stomach, substance and depth with image and personality. In the political process, the makeup man is more important than the speech writer, and we approach the voting booth, not on the basis of a well-developed philosophy of what the state should be, but with a heart full of images, emotions, and slogans, all packed into thirty-second sound bites. The mind-numbing irrational tripe that fills TV talks shows is digested by millions of bored, lonely Americans hungry for that sort of stuff. What is going on here? What has happened to us?"
-J.P. Moreland, Love Your God with All Your Mind, p. 21

Lord, Help is to grow in wisdom so that we may discern what is best and live for that which matters. Save us from falsehood. Help us to stand up for truth and to love the blessing of freedom without falling into the trap of thinking that your Kingdom is of this world. Guard our hearts and give us the eyes to see through the fog and delight in what is true, noble, right, excellent, and praisewothy. Please give us a a leader who serves and help us to be servants ourselves. Amen.
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