(From the DA years)

I had election duty yesterday in West Philadelphia.  Pretty uneventful, although I got a bit lost driving back.  I realize I live very close to some rough neighborhoods.

By now, it is pretty clear that George Bush and the Republicans will have control over the presidency and the legislature, and probably the Supreme Court once several justices retire. 

I was going to write a sarcastic entry congratulating the conservative right, but decided against it.  I realize this is not the right attitude in being a citizen of this country.  

I talked to several of my former students last night and asked how and why they voted.  It saddens me that we have a herd mentality as Christians.  That being said, I have also observed this herd mentality in minority groups that are voters on the other side of the spectrum.   

It also saddens me to see that our nation is polarized and split along racial, ideological lines.  My prosecutor mentor in Minnesota observed that it was difficult for him to speak with his brother who he disagreed with on the course of this nation.  Apparently, friendships have also been destroyed because of this election.  

Perhaps Osama knew what he was doing all along.  The fissures of division were there all along – all it took was a precipitating factor.  The truth is that no single man will turn this country around.  It would be foolish to assume that one force (other than God) can reverse the consequences of many forces accumulated over much time.  Fighting crime and terrorism is much more than arresting perpretators or clamping down on insurgent groups.  

It all goes back to the human heart, our families, and our communities.  For all of Focus on the Family’s skewed and short-sighted thinking, they are dead-on on one point – that the family is a primary concern in our society.  It is not the government’s primary responsibility to legislate morality (although they do have to at some point, but in my opinion as little as possible), but rather the family’s.  This is the agent of change that will turn our nation around, if ever. 

Most of our families are broken, however.  I’ve taught enough kids and adult students as well as lived in my own to figure that out.  But we still rather focus on fixing things on the outside rather that which is internal.