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Letter from America

'I'll be back'

Schwarzenegger's appearance at the Republican convention was a real eye opener. One gets the impression that if this Austrian born immigrant had instead been a US citizen by birth, he would be a genuine contender for the Presidency himself at some point in the future.

Still, there he was, cheering on the troops, rallying the faithful behind George W. Bush. Several things stood out for attention. One was Schwarzenegger's sheer rhetorical effectiveness. The man who earned his initial reputation from pumping iron not massaging words (and even his later more sophisticated acting was marked by a clownish bluntness of speech) began the speech with well delivered quip after quip, hit all the right emotional buttons, and ended with a raucous chant of 'four more years' which was intoned loudly throughout the auditorium.

As good as acting

The Democratic convention he said, playing on one of his famous movies, should have been called 'True Lies'. Someone, he said, had told him his new political career as Governor of California was as good as his acting, to which he replied 'what a cheap shot', self depreciating rhetorical appeal at its simplest. Then he went for the gut: he was an immigrant from a communist- dominated Austria and when he first heard the Democrats they sounded like Soviets. He heard Nixon, found he was a Republican, then said, 'Then I am a Republican'. How do you know you are a Republican? If you think the government should be accountable to the people not the people to the government then you are a Republican.

After Arnie's 'America is back' rendition, the rest of the evening was something of a quiet, typical self-laudatory affair.

The light of the world

One wonders what the apostle Paul would make of it all. Are these modern- day Sophists or Caesars? How does a rigorously public view of the effects of the gospel intersect with such a partisan view of political life? Where do such strident national patriotic feelings - bordering on nationalism - connect with the trans-national community of the global church? Is America the light of the world? Do all other nationalities really want to be Americans, given half a chance, as Schwarzenegger suggested last night at the Republican convention?

It's becoming an increasingly important religious question as the growing disease within the international order throws up barriers between nations, and threatens the international community so loudly and lately touted by the UN. Is Europe on the way up? China and India on the way in? Or is America going to 'terminate terrorism' and keep its promise that 'I'll be back'? Where do everyday Christians fit with such complex questions of futurology and international machinations?

More persuaded

As to what Paul would think about it all, perhaps he would say this: 'Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord' (1 Corinthians 1.31). As our global postmodern culture fragments in the face of terrorist threats, we either become more persuaded of the righteousness of our human ideals and national aspirations, or we are drawn to one in whom both Jew and Greek may find their rest.

Josh Moody, Connecticut

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