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 PrintableVersion Letter from America'Are we nearly there yet?'The ubiquitous cry of children on a long journey (‘Are we nearly there yet?’) has often been at the back of my mind watching the off-again, on-again foray of the Clinton-Obama smack down. Clinton’s donations receive a massive boost after one win — a million over the internet in 24 hours. Obama plays down the win. Clinton plays up the win. Next round, and this has been going on for month upon month already, and it’s two more states, one goes just barely to Clinton, the other easily to Obama. Played up by Obama, played down by Clinton. Clinton has less money. Obama has more. The pundits talk. The spin doctors spin. The voters vote. The talk show hosts talk. News item after news item. Yawn. ‘Are we nearly there yet?’ So much money spentApparently, we are. (Or, at least, that’s what people seem to be currently predicting.) An Obama win is just around the corner. Breathe a sigh of relief. But, remember, this is just the beginning. The real election hasn’t even started. Soon it will be McCain in the Red Corner v. whoever it will finally be between Clinton-Obama in the Blue Corner. And then that will go on and on too. And millions upon millions of dollars will be spent. Obama is said to have outspent Clinton on TV in the most recent campaign by a factor of two to one. Poor Hilary; how much did she only manage to spend? A mere $4 million or so. Peanuts. Are we in or out?Compare this with some interesting self-reflection going on in the evangelical community. Has the evangelical movement become too associated with politics? No, according to a new survey from Lifeway, the Southern Baptist publishing giant. To its pollsters and pollees, the majority of Christians are quite happy with the level of involvement between evangelicals and politics. On the other hand, Os Guinness has co-authored with other theologians and pastors an ‘Evangelical Manifesto’ seeking to put back the evangel in evangelical, and disassociate it from politics. Fat chance, it may seem, but God Bless Them (And God Bless America). I wish it was overBut — oh, I know you’re becoming so cynical, I hear you say — am I sinfully uninvolved to find I can barely stifle another yawn? Probably. After all Romans 13 would tell us to submit to our authorities, pay our taxes, and take an appropriate Christian part in the public sphere without fear of the one in authority. I don’t think I have much fear. I just wish — to use an Americanism instead — it was over already. Roll on the election. Can’t wait. Especially as statistics still tell us of remarkable numbers of young Americans unchurched (in total equalling more than many large countries), and similar disturbing trends in England, I hear. It’s time to man the barricades. It’s time for ‘Once more unto the breech, dear friends’. It’s time for carpe diem and all that. It’s time to put the time in, to put our best foot forward, stand up and be counted, and all of those other things that mean we need to kind of really just get on with it. Remember thatSo, no, I’m not being lethargic. I want desperately for God and Christ and the gospel to go forward. In all these and many other ways. I’d just love to turn on the TV, or listen to National Public Radio, or read a newspaper, and find something other than the great Clinton-Obama duel. Not that it doesn’t matter. Not that the other election doesn’t matter. Not that we shouldn’t exercise our consciences and vote according to Romans 13 principles. Just that, well, with all this hoopla, and all this money, and all this raw-brained activity, it’s perhaps a little easy to forget that we’re not there yet. Politics in this world can only solve so much. And for a world in desperate need of a Saviour it’s good to remember that we’re not there yet in that sense either, however much we might wish we were. Josh Moody,
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