A Time for Good Will and Prayer

“Friends can disagree and still be friends.” “When two people of good will argue from opposite sides of an issue, one usually wins and one loses;” “Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition."
These familiar phrases echo and resonate during the political season. Friends who have radically differing political views argue, taunt, point and laugh at each other. Then, the election is over and reconciliation usually happens. I was talking to a friend of mine just today, a quite conservative Republican, and he was teasing me about the probable outcome of the elections today. The “So, what’s your boy gonna do now?” kind of stuff.
The election isn’t over as I write this, and I will probably have more to say tomorrow. But for now I would offer this: If the Republicans win and can somehow manage to overturn and turn back what I see as progress in regulating the banking industry, and kill the healthcare effort, kill the Department of Education and the Environmental Protection Agency and attenuate other moderate efforts to curb the excesses of business, then in addition to celebrating, I think my friend should get down on his knees and pray. Pray that the outcomes of these reversals won’t kill his grandchildren or send the country into a morass of unregulated greed. Pray that the air stays breathable, the water stays drinkable, the food stays eatable and the money stays spendable.
If they win we all should pull together to try to educate the electorate, if possible, and hope for a reversal of the reversal next time around.
Otherwise we are in very, very deep doo doo. (See, I can play nice.)
Image: http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2008/01/03/rg_sewage_wideweb__470x335,0.jpg