Texas Faith: Do we thirst too much for political leaders?

Texas Faith: Do we thirst too much for political leaders?

I love our democracy as much as the
next person. And I really like the thrill of a campaign. But it has been 10
months and many dollars since New Hampshire and we still haven’t selected the next president. At moments during
this marathon, it has felt like we spend too much time and energy searching for
a leader, almost like a people who want a king to come fix their problems for
them – William McKenzie, Religion editor.

What do you think? Is this just
democracy-in-action? Or are we too hungry for a leader?

MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for
Pluralism, Dallas

The process of electing our president
is one of the best practices of democracy-in-action. Of course, we are the
founders of the representative system of governance, and have established
proven structures to find the best possible leader.

Indeed, we do thirst for a leader who
would be our idol, who can keep us safe from outside forces, secure at home,
bring stability to the nation, guard our freedom, and be a catalyst in the
pursuit of our happiness. That’s a tall order.

The year-long vetting process is fairly
identical to the making of the American Idol, where a number of hopefuls
participate, and one of them will finally make it through the primaries. By
then, he or she would have learned, competed and excelled to get the nomination
of the party in a completely open process. There is nothing like it. Indeed, it
is the most competitive training in leadership.

The nominee now competes with the
experienced one, the incumbent president, and demonstrates his or her maturity
in dealing with contingencies like Sandy, the economy, jobs, the well-being of
the citizenry, protecting the Constitution, foreign affairs, fulfilling the
role of president and being an idol to the best of his or her ability. This is
as entertaining and exciting as watching the football games or the American
Idol.

No wonder, we have the most stable
government in the annals of world history. Our presidents do not wing it, as
they would have learned enough and documented their stance on issues, which
would become their guiding principle to be held accountable for the next four
years.

Personally, as a moderate Republican, I
was hoping for Mitt Romney to be our next president. But I am afraid he will
repeal everything on his first day in office; derail the stabilizing economy
and job situation; mess with health security; control women’s freedom; be
unkind towards gays and lesbians; and ignore the ones in ditches. I rather have
Barack Obama’s stability than Romney’s chaos. We can deal with the resolute
Obama rather than wishy-washy Romney with no convictions of being a moderate,
liberal or conservative.

The Texas Faith blog is a discussion among
formal and informal religious leaders whose faith traditions express a belief
in a transcendent power – or the possibility of one. While all readers are
invited to participate in this blog, by responding in the comments section,
discussion leaders are those whose religion involves belief in a divine higher
power or those who may not believe in a transcendent power but leave room for
the possibility of one. Within this framework, moderators William McKenzie and
Wayne Slater seek to bring a diversity of thinkers onto the Texas Faith panels.