Torch, Spring/Summer 2008

I t’s an election year. Again! It seems like the political world is in constant campaign mode. Should we be involved? Should we care? Over the next months we will continue to plow through the process of choosing a president and a slate of legislators to represent us in government. The campaign has already been churning for some time, and every day news reports flash headlines about the latest clever ad or verbal gaffe. Gone are the days of political debates where contenders verbally wrangled for hours over key issues and plans. Today, candidates look for the sound bite that will make it to the evening news and define their leadership. As Saul Bellow lamented, “The presidency is now a cross between a popularity contest and a high school debate, with an encyclopedia of clichés the first prize.” Presidential elections are always important, yet it is not surprising that many Christians disengage from the political process. Politics is dirty business, they think, and it should be left to the world to determine such matters. We have more important and spiritual concerns to attend to. After all, didn’t Jesus tell us, “You do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world” (John 15:19)? At the other extreme, some Christians consider the political arena one of the means of God’s grace in society. They think that culture can be transformed by the right leaders and the right laws to bring about a Christian, or at least a moral, society. So what are we to do? I am not an expert on politics and government, but the thoughts expressed by outstanding Cedarville faculty in this edition of TORCH are worth reading. Many of their opinions are in demand — even by the secular press — not only because of their expertise, but also because they unapologetically address issues with a biblical perspective. In a culture of political cynicism and chaos, I hope this issue of TORCH once again succeeds at making sense of our times with wisdom and fresh clarity. Dr. Bill Brown President Cedarville University Making Sense of Power, Politics, and the Presidency I