We share the same skin as Pilgrims and Indians

I'm a flaming Democrat.

I grew up blocks away from Westroads Mall in Omaha, where a gunman lit up employees and shoppers in Von Maur a little over a month ago. I don't understand why there is such easy access to AK-47s and other assault rifles. Having done youth ministry for four years, I know there are thousands of youth with the same rage that fueled this young man (and access to those same weapons?).

One of my good friends, Joseph Madoul (click "stories" and find his name), is one of the lost boys of Sudan. Leonard Boswell, an Iowa Democrat, fought for seven years to get him (and others) safely to the U.S.

I think our earth is a stewardship from God, and therefore shouldn't be trashed by our (esp. corporate?) carelessness and excessive lifestyles.

I'm not sure about the war.

I'm not cool with torture- the ends don't justify the means.

There is more.

But the irony of this is that I've never once voted for a Democrat.

In reading the Mayflower, I came across this quote that struck me...

"My initial impression of the period was bounded by two conflicting preconceptions: the time honored tradition of how the Pilgrims came to symbolize all that is good about America and the now equally familiar modern tale of how the evil Europeans annihilated the innocent Native Americans. I soon learned that the real-life Indian and English of the 17th century were too smart, too generous, too greedy, too brave- in short, too human- to behave so predictably."

Just like Pilgrim-Native American conflict, we are too human to be "all in" for a man-made political system. And just like the world of Massasoit and William Bradford, the world is too complex to be Republican or Democrat on every issue.

This is just one more reason I still believe the Church and the Kingdom of God (God's institutions) are the hope of the world. So maybe how we live is more important than how we vote.