The Diocesan Dialogue
Current Issue
January 2008

Bishop's Reflections

When this issue of Diocesan Dialogue arrives, the primary elections will be upon us—at last! After months of speeches and debates the candidates will await the count of ballots, and a clear front-runner may emerge (if not yet a nominee).

Reflecting on the months of 2007, it seemed at first the big question was who was able to raise the most money for the campaign. Then things turned to the Iraq war—who would get us out of there and how? With things 'improving' a bit there, that issue now seems not as pressing. Here and there the focus has been on the economy, health care, energy, education, taxes, the national debt, and—very occasionally, the environment.

For the most part, however, the media has just helped us look these people over.

Were they likeable? Credible? Tough? Discourteous?

Ooh—and would one of them make a verbal slip that knocked them out of the running? What was it like to see a woman and people of color up there with the white guys?

Most recently, the question became a candidate's religious faith in the context of the presidency. Is it important just that they have faith, or do we have to know all their beliefs and practices?

I do think 'looking them over' is about all we have been able to do so far, the media scrutiny being what it is. Perhaps the candidates themselves are nervous about making any significant commitments until they test the winds for a while longer.

Personally, I have been waiting and waiting for a candidate who has the courage to address the massive implications of climate change—or even knows that this will be "the defining challenge of our age," as the Secretary General of the United Nations said recently.

It is scary stuff, and will call for unimaginable changes in our economy, our laws, and our life styles. We need leaders—at every level—who are not afraid to speak the truth and set a course. If not begun now, it will only get worse.

This is, to me and I'm sure to many of you, the religious issue of out times—having to do with stewardship, guardianship and the just use of the gifts of creation. Recently one reporter hoped I would comment on a candidate's biblical and theological beliefs, but aside from the presumption of doing that, such beliefs are to me relevant only to the extent that they help to form a person of integrity, having respect and reverence for the creator, for creation, and for all creatures.

In his name,
The Rt. Rev. Carolyn Tanner Irish

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