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

We can deal with the resolute Obama rather than a wishy-washy Romney with no convictions of being a moderate, liberal or conservative. 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 the 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 would rather have Barack Obama’s stability than Romney’s chaos - Mike Ghouse

Resolute Obama v. WishyWashy Romney

Originally published in Dallas Morning News in the Texas Faith column, details below http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2012/10/texas-faith-do-we-thirst-too-much-for.html

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.

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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.

URL : http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/2012/10/texas-faith-do-we-thirst-too-much-for-political-leaders.html/

Mike Ghouse is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a professional speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, civic affairs, Islam, India, Israel, peace and justice. Mike is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News and regularly at Huffington post, Smirking Chimp and several other periodicals across the world. The blog www.TheGhousediary.com is updated daily and MikeGhouse.net indexes all his activities.