Good summary Charlie!

I recently made a comment on Facebook about not watching any of the ongoing Republican National Convention.  Frankly, I think the rhetoric of political conventions amounts to an "in house" pep rally.  I have never wasted a moment watching a convention speech, that I can remember...at least not on purpose.

To be clear, I think Christians should be involved in the political process.  They should be learned and careful about the positions of various candidates, rally behind those who support righteous causes, and some should run for office.  I just think party conventions are lame and amount to preaching to the choir.

I received a negative comment or two about my less than enthusiastic consideration of convention speeches.  I was accused of possibly causing parishioners to become disengaged in the political process because of my dissing convention speeches.  I do admit a touch of cynicism during "silly season".  Anyways, one of my parishioners was watching the exchange and put in to words exactly how I feel about politics and elections. Check out how Charlie captured my thoughts, using words in a far more articulate way than I could ever muster-

Disengagement from the mechanations of pop politics is not the same thing as disengagement from the process of changing a culture. You could only equate the two if you believed that society can only be changed by pop political maneuvering. In other words, Tony (in all his disengaged cynicism) is only rejecting the savior of our society IF the savior of our society is the reindeer game we know as "Election Cycle Silliness." 

 But politics is not our savior. Government is not our savior. The world hangs in the balance of no man's whim. The savior of our culture, if it is to be saved, is Christ -- because He is the King of all creation. And if our culture is to be saved, it will be saved only through repentance and concession. If this is true (and it is), then that means Tony is more engaged in the salvation of Western Civilization than most people who know him. He and men like him are the point of the spear. By preaching repentance and submission to Christ, Tony is leading us into the breach. He just likes to take pot shots at false saviors as he passes by their mangled carcasses.

What resonates most with what Charlie says is the point about repentance and submission to Christ.  This is what our society needs, nothing less.  Sure, I'll hold my nose and vote for Romney this November, but it's with no allusions about things getting much better.  "Better" will only happen when God grants His church wide scale repentance, which, in turn, I pray will lead to blessing our nation with holiness.   I do think God can do this, by the way.

And yes...I do like to take pot shots at false saviors.