Huh.

        DISCLAIMER:  This is a very scattered post.  I haven't completely processed my thoughts, but I just had to get this out there.

        I just got back from playing flute at a Mennonite meeting.  There was a group of about 18 pastors or elders of Mennonite churches anywhere from Harrisonburg, Minnesota and I believe Ohio?  Anyway.  They are having a conference about how to hold political conversations in the Mennonite church.  It was a very interesting experience, and I was just there to hear their introductions and sing some.  I would have been very interested in staying to hear what the talked about, but part of me thinks that I would not have enjoyed it at all.  The introductions got fairly long.  They talked about reasons people were leaving their church.  Some reasons included too much dialogue about peace, why the American flag was no longer flown in front of the church, and various stances the church took, mainly about war.
        One preacher said that he had a few families leave because of how he pushed peace especially, and then he said, "Well, either that, or because I didn't preach about 7 day creation." That floored me.  A Mennonite church.  Not preaching a 7 day creation.  What was he preaching then??  That comment alone made me not want to attend his church.
        Another lady talked about how about 8 years ago, she was part of an 8 week dialogue between Republicans and Democrat Christians.  She said that it was a good experience and that she thinks she recommends it. Thinks.  She then went on to talk about how she is in a group of Christians, Jews, and Muslims that get together and learn about each other's faith and walks of life.  She raved about this.  Once again, my mind went berserk.  She found it easier to talk about religion with two other very different religions than to talk to people from the opposing political party?  That just blows my mind.
        I felt very outnumbered at this meeting.  There was only one brave soul who said he was "more" conservative.  I had to wonder how much they will actually get accomplished this afternoon.  It is such an unbalanced group of people.  They want to know about issues from both sides of the board.  How can you do that with hardly any representation from one of the parties?
        This made me think about a lot of things.
        1.  It made me wonder how much Mrs. Roth's statement in Government my Sr year is really true.  She lived in Australia for a while, and said that the Democrat and Republican parties are the closest political parties in a country.  Let me explain.  She said that the Dems and GOP are more similar than the two opposing parties in Australia, or in Sweeden or Kenya.  I think about the "hot" topics and how Dems and Reps are as completely opposite as can be in my mind.  And then I think about, well, if this really is a true statement, why can't we seem to to talk about politics without getting all in a fury?  I read on one of my peers blogs about how she can hardly even talk to conservatives.  I just don't understand.  We are humans.  Within this context, we are both CHRISTIAN humans.
        2.  How did Republicans get the stereotype of being close minded?? Yes.  I do admit that I am stubborn in my beliefs, and I think it is good to be.  BUT, I have never heard a conservative person talk about how they just can't even hear other beliefs.  Typically, if I try to give my 2 cents in a political conversation with a group liberal and conservatives, I will get cut off.  I'm not saying all liberals are like this.  Meg, for one, is definitely not this way, and I LOVE that about her :)  People make assumptions about me all the time too.  There is a group that just started at EMU called the Student Women's Association.  They encouraged feminists, non-feminists, female and male alike to all come and talk about women's issues.  I was interested in going, being that I am one of the few non-feminists at EMU.  I wanted to hear what people believed, what they were hoping to accomplish with this group amongst many other things.  A guy friend of mine asked if I was going, and I was thinking about how to tell him that I kind of wanted to go, but wasn't sure if it was actually going to really be accepting of all views, and before I could say that, another girl goes, "No she's not.  Janelle isn't a feminist."  Well, okay, yeah, that's true, but it's not true that I wasn't going to go.  But then I didn't go.  The least she could have done was say something like, "Oh, Janelle, you should come! It would interesting to hear your thoughts on feminism."  I guess they'll never know.  I hope someone represented my views that night... but it's very doubtful. 
        3.  Most importantly, it made me realize how much I really appreciate Aletheia, and I know now more of why I do now.  Yes, if I had to guess, the church as a whole probably leans towards the right purely because of how outreach oriented they are.  I really love that about Aletheia.  But, I also love how they put GOD first in their church.  Not Obama, not congress, not what bill is about to be passed that we do or don't want to succeed.  They dive into scripture and focus on GOD and what He wants for us -- how we are supposed to act and treat each other with LOVE.  They go through the BIBLE and say it how it is, not how they WANT it to be.  They don't stretch scripture to try swing your political alliances the other way.

Okay.
I'd better be going to class now.

I just want to leave you with a challenge to truly listen to one another, no matter how different we may be.