So this week was Social Justice Tradition week at C group. It was also election week, which we thought was quite apropos. We had a great discussion last Tuesday about welfare and justice and equality, all coming after a great set of sermons around faith and race. Funny thing is, I went to C group, and had great discussion, but I didn't vote.

Yep, that's right. I forfeited my rights as a citizen. I gave in to apathy and frustration and didn't plan ahead by getting an absentee ballot. I decided not to vote for the lesser of two evils. I allowed the political process to pass me by, railroad my personal views, and now I get to pay for it for another couple of years.

Sadly, I'm not that disturbed by it. Perhaps I have given up on politics, or more precisely, on politicians. I just don't hear of candidates that I can support wholeheartedly. I would rather not vote than vote for someone or something I don't believe in.

I've gone through many incarnations of my political self. I used to be your typical right-wing evangelical Christian, hopefully not as fanatical as some, but with definite fundamentalist leanings. I've grown up a lot these past few years, learned that life is, fortunately and unfortunately, not black and white, and the gray can be a hard and beautiful thing. But this makes my political positions rather unstable right now. Perhaps my unwillingness to choose a candidate is a symptom of my own insecurity. I'm still thinking and praying and wrestling through what I believe about issues like welfare and the environment and how we figure our way out of war and into peace when there are people who don't have a conviction problem flying themselves into buildings.

I'm hoping that by the time 2008 elections roll around, I will have had time to wrestle with these things. Time to draw conclusions. Time to sign up for that absentee ballot. And I'll hopefully fill that ballot out with a clear conscience, and the belief that my small voice is making a difference in this messed up political world of ours.