People, Not Politics

It's campaign season and you're bound to see them everywhere -- those campaign signs with their campaign slogans. Generally, they're supposed to mean something. Far too often I try to figure out what. So I saw a local one here the other day and the candidate's sign read, "People, not politics." What did that mean?

The candidate was an Independent, so "politics" are by general understanding is irrelevant. And you get the idea, I'm sure. "I care more about people than politics; I'll care more about you than politics." Yeah, yeah, we get it. But it got me to thinking (always dangerous), what is "politics" in this context?

Well, briefly, it is the political position of the given party. "We are the Y party. We believe in taking other people's money and giving it to others. We believe in power to the government because the government knows best. We believe in killing children and saving animals. Because we care about you." "We are the X party. We believe in freedom ... freedom to do as we please, freedom to not pay taxes, freedom to say what we want when we want without consequences. Because we care about you." Or possibly "We are the Z party. We believe in doing whatever we think is best at the moment which may change without notice and has little principle on which to stand. Because we care about you." And so it goes. The parties lay out their policies -- what we call their "planks" -- and if you agree with them, or at least enough of them, you join that party. And don't be fooled; you join some party, even if it's "Independent" or "Libertarian" or "Anarchy." Not being a member of a party is a set of policies with which you agree.

The question, then, is not "people versus politics," as it turns out. The question is do the policies of a party -- any party -- actually serve the people? Because we know two things. First, all parties have policies, even the unofficial parties. And all parties, official or unofficial, believe their policies are best for the people. They may be "best for me" because "I'm a person" or they may be "best for us" because "us" refers to "those who agree with me," but all of them believe they are serving the best interest.

Don't get tricked by the hype. Don't fall into the sound-bite trap. "Oh, look, this candidate cares more about people than politics." That simply means that this candidate has no accountability to standards and no concept of politics at all. We need to know where our candidates stand rather than some mushy "people" position without principles. And, more than that, we must always remember, "It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes" (Psa 118:9).