A Revealing Day

Yesterday, I blogged on the greatness of John Paul II. Today, my opinion of him grew because of the contrast between him and the self-serving U.S. politicians I saw praising him today in the media. It seems as if each politician had to get in on the act of paying tribute to the deceased Pope. That's fine; he deserves tribute. My problem, however, is that so many of these politicians' comments were so shallow and solely intended to help themselves politically. I saw republicans out to talk about how the Pope was such a great leader because of his pro-life stance. Their intent was clear; they wanted to say "This guy was on my side." They conveniently forgot that he rebuked them about the death penalty they support, the wars they started, the stem-cell plan they supported, the third-world debt they will not forgive, the massive poverty in this country that they won't relieve, and the western materialism they support. I saw Democrats doing the same thing. They were out to claim this guy as one of their own. He didn't deserve such an insult. He especially didn't deserve the implication so many of them made that he was on America's side. Kay Bailey Hutchison wrote that he "championed the cause of peace, democracy, and hope." It irks me to no end that she listed democracy with peace and hope. I personally think he championed he championed the cause of peace, hope, and love. Even if he did help to bring down the iron curtain, his cause wasn't for the same reasons as the U.S. politicians. He wasn't there to champion democracy, and he didn't care a thing for unbridled capitalism. Those were biproducts of something greater he was striving for. He was there to expand God's kingdom. And he was there to spread the love of God. And he sought for those things in the right way, not with violence, but with redemptive love. He was a champion for something far greater than democracy and capitalism. It would be nice if our politicians, our spiritual Christian politicians, could understand that.