Letter: Politics is not for the faint of heart | Letters
“Politics is a difficult game.” When I saw that nothing made sense about what was happening to Umpqua National Forest, I started to learn this lesson. I realized that nothing is what it seems. Even “science” is filled with deceptions motivated by politics and political agendas. It didn’t take long to realize that problem solving was not the driving force behind those who claimed to have “the answersâ€. Problem solving can be very doable, and as a lumberjack I know it’s true. Loggers work together to solve seemingly impossible problems every day, with no political agenda to hold us back. We could easily cure the Umpqua – in all its aspects – but politics will not allow it, and “politics is a difficult game.”,
In Genesis, God said of Abraham, “I have chosen him, that he might instruct his children and his descendants to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is righteous and just.” As Abraham’s spiritual children, this is also what God wants from us who believe. We must try to do “what is right and right”, but how? Should we quietly watch everything burn? How can we safely engage in such a difficult game? How do you negotiate with those who are deliberately deceptive?
Although “lawlessness aboundsâ€, we must “speak the truth with loveâ€. The truth part is easy – the love part isn’t – especially for those of us who tend to enjoy a good fight (and always prefer to win). May God forgive us… and give us the wisdom to safely engage in politics. Our children and grandchildren depend on us.