It is that most despised of seasons again. It happens every other year in our country. Yes, it is political advertising season, and it makes many of us sick. The ads often are designed to trick the voters, not to inform them. By distracting the voters with trumped up issues, many of them do not actually vote considering the policies that might be for their, (and the country's), best interest. Instead, they vote for a smokescreen issue about "character", based on an ad that actually shows that the candidate that approved the ad has bad character -- for approving such a distasteful ad. What are these nasty attack ads teaching our children?
It is the negative, half-truth, attack stuff that disgusts me most of all, and there is way too much of it. How can you feel good about some candidate when he or she runs a TV spot that runs roughshod over an opponent? I realize that some of this has been going on for a long time, dating back to the days of Adams and Jefferson, but that was before we came up with the technology to hammer it home in new and devastating ways. I believe things are reaching new lows with some of the attack ads we're seeing nowadays. It is often all napalm and no civility.
Many of these ads are based on half truths and shameless propaganda techniques, put on the air and on the internet in behalf of candidates that claim to be Christian. These same candidates that hack up their opponents with hacksaw ads, also wrap themselves in the flag and hold tight to the Bible if it seems to help their campaign. These supposedly Christian candidates must have never heard of the Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12), or the Great Commandments, or the rule of love. In fact, I wonder if they ever read the Bible at all.
The ads put up smoke screens about so-called "Christian" issues that affect only a handful of people, while disregarding a most basic message of Jesus Christ (John 15) and the Epistles, that we love one another and treat other humans with respect. Unfettered greed and intentional lies are among the worst sins of all in this country, because they affect the basic lives of the most people.
What does it say about a candidate when he or she authorizes brutal TV commercials? What does it say about an electorate which goes ahead and votes for the pit bull candidate anyway? Maybe we really do get the candidates we deserve. And, maybe offensive advertising is one of the many reasons so many Americans have abandoned voting completely.
It seems that the winners are often almost as damaged by the ads as the losers, and this, in turn, makes it difficult to goern effectively. Candidates who are elected with a great deal of negative advertising end up being hated by the supporters of the losing candidate. The politics of division has accomplished what it set out to do -- elect certain candidates at any cost, while definitely dividing America. It has raped democracy and stifled meaningful, reasoned debate. And negative advertising is the main engine of this divisive strategy.
Thank God for the remote control that allows me to switch to another channel, and/or mute the ads. If only more people would do the same. I hate to admit it, but the brutally nasty political ads make me ashamed of the candidates and parties that approve them. There is nothing remotely Christian about political ads that lie, kill and destroy. A look at John 10:10 will show that their father is the father of lies, the real thief who is slowly stealing our democracy.
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