The presidential election of 2004 is complete. George W. Bush will be America's president for another four years. I have no doubt that this has been the most divisive and polarizing election in my lifetime. My Republican friends are gloating and my Democratic friends are commiserating. We are a nation divided into Blue Democrat states and Red Republican states.

I feel this division at a psychological level. The right half of me is red and preferred the Christian morality of President Bush. The left half of me was blue and preferred the social policies of Senator Kerry. I am one of those odd people who considers himself to be a ?Christian Democrat?. I support traditional Christian morality. Yet I believe in labor unions, social security, and equal justice for all. It's too bad that Christian Democratic parties are only found in Europe.

Up until the last moment, I did believe that John Kerry was going to win this election. I looked at all the polling numbers and listened to the radio pundits. The momentum seemed to back the Democrat. My mistake was that I did not look into my own divided psyche. I have been a lifelong Democrat, voting for Democrats in the last eight presidential elections. Yet on election day I could not mark the bubble for John Kerry. I left the top of the ticket unmarked, choosing not to vote for either candidate. I think that many traditional Democrats, especially those in the Midwest, felt the same way I did. Most of them voted for George Bush.

A Church friend tells me that President Bush won the 2004 election because so many Christians in Korean churches were praying for him to win. I am suspicious of this. If Korean prayers were so powerful, then why isn't there a super highway connecting Seoul to PyungYang. But I do believe that my friend is right in this sense. Many of these same Korean people who were fervently praying in their churches also took the time to vote, many for the first time in their lives.

This has been an election marked by moral issues. Twenty-two percent of voters responding in exit polls said that moral issues were most important to them; more important than Iraq, more important than the economy. Another church friend said that the Mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsome, gave President Bush the push he needed to win the election. The sight of all those gay marriages on national TV motivated many conservatives to the polls.

Moral issues are important to me, but I consider social justice to be the preeminent moral issue for a government. As a nation we will be judged by how we treat our most vulnerable citizens. I agree with the Old Testament prophet Amos when he prophesized against the house of Israel: Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

We are a nation split down the middle. My hope is that the Red states and Blue states can work together, put their differences aside, and become once more the red, white and blue statesbroadcast across the entire nation? Could your private moment be next?
     The presidential election of 2004 is complete. George W. Bush will be America's president for another four years. I have no doubt that this has been the most divisive and polarizing election in my lifetime. My Republican friends are gloating and my Democratic friends are commiserating. We are a nation divided into Blue Democrat states and Red Republican states.

I feel this division at a psychological level. The right half of me is red and preferred the Christian morality of President Bush. The left half of me was blue and preferred the social policies of Senator Kerry. I am one of those odd people who considers himself to be a ?Christian Democrat?. I support traditional Christian morality. Yet I believe in labor unions, social security, and equal justice for all. It's too bad that Christian Democratic parties are only found in Europe.

Up until the last moment, I did believe that John Kerry was going to win this election. I looked at all the polling numbers and listened to the radio pundits. The momentum seemed to back the Democrat. My mistake was that I did not look into my own divided psyche. I have been a lifelong Democrat, voting for Democrats in the last eight presidential elections. Yet on election day I could not mark the bubble for John Kerry. I left the top of the ticket unmarked, choosing not to vote for either candidate. I think that many traditional Democrats, especially those in the Midwest, felt the same way I did. Most of them voted for George Bush.

A Church friend tells me that President Bush won the 2004 election because so many Christians in Korean churches were praying for him to win. I am suspicious of this. If Korean prayers were so powerful, then why isn't there a super highway connecting Seoul to PyungYang. But I do believe that my friend is right in this sense. Many of these same Korean people who were fervently praying in their churches also took the time to vote, many for the first time in their lives.

This has been an election marked by moral issues. Twenty-two percent of voters responding in exit polls said that moral issues were most important to them; more important than Iraq, more important than the economy. Another church friend said that the Mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsome, gave President Bush the push he needed to win the election. The sight of all those gay marriages on national TV motivated many conservatives to the polls.

Moral issues are important to me, but I consider social justice to be the preeminent moral issue for a government. As a nation we will be judged by how we treat our most vulnerable citizens. I agree with the Old Testament prophet Amos when he prophesized against the house of Israel: Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

We are a nation split down the middle. My hope is that the Red states and Blue states can work together, put their differences aside, and become once more the red, white and blue statesbroadcast across the entire nation? Could your private moment be next?
     The presidential election of 2004 is complete. George W. Bush will be America's president for another four years. I have no doubt that this has been the most divisive and polarizing election in my lifetime. My Republican friends are gloating and my Democratic friends are commiserating. We are a nation divided into Blue Democrat states and Red Republican states.

I feel this division at a psychological level. The right half of me is red and preferred the Christian morality of President Bush. The left half of me was blue and preferred the social policies of Senator Kerry. I am one of those odd people who considers himself to be a ?Christian Democrat?. I support traditional Christian morality. Yet I believe in labor unions, social security, and equal justice for all. It's too bad that Christian Democratic parties are only found in Europe.

Up until the last moment, I did believe that John Kerry was going to win this election. I looked at all the polling numbers and listened to the radio pundits. The momentum seemed to back the Democrat. My mistake was that I did not look into my own divided psyche. I have been a lifelong Democrat, voting for Democrats in the last eight presidential elections. Yet on election day I could not mark the bubble for John Kerry. I left the top of the ticket unmarked, choosing not to vote for either candidate. I think that many traditional Democrats, especially those in the Midwest, felt the same way I did. Most of them voted for George Bush.

A Church friend tells me that President Bush won the 2004 election because so many Christians in Korean churches were praying for him to win. I am suspicious of this. If Korean prayers were so powerful, then why isn't there a super highway connecting Seoul to PyungYang. But I do believe that my friend is right in this sense. Many of these same Korean people who were fervently praying in their churches also took the time to vote, many for the first time in their lives.

This has been an election marked by moral issues. Twenty-two percent of voters responding in exit polls said that moral issues were most important to them; more important than Iraq, more important than the economy. Another church friend said that the Mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsome, gave President Bush the push he needed to win the election. The sight of all those gay marriages on national TV motivated many conservatives to the polls.

Moral issues are important to me, but I consider social justice to be the preeminent moral issue for a government. As a nation we will be judged by how we treat our most vulnerable citizens. I agree with the Old Testament prophet Amos when he prophesized against the house of Israel: Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

We are a nation split down the middle. My hope is that the Red states and Blue states can work together, put their differences aside, and become once more the red, white and blue statesbroadcast across the entire nation? Could your private moment be next?