Politics and Old-Time Religion by Elder C. Burr

Sunday morning about 1960

            As a young child, I had no problem imagining God as “Father.” Every Sunday my mild-mannered dad preached about a loving God from a Methodist pulpit.  In the early days when I was in kindergarten (1959), he led a sing-along on Sunday nights in a beautiful brick church in Burr Oak, Kansas.  People of all ages attended.  We would raise our hands and request our favorites: “When the Roll is Called Up Yonder,” “Love Lifted Me,” “Give Me that Old Time Religion.” My weekly request was “Heavenly Sunshine.”  The songs were usually up-tempo and men, women, and children sang with gusto.  I rarely hear that type of congregational singing anymore.

            Another part of my religious upbringing seems to be missing, especially in politics—a regard for decent, respectable behavior toward others, even those with whom we disagree.  

            My parents and church taught me to respect the Ten Commandments, including do not kill, cheat, lie, covet, and steal, and to honor the Golden Rule: “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” If we kids got caught cheating, lying, or bullying, we were scolded, spanked, and sent to our rooms.  As a child, I naively thought all adults learned these lessons and they would never surrender to bad behavior.  But, of course, I was wrong and now I get daily reminders of how wrong I was.   

            None of us is perfect, even if we sit in a church pew on Sunday morning, but I'd like to see our leaders try harder to respectfully disagree with their political opponents without name-calling, without shouting over one another.

          Lately (October 2018), a 24-hour news cycle exposes politicians or leaders flaunting “alternative truth” messages or admiring, even advocating, vocal and physical violence toward others.   Bad behavior makes headlines and it seems the media and politicians feed on one another in a dizzying assault on our good nature. 

    I’ve grown grumpy.  I desire a return to “old-time” virtue and ethical living that my preacher daddy taught me around the kitchen table and from the pulpit. 

         My dad and I are often not on the same page politically, but we refuse to let our differences put a wedge in our father-daughter relationship.  I credit our bond to love and a strong ethical foundation based on respect for others, learned from grandparents, parents, and old-time religion.    

--- C. Burr

--revised in 2024.  

Contact us if you would like to receive email updates or submit your original work.