Finding Courage to Enter the Political Discussion

As it happened, I'd been thinking about the presidential election a lot. Chewing. Brooding. Wondering how I could contribute, knowing if I did I could be opening a can of worms with friends and strangers a like. Then I read about Malala Yousufzai, the Pakistani girl who stood up for education and was shot by the Taliban as a result. Her courage far surpassed mine, but it certainly nudged me to at least try.

So I wrote the following column in about 45 minutes, edited it, asked my husband to read it, and then sent it to the religion editor at the Huffington Post, who sent me an email an hour later that it was on the homepage of the HP. No time to back down. And as I think about it, I'm glad I didn't. I've heard from dozens—really—of people I don't know, telling me I'd said what they wanted to, what they were thinking but hadn't been able to articulate. Many called me "courageous" but really, I only wrote a piece for a web site.

I never faced a rifle for my words.

And I wonder still: why are we afraid to talk about the things that matter to us in this election?

Jo Kadlecek

Journalist-in-residence, Gordon College

Unapologetic: Evangelical Christian, Pro-Life and Democrat

Posted: 10/10/2012 2:24 pm

I'm in trouble now. Not so much because I work at a Christian college where many of the students (and donors), um, sit across the proverbial aisle. As fellow Christ-followers, they'll give me grace. And not so much because the Democrats I hang out with sit in an altogether different theological pew. As liberals, they'll show me tolerance. Right?

No, I'm in trouble because now I'm putting my religion AND politics out there on the Internet, for all the other crazies to see and comment in nasty one-dimensional diatribes about how wrong and misinformed and ridiculous I am.

Still, some things are worth the risk. And this election has gotten scary. So here goes:

I wasn't always like this. I grew up in a Christmas and Easter Presbyterian suburban home to Republican parents. My dad campaigned for Barry Goldwater and my mom cried when Nixon resigned on national television because he'd been her hero.  READ MORE.