Adult Teachable Moments

Why I'm a Political Cheerleader

Apr 24

by Bert Montgomery

There are three things we all know to be true: (1) The world would be at peace if only the Mississippi State Bulldogs (or occasionally the LSU Tigers) were national champions in all sports year after year; (2) the University of Tennessee Volunteers (followed closely by the Duke Blue Devils) are the bane of all earthly existence; and (3) politics are a lot like collegiate sports.

I’m watching this year’s presidential election like I just watched the NCAA basketball tournament. I have my favorite party (conference) and my favorite politicians (teams), and I cheer for them to win, and move on when they lose. For example, I picked Mississippi State to make it all the way to the Final Four (and to win it all!), but had to settle for pulling for the Memphis Tigers instead after the Tigers knocked my Bulldogs out of the tournament.

Likewise, I’ve watched as presidential candidates, like my basketball Bulldogs, have been knocked out of the race one by one. Unlike my Bulldogs, though, my favorite candidate is still in the bracket to get to the White House.

Now, I get a lot of flack from good friends and family members about how appalling my candidate is. To be fair, though, I have heard (and given) just as much flack about how despicable and dishonest the other candidates are. Some of these accusations, though exaggerated, are based in fact; some are just wild and goofy.

I decided long ago that if I waited for Jesus to come and be my perfect political candidate, I’d never vote again. So I tend to overlook certain things if the good things appear to me to outweigh the bad…because let’s face it, there’s plenty of unsavory stuff to go around.

It’s like college sports. If I waited for a team that emphasized it academics over its athletics, for a team where all of the players applied themselves first to their studies…well, let’s just say I might be waiting a long time for that perfect season. Heck, my favorite team when I was growing up in New Orleans was the Tulane Green Wave. When it became clear that their successful basketball team was cheating, Tulane University terminated its basketball program for several years! Now to be sure, if I’m going to have brain surgery and my surgeon played college sports, I’d want that surgeon to be a former Tulane player. (For the reasons I converted, leaving my past as a Tulane fan for brighter days as an LSU fan, see “Confessions of an LSU Convert”).

Let’s be honest. Many of the big-name schools in national collegiate sports don’t do well when it comes to graduation rates of their players. In my favorite conference alone, the Southeastern Conference, athletic programs have been caught providing tutors who ended up writing papers and taking tests for players; offering money and cars to student-athletes and their families; even buying players from selected high schools! You can find all this and more just by searching the web. It’s enough to make you decide to never watch collegiate sports again.

The religious right can’t stand John McCain. Hillary Clinton’s campaign takes cheap shots at Barack Obama. Obama’s campaign finds a polite way to go dirty in its responses to and charges against Clinton. The Republican party will pull out all the stops to defeat the Democrats, and the Democrats will pull out all the stops to out-do the Republicans. You can find all the disgusting dirt on any candidate and the parties’ political practices just by searching the web. It’s enough to make you choose never to vote in an election again.

I know because I’ve tried giving up on both. But alas, I can’t stay away from the thrills and excitement of Southeastern Conference sports, and I just can’t stay away from the thrills and excitement of big time politics. So, I’ve learned to turn a blind eye to the awful dirt that goes with both in order to have some fun, and hopefully, make things a little bit better in our world. Besides, as I said earlier, if I waited for Jesus to be the quarterback of the Bulldogs, or Jesus to run for President of the United States, I’d never go to another game or voting booth again.

Yes, there are three things I know will bring lasting peace to the world: (1) a dominant Mississippi State Bulldog program in every sport (followed closely by the LSU Tigers); (2) the decline of athletic dominance for both the University of Tennessee Volunteers and the Duke Blue Devils (in any sport); and (3) when my candidate is sworn in as the next president.

Or, maybe not. But nevertheless, I place my hope and trust in God through Jesus Christ, and I find a lot of joy cheering on my imperfect teams and imperfect politicians.

Questions for Reflection
• As Christians, are we sometimes guilty of placing too much faith in our politicians and not enough in our God? Why or why not?
• What do you think about the sentence “politics are a lot like collegiate sports”? In what ways do you agree with this? In what ways do you disagree?
• Jesus says that His Kingdom is not of this world, but from another place (John 18:36). How do you understand this in light of our involvement in the political process?