Al Gore was on Good Morning America talking about his new book about the environment. At one point Robin Roberts asked him about an accusation that had been expressed, saying that Gore was one of the first Carbon Billionaires, that his tooting of the environmental horn had made him incredibly wealthy, and by implication, that was why he was so "green." His response was interesting. He said that he was not a billionaire, but that he had investments, and that he has always made it a point to invest in ways that were in keeping with his values and principles, which are pro-environmental stewardship. Most of us think about investing in terms of what will yield the greatest growth at the end of the year, and invest in funds that are so diversified that it would be impossible to judge them in terms of their earth-friendliness unless the fund itself had that kind of commitment.

This is also voting day. A lot of disgruntled Republicans are hoping this election will be a referendum on the Obama administration, and many Democrats are dismissive of such an interpretation. Politically it seems always expedient to attack the people in power if one is not in power, and to protect those in power if you are of that group. That seems to be the values and principles of our political system.

But voting is the key to our system, and voting as a Christian means setting aside our political agendas and our economic ones and, for all the love lost on Al Gore, doing as he purports to do. Vote your conscience--as informed by the Gospel. As a Christian our values do not necessarily lie along any one particular political platform, but integrity is of the issue. Vote your own principles and values, not what will yield the biggest bottom line or position you for power. If you can do that without voting a split ballot you might reconsider where you are getting your values from. Jesus is almost never that clearly aligned with the powers of earth.