By Andy Hale

One of the greatest joys of cutting cable is not dealing with the Election year propaganda commercials. The othering, the deception and the scapegoating are just insane.

And what’s the point of theses ads anyway? Do they really sway an undecided voter’s perspective? Moreover, if obvious misleading political ads convince you, how else do you make important decisions in your life?

In the weeks leading up to the election, I found YouTube ads thwarted my cable cutting. My typical verbal response to these ads had become so commonplace that I soon discovered my children covering their ears, imitating me by saying, “Lies. Lies. Lies.”

Besides this not being a parent-win, it also raises many questions about how we tend to respond to people with whom we do not see eye-to-eye. The hate and vitriol are palpably present in our communities, neighborhoods, online, among families and churches.

“We desperately need a political and theological vision—and language-focused on God-given dignity of every human being. Christians must advocate for a world where every person’s dignity is recognized and we must work together with people of all faiths and of no faith to bring this country and world into being,” said Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons on the CBF Podcast.

Graves-Fitzsimmons is a fellow with the Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative at American Progress and a frequent contributor to CNN, the Washington Post, and Sojourners. He is also the author of Just Faith: Reclaiming Progressive Christianity.

Guthrie believes that we can enact a politics of blessing and love in our society that, through collective action, seeks to take the burden off everyone Jesus has blessed.

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Andy Hale is the creator and host of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Podcast. Hale is the senior pastor of University Baptist Church of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, following eight years as the founding pastor of Mosaic Church of Clayton and five years as CBF’s church start specialist. Follow on Twitter @haleandy