Volume 80, Issue 1
Faith in a Candidacy: A Doctrinal Look at Bowen McConahay Billy Bugara Reporter
Throughout the overall process and arrival here at Buckeye Boys State, it has been impossible to fail to notice the exorbitant amount of emphasis that has been put on religious ideals centering around Christianity. These sentiments are mostly proclaimed by our American Legion staff members; the program itself is absolutely infatuated with communicating the message through group prayer and various allusions toward the Bible. The correspondence of the Legion’s ideals and the gathering of more than 1,200 Boys here at Miami University has unsurprisingly caused a direct synthesis between the two. This is exemplified in the myriad of candidates that have referenced their faith over the course of their applications and introductions of themselves. Despite all of the candidates having interesting reasons as to why they would be calling towards their religion, one delegate in particular struck me as someone that has a definitive passion for their morality. This delegate was Wagonseller County’s Bowen McConahay. Bowen solidified my interest in his spirituality when he was making his pitch for the Wagonseller County Commissioner of the Nationalist Party at his respective county convention. He mentioned the fact that he was president of his Fellowship of Christian Athletes club. I was able to catch up with him soon after to gain a deeper insight into his faith. To begin, I asked him how the devotion to his
Monday, June 11th, 2018 faith affected his overall lifestyle. Bowen boldly responded in somewhat of a traditionalist tone that had a twist of contemporary values. “I believe there’s truth in the Bible, but it doesn’t say that you have to force anything on anybody,” Bowen said. “You just suggest it and hope people come to it.” These are somewhat common takes on what the Bible means to many Christians, but I wanted to dig deeper. I asked Bowen how these previous values translate towards his candidacy for county commissioner. “My core values are generally close to the Bible, so that makes me generally more honest, trusting, and a lot more open with people.” He then elaborated that this also makes him more liable to tell people the realistic, and sometimes brutally honest truth. He wants to tell his contemporaries what they need to hear, not what they want. Building on the notion of basic politics within his candidacy, I asked Bowen if being outspoken about these views offer some type of hope and/or inspiration to his fellow delegates. “Everyone’s hope as a religious person is to spread what they believe in.” The strategy that I inquired to Bowen about is one used by hundreds of politicians around this country, both democratic and republican alike. A depiction of God or even a religion such as Christianity can ethically boost the moral of the citizens that are listening in on a speech. We as humans love nothing more than feeling a sense of reassurance when looking up to leaders. The human mind grasps onto abstract concepts like theology with a bigger sense of ambition and wonder. This political endeavor is extremely common, so it’s no wonder that we’re already seeing it at a program like this. Using the pr evious infor mation, I finalized Continued on page 4...