Taking a step back
Dear Christian conservatives,
The world is not going to end if Barack Obama is elected president.
Sounds hyperbolic, no? Well check this out:
Christian right intensifies attacks on Obama
By ERIC GORSKI and RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion WritersTerrorist strikes on four American cities. Russia rolling into Eastern Europe. Israel hit by a nuclear bomb. Gay marriage in every state. The end of the Boy Scouts.
All are plausible scenarios if Democrat Barack Obama is elected president, according to a new addition to the campaign conversation called “Letter from 2012 in Obama’s America,” produced by the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family Action. …Steve Strang, publisher of Charisma magazine, a Pentecostal publication, titled one of his recent weekly e-mails to readers, “Life As We Know It Will End If Obama is Elected.”
This is discomforting to me, a serious Christian who assumes people will think rationally and not resort to fear-mongering instead of reasonably discussing issues. And (though it escapes Dobson’s notice, because his strain of Christianity is the only one allowed) all four Prez/Veep candidates are self-proclaimed Christians. But, maybe one is more Christian than the others? Someone on Facebook thinks so, and they’ve drawn hundreds to a group called “Ten-4 Palin”:
Could it be that Sarah Palin has been uniquely fashioned for this time in History by the One, True and Living God. The confidence in my assertion is this: that it IS actually happening! …
She pleasantly redefines modern feminism, motherhood, living in humble submission to God, actually contributing to the improvement society instead of selfishly promoting anarchy or oligarchy, to an angrily muted mass of malcontents and Sophists. There is not a rainbow of nuance when “yea is yea and nay is nay”. The wisdom and robust nature of humble Truth is a lovely as it is durable. (Can you see the lipstick on the pit bull??) …
Also, for those who oppose her, take heed, lest you find yourself fighting against the God of Heaven and Earth. IF she tasked by God for this role, woe unto the ones who try to destroy her. Before you take up arms against her – read the biblical accounts of the Pharaoh, the Philistines, the Babylonians, etc… because you like they may not be fighting against man, but against your own creator. [bolds mine, misspellings original-R]
For all those on the right who deride Obama as “messianic,” I’ve seen no actual evidence that his supporters think of him in these deified terms. Palin, however, gets a Facebook page? Hmm… but what about the actual would-be president, John McCain? He gets a mention too, in the last paragraph:
The following is a call to action: She (and Mr. McCain) must be prayed for. They are private persons fulfilling a public calling.
Why am I bothering with this, I ask myself… the “converted” aren’t to be moved, and rational discussion doesn’t generally work if a faith is both blind and ill-reasoned. I do notice, though, that there’s a point at which such sure-headed notions that we can see what God is doing, that we know what He wants, can become absolute extremism. Honestly. It’s not that far a leap from the above to, well, this (received at the BGDN fax station):
These are the same people, mind you, whose faxes usually start off with ” (x number of) American troops were killed in Iraq this week. Thank God for their deaths!” and list a variety of reasons God is punishing us with his preferred weapon, the Islamofacist insurgent.
Tags: faith and politics should be stirred softly, not shaken up
This entry was posted on Monday, October 27th, 2008 at 2.05 pm and is filed under faith, politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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October 27th, 2008 at 2.54 pm
There comes a point where you can’t even call someone a Christian, even when they themselves self-identify as such. Know them by their fruit – and fruit of the HS is never identified as fear, hatred, or spittle.
Lord Jesus Christ, deliver us from heresies.
October 27th, 2008 at 2.57 pm
A family friend actually sent me a Focus on the Family Action Newsletter bashing Obama this week along with a note insinuating that I was being less than moral or Christian by voting for the “more liberal side” as she put it.
October 27th, 2008 at 6.29 pm
This is pretty scary. I think, however, it’s important to be careful not to put all Christians who vote for McCalin/Palin in this category. Because they clearly are not. (And I don’t think you do, Justin.)
Just as its wrong to say that people are “less Christian” because they voted for Obama, it’s just as horrible to say that the Christians who voted for McCain/Palin believe this crazy stuff. They voted for them because they don’t agree with Obama’s economic policy. Or the whole abortion thing. Or something else.
I’m playing the opposite-side card and not trying to endorse either candidate by saying this. (Given the nature of my profession, I don’t publicly say who I votes for! And yes I already voted, …yay Washington state mail-in ballots!)
But I’m glad you’re bringing this up, because this is exactly what I’m concerned about with politics — the reduction of policy and talk into catchphrases and name calling and assumptions on both sides.
October 28th, 2008 at 9.10 am
As I mentioned to Justin, when typing “is” into the Google Firefox search box today and hitting the space bar it suggested the following searches to me:
1. “is obama a muslim”
2. “is obama the antichrist”
3. “is obama a us citizen”
I assume the world is catching up on research.
I heard that Westboro is nothing more than a money scam. The person behind the “church” apparently goes out of his way to offend people in hopes they won’t allow him to stage any type of protest. After that, he sues for violation of free speech and collects fat bank. Not for sure if there is any truth to that but I’d honestly rather believe that’s what he was doing than a believer having a mindset like that.
October 29th, 2008 at 11.37 am
Glenda: I’ve known you long enough to know that you are less than moral, no matter who you vote for.
Mai: Obviously I’m not questioning anyone’s faith, nor am I lumping anyone together — maybe your liberal-media guilt-trip is causing you to overbalance?
Just pointing out that people who judge others as “immoral” or “unChristian” on the basis of who they vote for are walking a tightrope, and the Westboro Baptist Churches of the world are just waiting for them to fall off onto their side.