The Morning After

Well, now that Republicans are waking up to a world that didn't end – and Democrats are waking up to a New Jerusalem that will never be – let's focus on what should (for Christians) be the important things.

First of all: Jesus is still Lord. The Gospel is still the greatest news of all. And the followers of Jesus are still expected to take up their crosses daily and follow Him. Whatever happens to the economy, or on Wall Street ; whether taxes, or employment, go up or down ; whether the government grows more or less intrusive, we have a higher calling. Our citizenship (and, therefore, our ultimate allegiance) belongs to another Kingdom. We serve another King.

Second of all: Hopefully, the habit that too many conservative Christians have gotten into, of thinking the government can be a helpful partner in the Great Commission, is coming to an end. We need more faithful disciples, and fewer political power-players. We need more prayer, and less rhetoric. And those conservative Christians need to be humbled enough to be ready to reach out in Grace and Compassion to their liberal brothers and sisters, once they come to realize the awful truth that no amount of legislation will ever establish Heaven on Earth.

May Republicans be gracious in defeat. May Democrats be humble in victory. But, most importantly, may those of us who claim the Cross of Christ become all that he has called us to be: transcending political cant and partisan rhetoric – and bring, instead, healing and hope to a lost and increasingly desperate nation.

Something happened in this election that many thought was still years away from being a reality. After 200+ years as a nation, we have our first black president. We should rejoice in this (whatever our political inclinations). We should be ashamed that it's still even an issue, but grateful that we have finally broken through such an ugly barrier.

The Bible admonishes us to pray for those in positions of authority – whether we like them, or not. We should pray daily that God will protect President Obama from those that are evil enough to seek his harm. We should pray daily that he will make wise decisions about how to govern this country. And we should pray that people will see more of Jesus in us than anything else.

An Open Letter To...

Dear flag waving, church going, truth ignoring, Americans and Christians --

I'm not a supporter of Senator Obama (as some of my blog posts will readily attest), and I believe there are plenty of legitimate reasons not to vote for him. But the flood of false, out-of-context, and misleading e-mails and stories going around about the man makes me sick to my stomach. And what sickens me even more is that people claiming to be Christians are some of the main spreaders of the manure. That's beyond disgusting (hey, way to bring more disgrace to the Body of Christ, Judas).

The fact that so much of what is being said about Sen. Obama is lies, tells us far more about the people believing and spreading the lies, than it does about the Senator.

Let's touch, briefly, on a few of the most repeated lies going around:

• I know you hate it, but....Sen. Obama is a legal U. S. citizen (and not the first candidate to have his citizenship challenged):
  http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/citizen.asp



• The crap about Sen. Obama unpatriotically "removing the flag" from his plane is more fact twisting bullshit (and a half-truth is as bad as a lie). Yes, he removed the airline's Registered Trademark flag logo from the tail of the plane -- but all presidential candidates remove the airline logos when their plane gets customized. Here's the truth -- read it carefully:
  http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/airplane.asp



• His goof about having visited "57 states" was simply him stumbling over his words -- due, in large part, to his being tired. He was trying to say he had visited 47 (of the 48 contiguous) states, but inadvertently said 57. (Oooo, I'm sure no one spreading those internet lies has ever stumbled over their words.) And the stuff about there being 57 Islamic countries/nations/states is just more (you guessed it) bullshit:
  http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/57states.asp



• Sorry, red-necks -- wearing a flag-pin says nothing about one's 'patriotism'. Just as wearing a cross doesn't say anything about one's religious faith (Madonna, anyone?).
  
  And most people don't put their hand over their heart during the National Anthem (just watch the crowd at any sporting event as the NA is played). Most people sing along -- as does Sen. Obama. People put their hand over their heart during the Pledge of Allegiance -- as does Sen. Obama:
  http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/anthem.asp



• He's NOT a Muslim. But seriously, now -- why should it even matter? Would that be any worse than the kinds of "Christians" who help spread lies and gossip about him ; or some of the "Christians" who've previously occupied the White House? (If more "Christians" would read their Bibles, they'd know how strongly it condemns lying and gossiping.):
  http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/muslim.asp
  
  
• The 'racist' remarks, supposedly taken from his books, are quotes that have been taken out of context, reworded, or completely made up:
  http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/ownwords.asp
  

I could go on and on and on.... But here's a better idea: Go to Snopes.com, type Obama into the search field, and read the truth about most of the nonsense that's flying around about the man.

If you have to spread lies about someone to make them look bad, all you're proving is that they must not be quite as bad as you claim (or else you wouldn't have to make stuff up). You also prove that you are a liar -- without any credibility or integrity.

I can't decide if I should vote for McCain, just to counter the psychotic Liberal vote -- or Obama, just to counter the in-bred redneck vote.

Here's an idea: If you're one of those people that believes ANY of the bullshit being spread about ANY of the candidates -- don't vote. Seriously -- just...don't...vote. The worst thing for America is stupidity. And the kind of stupidity that believes and spreads the kind of crap going around about each of the candidates, is a stupidity that is so big there's not even a name for it yet. It truly boggles the mind, and breaks the heart.

And for all you 'Christians' that are believing and spreading lies (about any candidate) -- SHUT UP!!!! You need to spend a lot more time reading your Bibles, and a lot less time reading (and spreading) internet lies. Spreading lies about others is a sin. Gossip is a sin. Sin is bad. Remember: "the wages of sin is death", and all that?

As Christians, we are told not to repay evil with evil, but to repay evil with good ; to bless those that curse us ; to pray for our enemies (and neither candidate is our enemy, so praying for them should be easy).

Believe it or not, but Jesus even expects us to love those we disagree with politically. (What a jerk, huh?)

We are told to pray for our leaders (and remember: the 'leaders', when the New Testament was written, were pagans -- so, apparently, whether we like them or their religion doesn't matter). Sorry, I didn't make the rules. If you don't like them, then choose another religion -- or, perhaps your actions prove you already have.

If your world is going to be thrown into chaos, because of the outcome of any election, then your faith is sadly misplaced. If you truly believe that God is in control, then you won't be freaking out about who get's elected President. A Christian's faith and trust are to be focused completely on Jesus. If they're not, then you've got bigger problems than the possibility of a 'President Obama'.