Come, Let us Reason Together, Christian Right and Left

I received a mass e-mail today about the imminent doom of our country in the light of Obama's possible election. The tenor of the e-mail was essentially to dispel any Christian's doubt that God was in control and to embolden them to pray for John McCain and Sarah Palin during these last days, because it is not over yet and all true believers should not give up hope. The underlying implication of everything that was said in the e-mail is so typical of many of these e-mails I get, with fear being the overarching theme. I have spoken with several people during the past few days (and over the course of this entire election) and that is always the primary feature of their objections against Obama.

I was, of course, tempted to hit "Reply all" and ask them not to send me any more political e-mails, since they assumed we were like-minded, but I decided not to, because my thought is that it would only create an unneeded wall between me and them, which I do not need to occur, since I work with these individuals everyday. Besides all of this, I am really trying to be more patient with people, and God has convinced me lately of my need to be more of a peacemaker. I understand, also, that blogs are generally public, so at times what we write will be misunderstood, taken out of context, or hated by those with whom we disagree, and I do understand these to be understandable inevitabilities of the world in which we live.

Having said all of this, I want to say that I am not against anyone who wants to vote for McCain and Palin. In fact, I do understand why many would vote for these candidates out of a moral obligation and I honestly do respect that (since I have been on this side of the fence and have thought this way before and have been around many like this my whole life). There are many things about McCain that I do like, as I have said in other postings, such as his military service to this country and his position as a US senator. I even respect and support some of his ideas, such as his support of a balanced budget amendment and his support (in light of much "Christian" opposition) of many green and environmentally-friendly policies. Furthermore, I think there is much value in some of the Republican economic policies, because I do think that a free market generally speaking is a good thing (I say this generally, because I think corporate greed and labor hardships bear the necessity for government to guide or direct or intervene). I do agree with his voting positions against abortion, as well.

I say all of that to communicate that I am not speaking without hearing a matter, which I think would contradict my faith in Christ, but am fully aware of the policies of each candidate. I have not been brain-washed by a liberal media, since I am quite certain that there is a massive amount of conservative media out there, as well (check out Fox News, Lou Dobbs and several other shows of CNN, all of talk radio pretty much anywhere, internet sites and videos and propaganda, and church and Christian media if you doubt this). These decisions have come out of a need for our country to be what it was supposed to be- a free society of free thinkers who are not intimidated by doomsday fearmongers, but who live their lives in hope of a better tomorrow. I am a follower of Jesus Christ and I do believe that the Bible is God’s Word for us today and my family is trying to live the way of Christ. And we do have strong, religious beliefs that have not just been handed off to us without scrutiny or examination or thoughtfulness.

My point in this is to say that when I voted for Obama two days ago in the voting booth I voted based on who I thought was better for our country as a whole, and this thought and belief was not absolute, as one would believe in a fundamental teaching, but was very subjective. It was subjective to my thoughts and feelings and understanding and experiences and bias, just as others were voting based on theirs. In other words, I did the best I could with the information I had, and I prayed that God would sanctify what I did for His glory, and I really do believe He will…no matter who wins the election.

This, in essence, is my biggest frustration in this campaign: the failure of the Christian right to acknowledge any possibility of their being wrong and the promotion of their candidate as not just the best choice, but the only choice, and the direct assault on anyone who would think or vote otherwise. In the same vein as the Right I also feel like this election is important and the reasons I have for this are very close to what I feel is the heart of Christ. I could be wrong, but these are my beliefs, and I don’t think I should be demonized or attacked for those, but respected.

I know some will become frantic at this point and question the genuineness of what I am saying, and perhaps even question my faith, because their rationale can only be the right way of looking at things and of course God is on their side. With this I return to the e-mail I got earlier today, because in it were listed moral issues on which McCain and Palin are standing up for and they read like this: “abortion, homosexuality, etc”. I thought “wow” that etc looms really large, because these seem to be the two biggest issues to the Christian right, and they are so minuscule when you consider some of the other ones, such as: American soldiers fighting an endless and profligate war in Iraq, enemy detainees being tortured for the sake of information, innocent civilians being murdered in Afghanistan, poor Americans not being able to get basic health care, our national reputation being besmirched by a unilateral view of things, as opposed to a community mindset, and an incessant ignoring of the global warming crisis (which is now acknowledged internationally and nationally by a majority of scientists and is fully a biblical mandate from Genesis 2 to take care of the earth/garden).

My mention of these issues doesn’t mean that they are the only ones, but they do loom large on the horizon of the days ahead. Let me make two clarifying comments about the two issues mentioned above, however. I believe abortion is not God’s best or his plan and I believe that we should fight against it, as well as the environment that makes this decision easier. I don’t say this to excuse those who make the decision to abort any more than one’s suggestion to examine a city’s high crime rate makes way for justification of the criminals. When something goes awry, we should seek to understand why it happens, so that we can understand ways to fix it or at least reduce it. I do not believe the Republicans have done much in the way of helping the pro-life movement with regards to the number of abortions and I think that statistics accentuate this argument, and my vote reflects my belief that Obama will. I know many Christians disagree with this, and that is perfectly fine, but understand that I am aware of the issues and I have made this decision as a way (not THE ONLY way) to communicate my beliefs against abortion. Calling me stupid or even ignorant won’t accomplish what you are probably praying for: for me to see the light and for Christ to save me from my liberal mind-set.

Finally, I believe that marriage was ordained by God to be between a man and a woman. I also believe that ideally (I say ideally because I have not been true to this ideal myself) sex should be during and not before one gets married to their partner. Those who choose not to live under these two moral and Christian convictions I should still love and seek to connect to Jesus Christ. Passing a law to keep them adherent to my Christian belief doesn’t seem to be fully consistent with the whole separation of church and state concept although I am sure I could be incorrect in my assessment. I do, also, think that we should love our homosexual brothers and sisters and being in favor of their civil rights (such as insurance benefits and rights to visit one another in hospitals) is just exactly that- civil and humane and (I think) Christ-honoring. Why should this one area of morality be legislated, though, and not others? This, as well as many other issues, seems to miss the point of Christianity, which is not about a list of rules and regulations, but an interactive relationship with Christ in which we are inviting (not mandating) others to become a part of his rule.

I am sure that these words are not perfect and I am sure that my reasoning misses the point or even perhaps skews some of the bigger issues, but these thoughts are from someone who is trying to find the way of Christ in my own life, as well as my family’s life. Before someone sprints to conclusions, what I mean by that is that there is a sense in which Christ has rescued me from my sin and selfishness by his death and resurrection, but there is another sense in which I am continuing to be rescued from sin and selfishness and pride and a sense of having all the answers. The world in which we live is not only very difficult, but it is very complicated, and its problems complex. I wish that issues and problems we face were more cut and dry, but I don’t believe they are. My prayer is that what has been said and voted for, however, will be done not in fear for what some other candidate will or won’t do, but for hope that this is our Father’s world and He is sovereign in its affairs, as his work in King Cyrus and King Nebuchadnezzar bears out. And if Obama is the Anti-Christ (I have to laugh here), then most right-wing Christians should be glad, because they allegedly won’t be here to deal with all of his devastation, but will be raptured away to heaven. If so, then please pray for me that I will not take the mark of the beast. But, in the meantime, make sure we are fulfilling 1Timothy 2 in praying for our president and leaders no matter who they are. My name is Jason Grizzard and I approved this message.