Musings

I Put “Obama” In My Title, so Chances Are You WILL Read I

*Sigh*. I swear, other than hot kenkey, I don’t think there is one other person who incites as visceral a reaction in people than the mere allusion to or mention of President Obama.

I sent this tweet this morning, not really expecting anybody to read, let alone respond to it. I said:

Poor God. He has nothing to do with this election. 1 of the candidates is in a cult and the other betrayed any Christian values he may have ever professed. Why are people praying for either of these clowns as if God is backing one heathen over the other?

But someone did respond, and the more I think about it, the more I’m confused about why she’d care about God and politics. She’s not a particularly religious person – not religious in the least, in fact. Why should she be concerned about this candidate and his alleged eschewing of his Christian values, I wonder? It should rather make her happy! Since she DM’d me on Twitter with her question, it stands to reason that she probably doesn’t want her identity revealed. I’ll just she’s a dear/best/awesome friend who is the ying to my yang.

How did Obama betray any Christian values he may have? she asked.

Ah. When did I mention Obama’s name in my tweet? That’s right; I didn’t. But she knew instinctively who I was talking about because as I said before, she’s my closest friend.

I was going to respond by throwing back a short list of “conservative” answers in 140 characters or less, but that would cheapen the content of what is to me a very serious conversation. That is: what role does God play in our elections, if any?

Before I carry on, let me state the obvious. I am not God Almighty, and don’t let anyone convince you of anything else! The Almighty is the only one who has the ability to judge a person’s heart. We mere mortals can only judge their actions. That being said, I can carry on into what led me to send the tweet.

Everyone is talking about this election. From former professors posting links and articles on their social media feeds to customers walking into my store, it’s almost all I ever hear about. More than fifty times, I’ve heard the following phrase or something close to it.

Oh God! Let Obama win this election! I’m praying for him to win this election!

Most of these people are Democrats, of course.

But why? Why are you expending useful energy praying to a deity who was removed from the platform at the DNC and whom the president and his VP have said that although they hold strong personal beliefs, that would never let those beliefs guide the policies and measures they would put in place for this nation? What kraaa does God have to do with any of this?

This is my stance as a Christian: either the Bible is completely false, or it is completely true. We can’t have it both ways. Either God was confused when Leviticus 18:22  (http://bible.cc/leviticus/18-22.htm) was written, or He was very clear. Homosexuality is an abomination. It’s either cool for us to kill our sons and daughters – according to the word of God – or it’s not. It’s worth reading the whole thing, but Psalms 106 says in part:

They worshiped their idols,
which led to their downfall.
 They even sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to the demons.
 They shed innocent blood,
the blood of their sons and daughters.
By sacrificing them to the idols of Canaan,
they polluted the land with murder.
 They defiled themselves by their evil deeds,
and their love of idols was adultery in the Lord’s sight.

It seems pretty clear to me that God has a problem with the shedding of innocent blood. But that’s just me.

I have a general sense about how the God of the Bible must feel about America, or any nation that professes to be “one under” Him, and I imagine that would be disgusted. Have you ever dealt with someone who just wouldn’t make up their friggin’ mind? I mean about ANYTHING? How frustrated were you? We don’t even like it when people take too long at the cashier’s counter in a store. They should have decided definitively what they wanted before they inconvenienced the rest of us! America is a nation caught between two or more opinions about God’s place in our society. How is that honoring the One whom we claim to be author and finisher of our faith? Let’s pull God off the shelf when we need a miracle during a hurricane, but by no means should His word ever be consulted when we need guidance on how to rule and conduct ourselves.

My problem with people invoking God where Barack Obama is concerned is that judging from his actions, policies and voting patterns, he appears to be a man caught between two opinions. He practices what my husband calls “casual Christianity”. On one hand he wants to empower women to murder their children in the womb, which is contrary to the heart of God. That doesn’t matter. But almost within the same breath, he invokes the spirit of God by saying it’s our Christian duty to care for the less fortunate, i.e. meaning we should all pay more in taxes to support government programs. When therefore are Christians supposed to pick their crosses and do the will of the Father? When the president and the government say it’s expedient to do so? Indeed:

This is what the LORD says: “Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the LORD.  – Jeremiah 17:5

Is there ANY greater trust in the strength of men than to live a life so wholly dependent on the public dole? Yet a certain party wants to extend welfare programs instead of empowering those at the very bottom with education and ingenuity, no matter how much lip service they pay to the contrary. There are millions of dollars made every year by keeping people in ignorance and poverty.

My friend said she had no interest in Mitt Romney, but I’ll still go ahead to add that Mormonism is a creepy cult. Its roots are racist and some really shady practices (like necrophilia) are included in their dogma. Why again would I pray to my God to raise up a man with this belief system to rule over me and my family? Sounds crazy doesn’t it? Why again should I pray for God to raise another who is just as spiritually shady to do the same?

People say this election is about choosing the lesser of two evils. Personally, I don’t want evil leading me. Period.

I guess my point is, no matter who wins, these two men are not men convicted by the Holy Spirit. They are motivated by the whims of interest groups and big business. Don’t deceive yourself, dear Christian. No matter who you vote(d) for, he was not God’s elect. He is Saul 4.0.