As I was browsing my friend's facebook statuses after the election I was not surprised to find a number of disappointed McCain supporters. Whoever won the election would leave the other side disappointed...perhaps even a little bitter. This is true of all elections.However, I was particularily struck by the doom and gloom nature permeating through their status updates. End of the world kind of hyperbole was everywhere. I remember these same people bemoaning the defeat of Bush to Clinton in 1992 and yet the world did not end in the 1990's. Again, I guess this kind of hyperbole is to be expected in the emotional aftermath of an election.
I did find one sentiment backwards, ignorant and offensive...all from someone I consider very intelligent and gifted. They implied that Obama's victory was a sign of God's judgement on a sinful America. This friend was trying to be positive by saying that we should always accept God's judgement even if it's not easy to take.
But I'm offended by their implication that those who voted for Obama, including myself, were unknowingly bringing down God's harsh judgement on America. That I and the majority of the nation were too stupid to realize what we were setting in motion by voting for Obama. I am sick and tired of my fellow Evangelical Christians saying that the Republican party is the only party for followers of Christ. The only two issues that matter to many of them in their narrow vision is abortion and gay marriage. Christ's vision is much more comprehensive than just those two important issues.
How many times must it be said..."GOD IS NOT A REPUBLICAN...OR A DEMOCRAT!"
I believe Christ is also concerned about a consistent ethic of life (which includes both the evils of abortion AND capital punishment). I believe Christ would care about our stewardship of his creation. I believe that Christ would be greatly concerned about our treatment of the impoverished, hungry, widows and orphans. Narrowing the Christian political focus to abortion and gay marriage limits the vision of Christ.
What kind of faith do we have in God if we preach such doom and gloom every time one of our candidates loses an election. The early Christian apostles lived under Nero for crying out loud...and the faith spread like wildfire!
Number one: McCain's biography is no more "Christian" than Obama's. He only reached out to evangelicals to win the election.
Number two: McCain and Obama actually agreed in the debates that they did not want to change the definition of marriage. Both stated their agreement with George W. Bush on the importance of civil unions for gay couples.
Number three: McCain said in the debates he would not use abortion as a litmus test for selecting a supreme court justice. He has stated that although he was pro-life he would not actively seek to overturn Roe v. Wade. So how does this make him more acceptable to pro-lifers? Was he acceptable just because he "said" he was pro-life? How blindly foolish is that? Obama said he wanted to see a world that didn't need abortions and actually favored banning partial-birth abortions. He may not be pro-life...but at least he is against abortion is some cases. And abortion is already legal in this country...for eight years we have had a pro-life president and the most conservative court in a generation...and yet Roe v. Wade was not overturned.
But those points are secondary to the lack of trust many Christians place in God. There are good Christian Democrats and athiestic Republicans. This election proves it's high time that evangelicals break free from their slavish and dogmatic loyalty to the G.O.P., widen their vision of Christian justice and focus their faith in Christ and NOT on the government of the United States.
