Political Vomit for the Blogosphere

Alright, this is my own personal political vomit for the blogosphere. Here’s my thesis statement:

“Christians want to force others to follow God’s policies, but in reality, we don’t want to follow them either.”

There was an article posted on WorldNetDaily.com that is now circulating the Christian weblogs as a rally cry for the political evangelical. Take the time to read the article so you can properly follow along and draw your own conclusions. When you get back, we’ll take a look at the problems the church has with our country and politics. Then I’ll hypothesize why it’s all our fault in the first place.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=77557#

I’d like to discuss the inevitabilities that this article touches on: death and taxes.

Our fixed inevitability: death.

Given what I’ve seen from the church, the only thing that decides who is capable of running a country is their opinion on abortion (and homosexuality, but that’s a different pile of vomit). I had a conversation with an abortion voter who told me, “When I die, I will stand alone before God and explain why I voted for who I did. I cannot in good conscience vote against the innocent lives of babies.” That is fine. I’m not going to tell you what your convictions should be. I applaud you for actually having some and sticking to them. I’m only curious if you think God will ask you to answer for the harm that elected official also caused in other arenas.

The issue of abortion is often boiled down in concept so that everyone can pick either the home or away team. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. I’m not talking about situational cases like rape, mortal danger to the mother, or retardation, that’s out of my pay-grade. Choosing to address the legality of abortion is a band-aid for a gaping wound, yet here we are, debating what type of useless band-aid to use. Rather than concern ourselves with the wound, we should first remove the knife (or attacker) and only once it’s dealt with can we properly heal the wound.

Who thought up abortion? Why do Americans think there is a need for abortion? The answer to these and other questions is as complicated as the solution to stopping genocidic abortion. Before abortion was legalized, married men used coat hangers and second-hand knowledge on their mistresses in an attempt to hide the evidence of their sins from their wives. When something, inevitably, went wrong, they panicked and left the helpless woman to bleed out on a $12 tarp in a $40 motel room. Alone, with her lifeblood gushing out from between her legs, she was resigned to her death unknowing of a better option. So far as she knew, no one could help her because no one loved her enough. Who is going to answer to God for those two deaths?

I am. You are. The Bridegroom of Christ is, but not because we didn’t do anything about the act specifically. Were I living out Jesus’ command to love people as he does, we certainly wouldn’t have this problem. So next time you are standing outside the abortion clinic, I hope your sign reads, “I will care for you and your baby in my home,” or “Let me know how I can help,” or “I will adopt your baby”. If it doesn’t, you aren’t helping, you’re just adding to the noise.

*Intermission*

Here’s the message I’m getting from the political evangelical sect. “Do not vote for Obama because if you do, life as we know it will cease to exist.”

…wow.

Anyone still wonder how everyone got the idea that Christians suck because we’re just trying to scare everyone into thinking (or voting) the way we do? On one hand, I think it’s great that our modern Body of Christ still hears so clearly through the Holy Spirit that we managed to receive the TPS memo that things would spiral out of God’s control if Obama gets elected….

On the other hand, it bothers me more than a little that a half-black man could so easily wrest control from my creator. If that’s the case, why do I even bother to worship him anymore? We should switch to the more powerful and worship Obama! …except that he isn’t more powerful, so I won’t….and if Obama isn’t more powerful then I’m not worried about life as we know it ceasing to exist.

I took quite a lot of liberty with my interpretation, but I don’t feel guilty. I think the author should be ashamed of their propaganda. The Nazi’s used fear to control the people and turn them against the Jews and Blacks too. That was less than 100 years ago. We haven’t come very far since then apparently…

In reality, the statement was in relation to taxes.

Our fluctuating inevitability, taxes.

Barack Obama wants to increase taxes in order to provide better care and circumstances for people who are unable to provide for themselves. Lots of people are very unhappy about this because they think the government taking their money and giving it to people who they feel don’t deserve it isn’t right. This is the “end of life as we know it” they were referring to.

The basis of our free enterprise system is the fact that if you work hard, you can improve your circumstances and provide a better life for yourself and your family. If you are not a Christian and you’re pissed about the government giving your hard earned money away, you are absolutely right. However, if you profess to love Jesus and desire to be like him, getting upset about being taxed to pay the poor is not a Godly attitude, nor Biblically justified by verses traditionally taken out of context in defense of pocketbooks.

Cries of “socialism” are running rampant through the land, a fact that I find very humorous given the recent actions of our intercessory-prayer-appointed president. The “economic stimulus act” and “bail out bill” are pulled right from the manifestos of Karl Marx. Our republican government has just spent $250,000,000,000.00 to purchase the stock of privately owned banking organizations. This was on the heels of a $700,000,000,000.00 package for individual households. Sounds like “one large step for mankind” in the direction of a socialist nation-state to me. Tell me why we’re crying “socialism” at forced giving money to the poor but not forced giving money to the rich?

In Summation

There are only two tasks Jesus gave us. Love God as hard as we can (everyone on the planet too), and care for the widows and orphans (which in Bible-speak means poor and needy). It’s kind of a funny logic circle because if you’re doing number one really well, shouldn’t number two happen naturally? The American body part of Jesus hasn’t really been keeping up their end of the deal with that covenant. Fortunately, Jesus has his Indian, Sudanese, and Chinese bodies working double overtime to compensate.

As Christians, it isn’t our job to decide which poor people we help. We aren’t told to help the poor people who can’t help being poor. We aren’t told to help the poor people who are poor for reasons outside of their power. If they ask for help, you give it. The oft- quoted verse is 2 Thessalonians 3:10, “Even while we were with you, we gave you this command: ‘Those unwilling to work will not get to eat.'” It’s a wonderful verse that I whole heartedly agree with. Especially when I realize what Paul is talking about. Not ALL mankind, just lazy Christians. In verse six the topic is started with, “And now dear brothers and sisters, we give you this command in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Stay away from all believers [the original Greek reads ‘from ever brother’] who live idle lives and don’t follow the tradition they received from us.” Ah! Christians shouldn’t be on welfare, but that has nothing to do with caring and loving on non-believers. Why are we so confused?

Ah yes…the pocketbook twisted my logic again…

A house divided against itself cannot stand. The problem really isn’t that Christians are against abortion, we should be. The problem isn’t that Christians shouldn’t want to be forced to take care of poor people, we shouldn’t have to be. We should be caring for the people who “need” abortions and loving them in the way Christ would. We should be caring for the poor ourselves so the government doesn’t have to. These things are not the presidents job because, frankly, there are other things he should be concerned with. That this is even on his radar is a testament to what a poor job we are doing as Christians. They are the church’s responsibility. The government only stepped in when the ball got dropped so hard for so long that they had to.

We need to take it back!

So, brothers and sisters, we need to stop trying to force legislation that forces others to follow God’s principles on abortion and we need to stop needing to be forced to take care of the poor and underprivileged. There’s nothing to be upset at except our own lack of faith in action.

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What follows are thoughts I had whilst pounding out this article. I wasn’t able to logically work them in but didn’t want you to miss out on them either. Most of them are fragmented ideas and concepts because I didn’t take time to explore them and solidify my thoughts. Please treat them as such. Enjoy.

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I’m not saying I’m voting for Barack Obama, but I’m not saying I’m voting for John McCain either. If our founding fathers saw we have to choose from, they would start a new country and a new revolution. My ideals don’t mesh with either candidate.

Fortunately, performing my duties as a Christian has absolutely nothing to do with who is running the country. I can show everyone that I come into contact with exactly what my God looks like regardless of my nations political climate.

My innards are frequently conflicted between my upbringing in a pentecostal church, my experience as a Scout/Sniper in combat, and the Holy Spirit quietly tugging at my conscience in a way separate from the other two.

Perhaps I’ll do what every good pirate does and vote for myself! Or I’ll do what every good ninja does and wait for the pivotal moment to strike and actually make a difference with a decision and act. Most likely, I’ll do what I do best and not decide until I’m on my knees in the booth begging for God to help me make a decision…at which point he will and I’ll leave the booth with ballot unused.

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By the way, Chuck Norris is a Monday columnist for WorldNetDaily.com…They maintain a very eclectic rotating list of columnists. Some whom I deeply respect, and others not so much. http://worldnetdaily.com/WND%20Columnists

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I am commanded by my savior to love everyone just as he loves them; to view them through the eyes of Christ. Does Jesus love Barack Obama? Only as much as he loves Ellen DeGeneres…

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Speaking of life “as we know it”, it’s pretty much a state of suck anyway. What’s wrong with changing it? There is a whole sect of Christians that have locked themselves in the prayer closet to pray for the state of our country. They are an impressive spiritual body to reckon with and believe they will accomplish amazing things with their efforts. I am only hoping they are praying for God’s will to happen and not for what they think is God’s will to happen.

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Case in point, Mr. George W. Bush. There was a little reminiscing thrown into the article. If you missed it, look for the part that mentions where they prayed Mr. Bush into office. After balking at the realization people still think he was a good president, I further realized this situation we’re in now politically and economically is our (the Bride of Christ) fault.

I don’t pretend to be a wise and educated person when it comes to warfare and politics on the macro level. I realize there are more than two sides of the fence when we look at the Iraq war. Personally, I choose not to have a side. I’ve been to combat and seen the elephant and my thoughts on the benefits of Iraq are book in itself. Suffice it to say, I believe God has been able to work some good out of a situation he didn’t want to happen.

Before Mr. Bush was prayed into office, twice, there was a system called “Checks and Balances”. This political system was erected by our founding fathers to ensure that the country remains in the control of it’s people, the citizens. However, as the caliber of it’s citizens has begun to degrade, so has the effectiveness of our “Check and Balances” style system.

Who’s fault is it that American’s suck? Why, it’s my fault! It’s your fault. It’s the fault of Christians. Our church needs to start being missionaries in our every day lives so that the quality of our citizens can improve. We are called to be a royal priesthood for our God. People look to priests and religious leaders of every religion as a window to what the God of that religion looks like. Show people what your God looks like!

…by the way, passively handing them a tract doesn’t count and is a flaccid gesture.

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Links to whatever: click at your own risk.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_the_United_States

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerri_Santoro

http://mattschiefelbein.blogspot.com/2007/11/welfare-reward-for-nothing.html

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/About%20WND

http://jacobsonhoppers.blogspot.com/

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Oh yeah, I’d like to thank both sets of my parents who labor tirelessly for the underpriviledged without letting their own underpriviledged status be an excuse! May you continue to inspire us all.