Obama 08!

Ok, first let me admit that I am a total skeptic when it comes to our elected officials. I have a hard time believing that it really matters just who gets elected--nothing is really going to change, and unless you are a billion-dollar corporation, politicians don't give a hoot what you think or what you care about. But for some reason, this election season has changed my mind. For some strange reason I am feeling very positive about the potential for change and a new direction for America. I do like Hillary Clinton for reasons I can not exactly pinpoint. But I like Barack Obama a whole lot and I am throwing my hopes for the future behind him.

(A collective gasp rises from the ranks of the Evangelicals)

I know, I know, I'm a Christian. I'm supposed to vote for one of the underwhelming Republican candidates, right? Because for all we've been told, Jesus would be a Republican, right? If we elect a Democrat, what might he do? Make abortion legal? (Oh,wait, it already is) Give gays the right to marry ?(Because we Christians certainly have marriage all figured out) Legalize stem-cell research? (And give hope to all those suffering from a variety of incurable diseases, how awful!) I mean, what sort of terrible things will befall this "Christian" nation if a Democrat is President?

Well, first of all, I refuse to accept the long-standing view that we are a Christian nation. Anyone who has studied, really studied, American history knows that our Founding Fathers were not fundamentalist evangelicals. They were marginally Christian, mainly because they weren't Jewish or Muslim or anything else. And I'd say this is true for most people in America who call themselves "Christian" today--they don't necessarily have a "born again", personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I lived 15 years of my life calling myself a Christian because, well, I wasn't an atheist and I wasn't anything else and I went to a Christian church, but it didn't really impact who I was up to that point. But America is not Christian, I mean we are not a theocracy and we wouldn't want to be! Has anyone read stories of how the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, or other theocratic governments? Do we want people making laws about how short our skirts should be, or what we can read or what music we can listen to?

If this is the case, if America is not truly a "Christian" nation, then how do we Evangelical, born again Christians think we can impose our moral views on people who are not Christians, who do not believe the things we believe about God? Do I believe abortion is wrong? Yes. I would not have one, and I would encourage people I know and love to pursue other options. But do I believe that I can force a woman who does not believe in the Bible, who does not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, to also believe that abortion is wrong? That is just not possible! But if I am really serious about my relationship with Christ, and really serious about seeing his work done in the world, then instead of just politically pursuing anti-abortion legislature, I will sit down with that woman and pray for her and with her and try to get her to pursue other options. Not by waving a bloody fetus in her face, not by telling her she's going to hell for having an abortion, not by only voting for a Republican.

And gay marriage--do I believe homosexuality is sinful? Absolutely, and I believe that churches who downplay the Bible's classification of it as "an abomination" are delusional. But what about the 50% of Christian marriages that end in divorce? What about the abuse, the adultery, the lying and hating that goes on in so-called "Christian" marriages? Isn't that an abomination as well? Is that what God had in mind when He instituted marriage? Is that what the Republicans are trying to protect? Do I think this means gays should be allowed to marry? I don't know, but until we as Christians get our own acts together and get off our moral high horse, we should just shut up. "Oh, oops, hey sorry, I can't see so well--oof--see, I've got this big old-ow!-stick in my eye. Oh, hey, is that a speck in yours? Hey, let me get that for you!"

The whole stem cell thing is baffling to me except that it comes from the anti-abortion thing, but are you telling me that an undeveloped embryo is more valuable in the sight of God than an individual (and their family) suffering from an incurable illness? This line of thinking just seems backwards to me.

SO--I am bucking the trend (and hopefully lots of other Christians are too) and voting Democrat this year. And I am pulling for Barack Obama. Say he's inexperienced, say he's naive (say you won't vote for him because he's black and you're just ignorant) but tell me he doesn't offer a breath of fresh air from the implosion we've had in America the last 8 years. For the first time I really care about what happens in the caucuses, the primaries. For the first time I actually care who I will vote for, instead of just saying "oh, whoever, it doesn't matter". For the first time I feel a sense of hope (and no, I haven't even read his book) when I listen to him, read about him, hear his words. Maybe I'm wrong and he'll be an unqualified disaster. But this is AMERICA people! There are checks and balances, Congress, millions of rational, intelligent citizens and we're not about to just let this country get run into the ground. I feel ready to put a sticker on my car, wear a t-shirt, join up something to support him, which is just crazy because before I could've cared less. I hope that means that others like me are caring too, whether they vote for Obama or McCain or Hillary or whoever--I am praying (yes, praying!) that this election will really MEAN something, and that CHANGE, that word that is being thrown around like crazy, will actually come. And hopefully, some of that change will come in the form of Christians starting to care about things other than abortion and gay marriage. That we will care about the poor, about those who have no health insurance, about good relations with other countries, (as opposed to bombing them into submission). And that we will realize that no one was ever saved by having someone wave pictures of aborted fetuses in their face, or hearing someone screaming "God hates fags!" at them. Is that really how we want to be known, to be remembered? Is that really what Jesus would've done? Jesus was so a-political! And yet we want to make him the poster child for Republican America.

So go Obama! Let's see if we can turn this ship around and head in a different, in a better direction. Then let's see what God can do with us and through us as Americans. We have so much at our disposal, so many blessings, and a great responsibility, not just as Christians but as Americans. We need a leader who can help us live up to those things. And I think that person is Barack Obama.

Grace and peace to all, Republican, Democrat or other!