How many of you really get it? Would Jesus be? Liberal or conservative? The Good News Commentary team put up a pretty good video exploring this question. Check out “Liberal, Conservative or Christian?” below.
Well, it has been over 100 days, and the news media is still evaluating (or more likely regurgitating) events since the Inauguration. Will President Obama be judged a spectacular success or spectacular failure?
Chuck Todd of MSNBC asks just that question in “Obama to be spectacular success — or failure?” He says:
Sure, I could nitpick and make the case that whenever he’s been presented with a tough decision, Obama’s gone out of his way to find a middle ground — even if there wasn’t one.
…We don’t yet know when the president will draw a line in the sand, politically.
The Telegraph has been even less kind to the President. Paul Mason on 26 April wrote an article headlined “Barack Obama’s audacity of hype crumbles”. Mason uses the city of Gary, IN as a prime example of what the US needs from its leaders.
We all know that Barack Obama was the most liberal senator when he was still in Congress. Yet, we are beginning to see signs that perhaps in the area of human rights he is no better than his predecessor.
The Telegraph on 24 April 2009 writes that the “Barack Obama administration seeks to change police questioning law”. In 1986, Michigan vs Jackson gave the ruling that police may not interview a suspect without a lawyer present once one is asked for. Now, it appears that the administration views the 6th Amendment as being applicable once it goes to trial. Conservative or liberal, our civil rights in the US keep getting trampled upon.
I applauded the shutting down of Gitmo, but Todd wrote in his piece cited above that the closing of Gitmo doesn’t necessarily mean freedom or trial for all detainees. On top of that, Mr Obama recently practically washed his hands of the issue on the use of torture.
I don’t understand “Christians” who advocate torture. Even while writing this, what comes across my desk? The Washington Post puts out an article by Brad Hirschfield, in the “On Faith” section no less, that “Torture is Wrong, Until It Saves a Life”. He writes:
It’s easy to say that torture is wrong and that whatever tradition we hold dear forbids it. I wish it were that simple. Imagine for a moment that you knew the life of someone you loved; your child for example, would be saved by information extracted by torture. Are you really certain that you might not suddenly find some justification which allowed it “just this once”? Anyone answering “no” too quickly is either kidding themselves or doesn’t know the meaning of loving someone close to themselves.
This is an “ends justifies the means” argument, and it is about as morally shallow as it gets. Would the temptation to change your mind be there? Sure! I will readily admit that. However, the Christian walk is about not giving in to temptation, not about satisfying it! Instead of decrying the “endless moralizing”, Christians should be presenting God’s perspective.
The fact that either Presidents Bush or Obama could in any way sanction illegal torture makes me question their “Christianity”.
Politics creates some unusual power grabbing actions. Senator Specter of Pennsylvania decided he is now a Democrat. I have to admit that I’d be hopping mad if I were a Republican in Pennsylvania.
What is happening to the Republican party? The “new” faces of the party seem very anti-Republican. Take Meghan McCain. According to another Telegraph article “Meghan McCain tells Republicans Karl Rove and Dick Cheney to ‘go away’”, she is “portraying herself as a new and modernising face for the Republicans, offering support for issues such as gay marriage, and is writing a book outlining her views about the party’s future.”
OK, so why am I getting so long-winded about this? Well, do you get it yet?
From time to time, I see opinions by those in the Church of God who want to participate in politics. I don’t mean they want to express an opinion, but they want to vote, campaign, etc. This is not God’s world. Satan is the god of this age. This world is his world, and the politics of the world are his politics.
We need to come out of this world – and stay out of it.