Tuesday, November 4, 2008

The true victim of the 2008 election

As I write this the polls are just beginning to close and we are seeing problems all over with intimidation tactics and such. There is no doubt this will go down in history as the nastiest election ever. The greatest victim, however, will not be one race who will feel cheated by another...the greatest victim in this election is the title of "Christian".

I am not being overly dramatic when I state it will take years before the title of "Christian" holds any weight with anyone anymore. People who are pastors have openly supported a man who has made it plainly clear one of his first acts as president will be to sign into law a bill that will allow late term abortions, abortions without parental consent (or notification), and the cessation of any attempts to save a baby born alive during an abortion. He has openly supported gay marriage. He has mocked the message of the Bible and the Sermon on the Mount in particular. He is ranked the most liberal senator today. And yet people who scream that they love Jesus totally ignore all this and vote for him simply because of his race. Who cares what he stands for...just get that man in office. By the way, everything I just mentioned here is available on the internet as video clips. I have seen them all, and am not going by second-hand information.

So now "Christian" leaders who have come forward to support this man have forever tarnished the title. How can they get up on Sunday and preach against abortion when they have shown their love for someone who condones and encourages it? How can they preach that homosexuality is a sin when the openly support a man who has no problems with it? It's simple: they cannot.

I am not against a black man taking office as the President. What I am against, however, is how the message of Martin Luther King's famous speech has forever been that a man would be judged by his character, and not by the color of his skin...and yet that message that was so reverently pointed to as "inspiring" up until this point has now been changed to "outdated", or worse "unnecessary" or "misunderstood".

I am a Christian, and I voted as such. Unfortunately, I know that the Christian witness of everyone has taken a massive blow by this election. You cannot claim to love Christ, and yet fully support a man who could not be more against the teachings and beliefs of Jesus.

"Oh, but McCain was worse!" you might say. Fine, if you feel that way then just don't vote either way! It's better not to vote at all then to cast your vote and choose a man over your Christian walk. Your actions have spoken louder than any sermon ever could: I choose this man over the teachings of my Savior, Jesus Christ.

No matter who wins this election, we have seen the true color of many who call themselves "Christian". We have seen what is the most important thing in their heart, and it was not Jesus. We have seen "pastors" who have stained their name and reputation for years to come just for the sake of popularity. Who cares about what color any candidate is? This should have been a shining moment for Christians everywhere to prove that Christ is more important than anything else. Instead, we have seen our Savior kicked to the curb by the very people who professed love for Him. It's not the first time it happened, but it's a shame it had to happen again.

So what happens now? If Obama wins, he will serve 4 years and that's all. Why? Simply because folks will be forced to look beyond the pretty image and see there is no substance. Credibility will be lost, hurt feelings will increase, and we will have done nothing to create the racial harmony so many people preached as the inevitable outcome of this election.

We have taken the name of Jesus and thrown it aside for today. Oh, folks will be praising Jesus for the victory, but their heart has already spoken the truth of the way they actually feel about Him. Theirs is a "convenient Christianity". Those who have constantly barraged evangelists and pastors who fell into sin through adulterous relationships or otherwise have shown themselves just as guilty of prostituting the name "Christian" as those fallen preachers ever did.

It hurts to know how much we have tarnished the Christian name for the rest of the world in just one day. May God have mercy on our nation, and on every one of us.

I am not usually one given to rambling, but it hurts to see in one day that there aren't as many Christians in the U.S. as we were led to believe.

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