Politicians are not simply air-bags, as some might suggest. Rather, they can be subtle deceivers. Spiritual truth, these days, is a rare thing when it comes from a politician.
Take for instance, Barak Obama (D – IL), who is considered by many to be a strong candidate for the presidency in 2008. On June 28th at a meeting of the Call To Renewal Conference named “Building a Covenant for a New America,” Obama, “trying to sort through some of the ‘bitter arguments’ about religion in America today,” called on evangelicals to “water down their views to fit in better with the rest of society.”[1] In The Pathway, Obama is quoted as having said the following – and note the subtlety and deception –
“Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific values.
“It requires that their proposals be subject to argument, and amenable to reason. I may be opposed to abortion for religious reasons, but if I seek to pass a law banning the practice, I cannot simply point to the teachings of my church or evoke God’s will. I have to explain why abortion violates some principle that is accessible to people of all faiths, including those with no faith at all.
“Now this is going to be difficult for some who believe in the inerrancy of the Bible, as many evangelicals do. But in a pluralistic democracy we have no choice.”
R. Albert Mohler, Jr., president of Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Ky., said about this statement, “This is secularism with a smile – offered in the form of an invitation for believers to show up, but then only to be allowed to make arguments that are not based in their deepest beliefs.” He’s right, of course.
To all that I would like to ask Obama – “What makes you think we have no choice?” I certainly CAN evoke God’s will. As a believer, I am supposed to do so. The problem with Obama’s position is that he thinks our secular society is more a force to reckon with than the Living God of Heaven.
To Obama and other politicians, God is a private genie, and God’s ways are not society’s ways – and society ought not to submit to God’s ways. Individuals may accept God’s ways, but a nation must not – it would be unconstitutional in America. NON-SENSE. America must give account to God as certainly as any other nation or individual. Our pluralism is the result of the deception of our politicians – and they subtly push it as that which is greater even than God!
Take for instance, Barak Obama (D – IL), who is considered by many to be a strong candidate for the presidency in 2008. On June 28th at a meeting of the Call To Renewal Conference named “Building a Covenant for a New America,” Obama, “trying to sort through some of the ‘bitter arguments’ about religion in America today,” called on evangelicals to “water down their views to fit in better with the rest of society.”[1] In The Pathway, Obama is quoted as having said the following – and note the subtlety and deception –
“Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific values.
“It requires that their proposals be subject to argument, and amenable to reason. I may be opposed to abortion for religious reasons, but if I seek to pass a law banning the practice, I cannot simply point to the teachings of my church or evoke God’s will. I have to explain why abortion violates some principle that is accessible to people of all faiths, including those with no faith at all.
“Now this is going to be difficult for some who believe in the inerrancy of the Bible, as many evangelicals do. But in a pluralistic democracy we have no choice.”
R. Albert Mohler, Jr., president of Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Ky., said about this statement, “This is secularism with a smile – offered in the form of an invitation for believers to show up, but then only to be allowed to make arguments that are not based in their deepest beliefs.” He’s right, of course.
To all that I would like to ask Obama – “What makes you think we have no choice?” I certainly CAN evoke God’s will. As a believer, I am supposed to do so. The problem with Obama’s position is that he thinks our secular society is more a force to reckon with than the Living God of Heaven.
To Obama and other politicians, God is a private genie, and God’s ways are not society’s ways – and society ought not to submit to God’s ways. Individuals may accept God’s ways, but a nation must not – it would be unconstitutional in America. NON-SENSE. America must give account to God as certainly as any other nation or individual. Our pluralism is the result of the deception of our politicians – and they subtly push it as that which is greater even than God!
[1] The Pathway, July 18, 2006 (Jefferson City: Missouri Baptist Convention), p. 16.
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Pastor Greg