Christians for Obama

I was cruising my Facebook page the other day and I came across something that I found troubling, at least to me. I noticed that someone that I know of and have respected from a distance has decided that they are supporting Barack Obama for president.

I know what you are probably thinking, come on Todd, all you ever do is talk about politics, can't you just give it a rest. I am feeling that way myself! I want to start to think about other things too.

I wish I could just forget about this...but for me, there is too much at stake in this election. When I see someone, who at least in my mind, should know the seriousness of what is on the line in this election, out there for Obama, I just have to ask why that is.

I don't want to pick any fights, I don't want to judge if anyone is a real authentic Christian or not...there have been times in my life where I did not feel very authentic myself. I have done enough judging and been judged enough..that I don’t want this to come across that way.

I am just trying to understand. I want to hear the other side. I am not so set in my ways that I can't listen and consider what other people have to say. Maybe I can learn something. I sure don’t have all the answers, just ask anyone close to me.

First, my perspective. To me, in order to support Obama, and cast your vote for him, you really have to leave the faith you claim at the door of the voting booth. Unless my understanding of being a follower of Christ is completely wrong, in which case, I have some real problems myself that I need to iron out.

It just can’t be for no reason, that people out there, people that we can be pretty sure don’t share our Christian faith, support Obama. The Larry Flynt’s, the Bill Maher’s, the Hugh Hefner’s of the world, they all are endorsing Barack Obama. Does that not speak volumes to you..it sure does to me.

Never in my life have I seen the lines been drawn so clearly between two candidates. The question of life and the issue of abortion are very important to me. I know I have brought this up before, in detail, and yes, I am unusually focused on this issue. Please indulge me further.

There is one candidate who believes that the question of when life begins says it’s above his pay grade, meaning he does not know or does not want to think about it. There is another candidate who stated without a moment’s hesitation that life begins at the very moment of conception.

Let’s also get one presupposition on the table right now. (A presupposition is the beginning point for someone’s worldview). If you don’t believe in God, Jesus Christ or have a Biblical worldview, your presuppositions are different from mine. If you are an atheist or a Buddhist or anything else, we are using two totally different measuring devices and we cannot come to any sort of understanding. In that case, we probably should just agree to disagree.

My presupposition or starting point is my belief in the Biblical God and his son Jesus Christ. My definition of a true authentic Christian is someone who trusts in the Lord Jesus as his savior, understands that without a personal relationship with him, he or she will not reach our ultimate goal, life with him in Heaven. There is no middle ground here, no substitutions and no compromise to my worldview. So if you don't believe these two things, you can stop reading because we can never agree on a starting point.

If you do believe these two things, than you also should believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God. It was given to us as a guidebook to God's thoughts and feelings and requirements for our lives. If you don't believe that the Bible is inspired and completely and without question 100 percent true and accurate, you can also stop reading now.

However, if you believe all three of these things, our presuppositions on God and faith in Jesus Christ are probably, basically the same.

Now if our worldviews are basically the same, and we are starting from the same point, but you are supporting Barack Obama, I am talking to you I suppose. After saying that you believe these three basic truths, please, please explain to me how this is possible. I really want to know..because if I am missing something, I need to understand, I want to understand.

To me, the single most telling sign of a person’s worldview is his or her stance on abortion. I am not a one issue voter; there are many other things that concern me as well, gun control, taxes, and foreign policy. All these things however are secondary to me, and someone could still share my worldview and believe that raising taxes is ok. None of these things really matter Biblically in the grand scheme of things I don’t feel. But abortion is the litmus test for me to into someone’s true character.

There is no doubt in Gods word as I understand it, that children are important to God. If you are reading this far into my post, you understand the Bible better than I do probably. David talks about how we were known to God before our birth, we are beautifully and wonderfully made. Jesus tells us that if we harm a child, it would be better to have a millstone thrown around our necks and dropped in the water. There are many other verses and passages that speak to the miracle of birth, children...you know them, you have read them.

Liberals have done a good job with their assertions that they are the real champions of the poor, the downtrodden, and the weak. Jesus was indeed concerned about these things as well. He was a friend to the weak, the oppressed. So should we be concerned about them as well. Conservatives have not done a good job shaking the label that all they care about is money, the rich, big business at the expense of the poor, and the environment. I don't want to argue that, because frankly, I do believe that conservatives have some work to do there. But..consider this…

Who is without question the weakest of all...I would say unborn babies. What can they do to defend themselves? Nothing. If you do believe the word of God and what it has to say about us, being made in Gods image, all with a purpose and a reason for living, I believe there is no other conclusion than to believe that these fetuses are real people. Real people, just smaller and basically helpless. They are made after the image of the one true God. It does not matter if they were not wanted or expected. Heck, I was not wanted or expected. The circumstances of our birth are beyond our control, but I bet that most of you reading this are pretty glad you were born regardless of those circumstances.
So unborn babies are really people with rights, they are not just tissue. If you need visual proof , just look at a modern 3D ultrasound picture. They are in my estimation, people.

You can disagree when personhood happens. I think at the moment of conception myself, as does John McCain.. You could argue when brain waves start I suppose. You could argue that when the heart starts beating a guess…but I won’t argue that because I don’t think that is really truly debatable and knowable. But, when you don’t know something, I believe that is a reason to be extra cautious. We need to ere on the side of caution when dealing with something as profound and unique as the life question is. So the safe place to start is conception, it’s the only absolute knowable variant to this question. Anything else is a guess. One thing I do know is that no matter what stage of a pregnancy an abortion is done, its ending life.

Getting back to what I said previously, I would think that if you really believe that the issues of the poor, helpless, and weak are important and should be addressed, why you would not follow that conclusion to its ultimate end. Liberals are concerned about the planet, as we all should be; they are concerned about animal rights, as we all should be. But how did unborn children get overlooked? It's quite the paradox to me. .

Barack Obama is by all accounts not pro-life. He has one of the most liberal and dare I say vile voting records out there on the issue of abortion. He voted 3 times against a measure to provide medical coverage to babies born alive after a botched abortion attempt. Many of these babies were not going to survive outside the womb, but some may have. Babies have been born and survived that were barely as old as 25 or 26 weeks.

Please, don't just blow that off...think about it. A baby is born alive, possibly burned by a chemical induced abortion, maybe missing arms or legs from a botched D and C. And that baby is put into a bucket, alive and kicking, trying to communicate its pain to someone. The doctors and nurses walk away and close the door. That baby slowly bleeds to death, or slowly suffocates, or dies of hypothermia. Think about your own children. What would you do if your own child was treated like that? It’s inhumane and it’s plain evil to treat an animal like that, but a human being? Yet Obama votes against any measure that would even ease the pain and suffering of such a baby, let alone work to save her life.

I really could go on…but this post is already way too long for most people to want to read. We don’t even have to discuss how liberals view the family structure, how they view the institution of marriage. None of its Biblical is it? But let’s not even go there for sake of my sore typing fingers.

I just want someone to give me a clear answer, if you are a Christian, please tell me how you came to your conclusion that a vote for Obama is in line with what we know about the nature of Jesus Christ, his compassion for the weak and helpless, his views on the family, marriage, the church as a whole? Tell me how the democratic agenda is closer to the true nature of Jesus Christ. While feeding and clothing the poor are important, while housing the homeless is important. We all can agree that we all should do a better job in these things…myself included. But, how can we just look the other way when the abortion clinics are still open, when whole generations of people, made in the very image of God, are denied the chance to live for the sake of our own convenience.

I am glad that someone talked to my own unwed mother, talked her out of what she was going to do in July of 1973. I am here now, have a great family, two beautiful children, a loving and beautiful wife, only because someone decided to speak up instead of looking the other way. Don’t look the other way…don’t say to all the unborn children out there, sorry we needed a change, or sorry but I just don’t like Bush, or sorry but the economy is more important than you right now.

If you are a Christian and you are still on the fence, listen to that still small voice inside you. A vote for Obama is a vote against what you really believe, and I think you know it.