America (unfinished)
Thursday, February 5th, 2009I am not unpatriotic. I love my country. I am proud to be an American, a citizen of what I believe is the greatest nation in the world. So I do not want you to take offense at anything I’m going to say here. Forgive me for rambling; I know some things here are only connected by that one word: America.
I have seen a trend in Americans lately that disturbs me. It is the trend to refer to America as God’s chosen land, and Americans as God’s chosen people. This disturbs me because we are not, in fact, God’s chosen people. To refer to us as such is to display an astounding amount of arrogance, something the rest of the world has been glad to inform us of for many years. But why do we think this? Why do we think that we, out of all the nations in the world, are “chosen”? I would guess that a great deal of it has to do with how we were founded. We think that because we were founded on a basis of religious freedom and Christian principles that we are somehow…sacred. That may have been true once, but no longer. Because our Founding Fathers were Christians, we say, we are a Christian Nation. Even if that were true (and I would venture to say it is not), what happened over two hundred years ago is not the deciding factor in what happens today. If you do not believe me, just look at us: no one can deny that our sins now are great; the courts who are sworn (on the Bible) to protect what those Fathers wrote now allow murder of the unborn and the infirm, marriage of those who are the same gender, and the banning of God from all government buildings, schools, and processes. Such a nation as our surely does not deserve the title of “Christian.” To be sure, our nation was indeed founded on Christian principles; if you do not believe me, look at the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. However, as a nation and as individuals we have strayed far from those principles, and can no longer consider them our foundation. So to call ourselves “God’s chosen land” is quite arrogant, as God has not chosen us and indeed, it would be extremely unlikely that he would do so. But enough of that. Let us turn to a different subject that also has to do with America.
It is everyone’s favorite subject: the recent elections. You knew I would get there eventually, right? The elections are now over. America has decided. That is not really what I want to focus on, however. I would like to examine some of the reactions to the results that have come to my attention. The first one I like—it is the one that quotes the verse in Psalms about the heart of the king being in the hand of the Lord. That is definitely a good thought to have and quite appropriate. My only objection is that I really do not think there would have been as many, if any, of these comments made had the other candidate been elected. That is my problem with several of these reactions, by the way. Another has been to react with prayer for America’s new leadership. That, too, is a good response. The next two are the ones which I take issue with, and they say much the same thing. The first says that they hope/have confidence that/wonder if God can fix this horrible situation. The second says they think an “evil man” (more about that later) got into office, somehow (maybe while God wasn’t looking?), but they know that God is in control. Both reactions, while they appear to be different, say the same thing: it could not be a good thing that this man was elected, and therefore, either: one, God lost control for a day; or, two, God did not know what he was doing. They would not say this aloud, and (I hope) they would not even consciously think it, but it is at the root of their reaction. Is this possible? Could it not be God’s will that we elected this candidate? Or is it not good…and is therefore God not good?
We would like to think so, would we not? We would like to say that God did not control the elections; the devil (or something else) did. To believe that, however, would open us up to some dangerous and unbiblical theology. To say that God was not in control is to say that, for a day, he was less than sovereign. To say that he is was less than sovereign is to say that he less than God, and to say that is heresy. So why do we dislike believing that God controlled this human process? I cannot answer for other people, but for me, it would mean, on some level, I was wrong. Oh, do not take me wrong! Just because I voted for the losing candidate does not make me a horrible, wicked sinner. However, it does mean that God and I obviously had different ideas about who would be the best person to lead the country at this point in time. And, of course, when I disagree with God, I am always the one in the wrong.
For right now, there is only one more thing I would like to look at, and for that, I must become more specific and use names. You may or may not have notice that I have refrained from using names up to this point. I have done this for a reason: what I have written so far has applied to any election, any year, with anyone winning. Now I would like to look at this election, this year, with Barack Obama winning. There, you see? I have said it! I said the magic name, the name that conjures up such images of repugnance and (dare I say it) hate in the minds of the majority of my friends. This saddens me, for the majority of my friends, indeed all of my friends, are Christians. It saddens me to hear the condemnations of this man falling from the lips of those who partake of the love of Christ. Most of the accusations made against Barack Obama have no basis in fact, and indeed serve no other purpose than to try to ruin the reputation of a man with whom we happen to disagree. We have all heard the stories: that Obama is a Muslim; that his middle name (Hussein) has some sinister significance; that he hates America; that he is a friend to terrorists; that he is a terrorist, etc. Besides being nothing but hearsay, all of this untrue.
Barack Obama is not a Muslim, but rather a self-professed Christian. Even if he were a Muslim, however, what would it matter? Every American president every elected has claimed to be a Christian—many were and many were not. Did that stop us from electing the unsaved ones? Obviously not. While we as Christians may not like having a Muslim in a high position of power, this nation was founded upon religious liberty, and we would be hypocrites to not vote for him for this reason (and for those of us at Maranatha, consider Soul Liberty).
Ten or fifteen years ago, or even six, we would not have cared if someone’s middle name happened to be Hussein. It is ridiculous to care now. Obama cannot change his middle name any more than I can change mine—and why would he want to? To calm the mass hysteria of a Muslim-phobic people? Enough said.
I think perhaps the most ludicrous condemnation of Obama is the one that says that he hates America. I ask you: why would a man who hated America want anything to do with her? He could have moved to Kenya or one of the many other places he lived. He did not have to stay here. He did not have to care. I hear you scoffing. I hear you asking me mockingly if I can read minds. How can I judge Obama’s heart? And I answer simply: by his actions. If he did not care, why would he labor to change America? If he hated America, why bother?
Then there is the terrorist connections one (as heard on Rush Limbaugh). This one is almost laughable. I am sure the man wants to kill us all…that is why he has done it, right? That is why he did not take the chance to kill the thousands of people here and abroad who always gather to hear him speak. See my arguments above, and let us move on.