I posted about my support of the President on my facebook page. It simply pointed out the total fail that Republican economic policies are and said that I strongly support President Obama. And I got an email in my inbox from a two issue voter who .
More below the fold
Here is what he wrote:
S------
3:23pm Jun 21
,
I have read your post on your political position in support of Pres. Obama.
Would you please answer one thing. How do you think God and scripture line up with Pres. Obama's stance on abortion and marriage. Please don't respond with anything about republicans or Pres. Obama's stance on the economy or the poor. I just want to know what you believe about this one thing. Thank you in advance.
S
Here is my response:
S, I want to know how you think God and Scripture line up with unnecessary wars
resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands. Don't respond with anything about
abortion or marriage.
So, this goes both ways. Now, if you are a theonomist, go full bore and create a
criminal sanction for women who do not submit to their husbands and fathers who
exasperate their children. If you support Prop 8, then let us support Prop 9 and send
wives who don't obey their husbands to jail. And Prop 10, make fathers who exasperate
their children pay a large fine. And Prop 11 regarding dietary laws. Follow through
logically on your way of thinking or don't expect others to adopt your viewpoint.
Often, US evangelicals think that the only real Christians are those in the US in 2012.
Hence, they forget that the supply side economics and extra wars of the Republican
party are not found supported by those outside of this area. What has happened is that
you, like many others, have confounded your political and religious views with those of
the Bible. It is bad theology as well as bad politics. You have imbibed whole hog what
your teachers, mentors, friends, and the authors you read say.
I do not give you permission to limit the political discussion. Such an approach is
inherently invalid and I reject it outright. There are many moral and ethical issues -
abortion is one, unnecessary wars are others, social injustice is another, climate change
is another.... To limit it to one is grossly simplistic.
Let us somehow suppose that we can untie the Gordian knot and separate theonomy and abortion rights and equality. In reality, it cannot be done, but even considering abortion rights, the anti choice view is based upon an inference. There is no direct Scripture that teaches anti choice must be the law of the United States. And logically, such a view is based upon an assumption, an untenable one, of theonomy. Discriminating against others is hardly a view a Christian ought to advocate. Certainly, if there were more Muslims voting than others, would I want them to impose their views upon me ? Would you ? Perish the thought. It is a big, diverse country, and imposing theonomic legislation upon others is unacceptable.
The very sad truth is that the conservative evangelicals in the US are being played by the wealthy Koch brothers and other elites. At the end of the day, these views are both bad politics and bad theology. More younger evangelicals are coming to the realization that (1) being a one issue voter is silly at best (2) Scripture speaks to social justice issues - admonishing us to correct the social injustice we see (3) the political views of US evanglicals in 2012, mostly conservative Republican views (tax cuts for the wealthy, extra war, be a bad steward and speed up climate change) are not shared by Christians in other countries or from other times (4) theonomy which undergirds anti choice and anti equality cannot be defended consistently .
3:43 PM PT: S replied thusly,
"You didn't answer my question or maybe not in a way I could understand it. Please don't assume you know what I believe and try not to use a bunch of big fancy word. Try to simply answer if Obama stance on marriage and family is in line with God.I want to be open to the possibility of supporting him, but I can't if he supports thing contray o Gods will. "
How should I respond ? What do you all think ?
4:37 PM PT: A lot of great points and thoughts. I tried to address it firmly but not in a mean way. The assumptions behind the person's post are very unhappy ones- illogical and not very nice. It is too bad that people do not realize their inconsistency in picking and choosing when theonomy is valid. It saddens me. Based upon their way of thinking, why would one not think that wives who disobey their husbands should be jailed ?
Thanks for the rec list. And thanks for the great responses.
4:55 PM PT: Let us not forget the Scriptural injunction - " Greet your brothers with a holy kiss !"