I've been agitated a bit lately by the news.
A recent poll taken states that approximately 1/5 of Americans surveyed believe that Barak Obama is a Muslim instead of the Christian that he professes to be. These poll numbers have been reported and re-reported over the past few weeks, especially in light of the proposed Ground Zero mosque.
I'm a little disappointed that this is news. Millions of tragic, news-worthy events are occurring all over the world right now. I read this week about a village in which 200 women were raped and beaten in front of their own husbands and children by a rebel military group. There's a war going on in Afghanistan that few people in America have any idea about. Towns and communities ravaged by natural disaster are still attempting to recover. Anybody remember Haiti? How are they doing? Or Pakistan? How many Americans are aware of the trapped Chilean miners?
The public forgets what is not right in front of their noses (whether that be a newspaper or a facebook post). The media plays a large role in that. So why are we reading about the President's religion and whether or not he can afford politically to support this proposed mosque at the cost of all of the real problems that could be addressed by the general public? Is this really what matters?
I also realize, however, that only what sells is news. This is news because people are buying it - they want to know. They want information on the president's faith. Or rumors, at least.
Five or six years ago I would have never written what I'm about to write: I no longer believe the President's religion should matter. At least not as much as it does. As a Christian, obviously I align my worldviews better with other Christians. However, if I'm really a Christian, I should realize that God has complete control over this country, not some president. So what if the President is an atheist. Or Mormon. Or Buddhist. Does that somehow render God powerless? The Old Testament is full of powerful nations and powerful kings, many of whom were quite heathen. Yet God used them. To worry about the fate of the country if a non-Christian is President is to cheapen the power of God. Frankly, I'm more worried about the one's paying lip-service to God to drive up votes.
The question lately has been this: is Obama a Christian. One answer - yes. A better answer - it doesn't matter.
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I don't think that his religion should matter, because it doesn't affect his ability to lead. Whether he's a Christian, atheist, Muslim, or even a new-Agey moon worshipper, I wouldn't care. What matters is what he does as a President. I don't adhere to any religion so I would be happiest in a country in which the leader and most of its people didn't either, but the US suffices.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with you, however. I don't believe in God, and as such I don't believe we're going to get any cosmic bail-out if something goes down badly, and I think it's stupid to think that we will. Even if God was real, we can't expect him to fix everything that goes wrong. We have to rely on ourselves and make our own decisions and not put him in that position to have to provide said cosmic bail-out.
I think very highly of you, but in this post you sound like one of those people that expect people to bail you out when something bad goes wrong. If we rest on our laurels, kick back, and let someone else take care of everything, this country is going to proverbial hell. What happened to American spirit of taking care of ourn own selves and half the world, too?
Don't get me wrong - I believe very strongly in self-reliance. I believe we each have a moral obligation to take care of what we can take care of.
ReplyDeleteI also don't expect God to create some cosmic bailout. He owes nothing to this country. Millions of people in hundreds of countries are not living anywhere near comfortably. It is not God's responsibility to make me or this nation comfortable. This is not some mystical "chosen" nation. Some things will go well; some will go badly.
My point is that as a Christian, my hope better not lie in the hands of the President of the U.S. If I'm right about God, the president is really inconsequential from an eternal perspective.
This is actually self-reliance at its best: don't hold out hope for a political leader to fix things. Hold fast to God, committed to the commands to embrace the good things in life as gifts and to aid the downtrodden. Don't pray for a jobs bill or a poverty bill or a health care bill - obey God and go help the poor and sick guy who lives next door.