November 3, 2008
Never before has a candidate for the presidency of the United States had such an un-Christian worldview (while professing to be a Christian, I might add) and never before have I seen such an inability among Christians to recognize that unbiblical worldview.
The candidate is Senator Barack Obama and if the Barna Group (an organization that conducts research for the Christian world) is correct, “born-again Christians” are just as likely to vote for Obama as they are for Senator John McCain. What’s more, 20- and 30-somethings who have made a profession of faith are actually more likely to support Obama than McCain.
In the words of tennis bad-boy John McEnroe, “You cannot be serious!”
You mean vote for Obama, the man who promises “The first thing I’d do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act” which is defined by non-partisan Wikipedia as “a bill in the United States Congress which, if enacted, would abolish all restrictions and limitations on the right of women in the United States to have an abortion, whether at the State or Federal level”?
Forgive me, but I’m having trouble wrapping my brain around the fact that an equal number of born-again Christians could actually vote for the most extreme pro-abortion candidate ever, who will have the opportunity to make several Supreme Court lifetime appointments, when the other viable option is staunchly pro-life. Have Christians lost their minds?
I shouldn’t have to write a word more but I must because Christians somehow feel shamed about being “single issue voters.” We’ve been told we’re “anti-intellectual” and “easily manipulated by the Republican Party.” We’ve been told by Barack Obama that moral values extend beyond abortion to the poor, the downcast, the disadvantaged, “the least of these” that Jesus told us to care for in chapter 25 of Matthew’s gospel.
One major interpretive problem: Jesus told His disciples—and thus by extension future followers and churches—to care for the least of these. He never even implied that Christians should advocate for government taxation and redistribution to care for the least of these. Please, think about this—how is taxation “cheerful” giving, how would government do charity in the name of Christ, how do the recipients not become indolent when they become entitled by the state?
Honestly, the biblical worldview on just these two issues—abortion and compassion—is “Basic Christianity 101.” But alas, the educational system, the mainstream media, our popular culture, and above all, weak preaching, has had its stupefying effect.
I know, I know, George W. Bush has been a disappointment in many ways—a long war in Iraq, an enlarged government, supervision of an economic meltdown, an inability to articulate a message—and, some say, John McCain doesn’t portend much different. But here’s the point: “Change” is only good if it’s for the better.
Just recently Senator Obama said, “We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.” And therein lies the problem: he is going to change America all right, but it’s not going to be the kind of change Christians should want … or vote for.
Race should not be a voting issue for Christians. Personality should not be a voting issue for Christians. Neither should youth, oratory or “hope.” It’s pretty simple, there are two viable candidates: which one’s worldview on the issues more closely approximates a Christian worldview?
John McCain is a patriot who has served, sacrificed, and even suffered for this country. That being said, I’m under no illusion that he’s going to “save America.” If elected, I fully expect that there will be many things McCain will do that I’ll be disappointed with. If we want candidates with stronger Christian values, then let’s work between elections to get it done.
But for now, with Election Day on us, the choice may not be everything we want (it never is), but the choice should be extremely clear for Christians. In comparing Barack Obama and John McCain, there is no doubt that John McCain will bring to the White House a worldview much more compatible with Christianity. That is the criterion that matters.
David Wheaton is the author of “University of Destruction” and the host of “The Christian Worldview,” a nationally syndicated radio program sourced from Salem Radio Network in Minneapolis/St. Paul
