Election 2012, Evangelicals, and Exasperation

I was fired up in my last post. And now I'm just kind of burned out, but I suppose I ought to at least clarify what made me so angry in the first place. 

During the hours after the election, I found out from the social media world...Facebook, Twitter, and blogs....that as an Obama voter I'm "brown", uneducated, on welfare, and that I have no Christian values or even morals to speak of. All of that was somewhat distressing to me except for the brown part, because I've always had trouble tanning. So I'm looking forward to summer this year.

Look, I realize people were upset because their candidates/positions lost. I get that. In the opposite situation, I would also be upset, and might even post something on social media that I would later regret ...though I sure hope I'd have more sense. And I'm happy to say that NO ONE that I consider a good friend was foolish enough to post something racist/vicious/plain stupid. I think that validates my taste in friends.

I think the brown, uneducated, and on welfare part are obviously stupid enough to gloss over, but I would like to say something about Christian values and/or morals. Please prepare yourself for a rant, because almost nothing is more annoying to me than this particular talking point.

Republicans do not own God. Other things not owned exclusively by Republicans include, but are not limited to: Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Bible, truth, salvation, churches, morals, decency, and heartfelt convictions.

You do not get to go onto your social media platform and explain that all Christians obviously feel one way and if you feel differently, you aren't a Christian. I even read one blog post that asserted that God would never tell two Christians differing things, so all Christians should be united on who to vote for in the election.

If you can show me even ONE issue that all Christians agree on, I will buy you a Coke float every day for a year (except not really). So there is either a problem with God or with the listeners, and I know who I'm bettin' on.

I can't even think of one major issue that all Protestants agree on, much less all Protestants, Catholics, Orthodox, and "Other" branches of the church, and I'm really racking my brain here. Our views differ on the process of salvation, on who is saved, the afterlife, the gifts of the Spirit, the proper structure of the Church, the life and deeds of Jesus, the right way to pray, the way to administer sacraments, what happens during Communion, how often to take Communion, and I could go on. Heck, even our Bibles don't look the same. Catholics and Orthodox Christians have seven more books ( think chapters) than Protestants do, plus some extra passages in the books we do share.

So it should shock no one that it is actually possible to be a Christian and vote for a Democrat in general and for Barack Obama specifically.

Despite what is seemingly obvious, I turn the radio to my Christian radio station on Thursday evening to hear "Focus on the Family" inform me that a lot of Christians did not do their Christian duty on Election Day because they did not vote for Romney. And that's just one of the more popular programs voicing what a lot of people said post election. This point of view was everywhere, and it's incredibly offensive and (inadvertently, I hope) exclusionary.

You see, there are hundreds of thousands of Christians that vote Democrat. Most historically black denominations do. Most Catholics and Orthodox Christians do also. Many Protestant denominations lean left politically as well. And so do I and many of my Christian friends and family. And we must have all missed the part of the Bible where we're told to vote Republican. Is that in the Old, the New, or the Non-Existent Testament? 

I don't think Jesus would be a Democrat. But he sure as shootin' wouldn't be a Republican either. God is a lot bigger than a political affiliation. If we could embrace this truth, our political discourse might actually improve to the point of getting some things done in our nation. And I could view social media without needing to do some running afterward. Or we could just continue to villify anyone that disagrees with us and get bogged down in petty disputes. On the plus side, I'd be in really good shape.

And now I think I'm done with politics for a bit. I don't mind recording my thoughts about the election...it will be highly interesting to re-read in four years...but I'm ready to post some more about my babies and leave the bickering to the people that get paid to do that.