Anti-Obama Sermons: Will Evangelical Preachers Help Elect John McCain?
Posted: Sunday, November 02, 2008
by Mogama
http://www.mogama.info
"I wish I could become ten of me
this Sunday (November 2) before election day (November 4) just to
find out how many of our local pastors will go all out on the
political tangent in favor of John McCain and the Republicans,
against Obama and the Democrats, as they rally their members for the
polls."
That's a line from a conversation
between my wife and me over the weekend, as we've observed a
phenomenon we had not seen in previous presidential campaigns.
On my way to church this morning, picking up a friend, I saw a sign at a Baptist Church, which reads, "Vote Life, Not Death." Implication? A vote for McCain is a vote for life. A vote for Obama is a vote for death. I'm curious to know what the pastor of that congregation would be preaching today, or what he's been preaching the past Sundays. Just curious...
Apparently the campaign of John McCain
finally gets some help to balance out the liberal media's partnership
with Barack Obama. McCain is getting down-the-stretch push from some
of the most powerful influencers in the land: men who represent
Almighty God. You don't get greater help than that.
It is estimated that 10% of Americans
are Evangelicals. With millions of Evangelical Christians attending
thousands of churches, listening to fresh sermons on radio, watching
sermons on television and on the Internet, that's a lot of
last-minute free advertising favoring John McCain.
One would expect the usual suspects
like James Dobson, John Hagee, Rod Parsley, Albert Mohler Jr, and
Charles Stanley to tote the partisan Republican line, along with
their right wing talk radio counterparts. But to our amazement,
preachers who never touched politics in previous elections,
especially during the final week of campaigning, are taking to the
pulpits with targeted anti-Obama homilies.
I'm speaking of Kenneth Copeland, Ed
Young, and many other televangelists, who have become patently
Republican in their rhetoric in recent days. These guys are now doing
what black preachers have done for years for Democratic candidates.
Some Evangelical institutions, like the Jerry Falwell's Thomas Road
Baptist Church, actually suspended regular programing to talk about
the elections; that is, to pump their audience with enough anti-Obama
rhetoric so they vote accordingly.
And we're not just talking the usual
pro-life (anti-abortion) and pro-family (anti-gay marriage) campaign
that has been the norm for conservative Evangelical preachers. No,
these preachers are going all the way, even jumping on the Joe the
Plumber bandwagon, denouncing socialism and implying that Obama is a
socialist, the same thing John McCain and Sarah Palin have been
saying in their stomp speeches, since they found Joe Wurzelbacher,
the Ohio man, and took him from his plumbing job to join them on the
campaign trail. My fellow ministers are even delving into tax policy
issues, explaining unfair taxation to their people, blasting welfare
recipients in the process.
Has the Gospel of Jesus Christ come to
such partisan political exegesis? Who would have thought? Not even
Jesus would have seen this one coming!
If John McCain loses this campaign, he
and the Republicans will be hard pressed to blame everything on the
biased liberal media lining up in Obama's corner.
What these Evangelical dinosaurs are
overlooking is that this time there is a different dynamic in the
Evangelical camp. The Evangelical community is split down the line
between those who remain pro-life, pro-family Republicans and those
with strong concerns for helping the poor through government social
programs and saving the environment. Evangelicals in the latter group
sympathize with Obama's desire to "spread the wealth", from
rich to poor, and to pursue solutions to what they have accepted as
man-made global warming.
One thing is for sure. It is not only
the Republican that will be split and needing to rediscover their
way, especially if McCain loses and Republicans lose many seats in
Congress, after November 4. Evangelicals will be split too, and it is
not a sure thing if they will be able to meet to discuss how to
reunite the Evangelical Movement as a monolithic voting bloc that the
Republican Party can count on in upcoming races. The schism between
one-issue pro-life, pro-family Evangelicals viz-a-viz socially and
environmentally conscious Evangelicals may become permanent, though
that will depend on how candidates from either of the two major
political parties make their case in subsequent elections.
Unless Republicans learn how to merge
their brand of conservatism with active compassion for the poor and
needy, as George W. Bush was successfully able to put forth during
his presidential campaigns, I'm afraid it might be a long time before
the GOP can again take for granted the undivided support of the vast
majority of Evangelical voters.
My dear friend Mogama: Wow! where have I been? Where have you heard these sermons? I must be living in a different world. The ministers I have heard this election season have been careful not to trigger IRS tax-exempt action. They have avoided taking a political stand.I would love to know where you have heard these sermons and see the evidence for myself. Also, you own comments weaken your arguments that this is a legitimate fear about which you should have concern. You said evangelicals are split half for Obama and half for McCain. What sane minister would offend half his flock to please the other half.You are a passionate writer, and I love that, but, with all due respect, you have a tendency to over-react and allow the drama to trump the reasoning. Also, you use the term "evangelical" in a derisive tone, just like the main-stream media does. They have made the word derisive to the average consumer. "You're not one of those evangelical Christians, are you?" an acquaintance asked me recently. As if evangelicals are radical freaks with two heads. I don't know what your definition is, but I do understand your implication.Sorry, I can't agree with much of this article, but you remain my friend. God bless, Marty RicKardMarty, maybe it's your tone of superiorority which gives evangelicals a bad name. I think evangelicals have worked hard to get the reputation they now have..Dear Jack: Thanks for your comment. Actually, I don't even think I am an evangelical, but I'm not really sure. Maybe I am, but I didn't mean to impart a tone of superiority. What is your definition of evangelical. God bless you, Marty RicKardNow, Marty, I mentioned in the article some specific names of the preachers my wife and I have heard these politically charged sermons from. I did say Evangelicals are split, but I did not say down the middle or 50/50. I don't know exactly what the percentage is on either side of the political spectrum. Perhaps we'll find out after this election. As for who an Evangelical is? It is a born again Christian who believes that salvation is only possible by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, through the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus and the acceptance of Christ. Ten percent of American Christians fit that definition, based on research by The Barna Group. No, Evangelicals are not freaks, in my opinion. By the way, I am an Evangelical myself. I just think that some of our leaders have over politicized our cause, especially in a partisan manner. They'll do well to cut it both ways, rather than siding with Republicans or Democrats consistently. Because these leaders have done that, we are losing our prophetic voice, our "salt and light" quality, along with our credibility, because the society has begun to see us as favoring one political party over the other. I'm just concerned that we'll be the big losers in the end. Yes, Marty, I still consider you a SearchWarp friend of mine, and disagreement is OK, as long as we keep it civil. And I think you've done that in your comments. Be blessed. ~mogama~Dear Mogama: I guess I am an evangelical. I have a mixed religious background. Raised a Quaker, baptized in the spirit, baptized a Lutheran at age 18, married in a Dutch reformed church at 22, attended Catholic mass for ten years, and now I'm a Lutheran again. Maybe that's a Heinz Christian, 57 varieties. I'm one-quarter Indian and a lot Italian. I appreciate your explaination above. Oh, shoot, I see I forgot to log-in again. Sorry, God bless, Marty RicKardOh, Marty! You're really mixed. Are you sure you're not a Salad Christian? Don't feel bad, I meandered a lot myself before settling for non-denominational. Before that I hung out with Pillar Of Fire (a sinless perfection denomination), Seventh Day Adventist (my aunt wouldn't stop cooking pig feet), Baha'i (liked the unity and peace thing), a little bit of Islam (read the entire Koran through but the rules were too many to keep, and I didn't have money to make the trip to Mecca), Eckankar (just couldn't get my soul to travel by meditating), Liberian Baptist (enjoyed that), Missionary Baptist (enjoyed that too), Southern Baptist (learned a whole lot from them). That's what I call a Salad Christian nicknamed Evangelical! ~mogama~
