Christian civility for President Obama

Like most of my readers, I did not vote for Mr. Obama. Unlike most of my readers, I voted for a third-party candidate. Nevertheless, please remember:

Barack Obama will soon be our president.

None of this silly "not my president" nonsense, please. Let us show the respect the office deserves. Let us look for areas where we agree with him and support him in those. Let us raise our voices in respectful protest when we do not agree. Let us pray for him, as we ought pray for all our leaders.

This is an opportunity for followers of Christ that disagree with Mr. Obama to be known for their love and grace. This is an opportunity for followers of Christ that agree with Mr. Obama to show respect and grace to those of us who don't. Let's not waste God's glory by becoming petty and mean-spirited. Campaigning is over; let's move forward. Perhaps more than ever, America needs the spirit of true grace that only the Holy Spirit - working through His followers - can bring.

Grace and Peace,
Hatushili

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Presidential politics, part 1

I finally feel like I have to say something about the upcoming presidential election. Frankly, I had hoped to avoid the topic until after the first of the year. But I read something today that pushed me over the edge...

[Note: I'm calling this "part 1" not in anticipation of another specific follow-up post, but merely because I know I'll end up posting more on this broad subject later.]

Let me state my point simply and clearly up front:

I can't vote for Mitt Romney.

Yes, it's because he's a Mormon. No, it's not what you think. Let me explain.

I don't much care whether a given candidate is a Baptist (Huckabee), a Methodist (Clinton), or whatever denomination. I also don't think it's critical (though it certainly would be preferable) to elect a Christian as president. If you boil it down enough, one of the most basic things I'm looking for in a president is good judgement. Some people have it; some people don't. It's a skill that can certainly be improved with practice, but it must be present in healthy quantities in a president.

I just read an article (about Huckabee) in which the authors (a couple of women from the AP) state "He [Huckabee] also resisted wading into theology when pressed to explain why some evangelicals don't view the Mormon faith as a Christian denomination". Some evangelicals?! Some?!

Are you kidding me? I don't know of anyone within the broad camp known as Evangelicalism that would call Mormonism a "Christian denomination". There's a reason for that:

Mormonism is a cult.

So we come to why I can't vote for a Mormon, whether his name is Romney or otherwise. Anyone who's judgement is so impaired as to believe the things that Mormons believe cannot be trusted to govern these United States of America. If you haven't done your homework on this subject, you need to. Try CRI; it's an excellent (and free) source of information about many cults. For those that know nothing about Mormonism, let me at least get you started with a few of the many curious (to put it nicely) things that Mormonism teaches:

Jesus and Satan are spirit brothers.

The Negro race resulted when certain angels refused to chose sides between Satan and Jesus.

America was once covered in cities and populated by peoples that you've never heard of (Nephites and Lamanites, among others).

To really be a special Mormon, you have to wear magic underwear.

Incidentally, the last link (re: underwear) is to a blog set up specifically to educate people about Mormonism and Romney. It's new to me, but at first glance seems to be accurate. See particularly his Top Ten Extreme Beliefs page.

So ... it's not that Romney isn't a Christian. It's definitely not that he isn't my brand of Christian. It's not that his faith is "spooky" or "weird". It's that I can't vote for a candidate who's judgement is so impaired as to not be able to see Mormonism for what it is.

I'd sooner vote for an honest agnostic - one who admits they just don't know whether there is a God or not - with good judgement than a Mormon.

As I sit here, I still have no idea who'll I'll be voting for. But I know for sure some of those I won't support. Romney tops that list.

Hatushili

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