Dr. Red Eye

After Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama handily defeated Republican counterpart John McCain almost two weeks ago, researcher George Barna released an election survey that analyzed how people of faith voted in 2008.

According to Barna, 88% of evangelicals voted for McCain while 11% chose Obama. Note that this “evangelical” description is Barna’s own classification, based on respondents’ answers to nine theological questions, not based on the respondents’ own classifications. Among self-described evangelicals, the numbers drop to 61% voting for McCain compared to 38% for Obama.

People tell me ‘88% is pretty overwhelming, isn’t it?’ However, I don’t look at the 88%. Rather, I look at the 11%. What stands out to me is how anyone who professes to be an evangelical Christian can vote for the most liberal and morally reprehensible politician in history.

The Democratic Party is prima facie at odds against biblical Christianity. One of the Democratic Party’s platforms is choice, which states “The Democratic Party unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay, and we oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right.”

Some evangelicals argue that abortion should not be a litmus test for a political candidate. I couldn’t disagree more. Already, about 3,600 unborn babies die every day due to abortion. There is no other issue that is more unjust (an ailing economy, the Iraq war, health care, improving education, etc) than 3,600 lives murdered every single day without any chance for due process.

Not only is abortion unjust and unfathomably high (more unborn babies die annually than deaths caused by all forms of cancer and heart disease combined), it is also a sin. Additionally, since the victim dies due to this sin, it is also a mortal sin.

The Bible equates the unborn as children. In Luke 1:41, 44, the word ‘baby’ (brephos) is used in reference to the unborn child in Elizabeth’s womb: ‘When the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy.’ Compare this with Luke 2:12, 16 where the infant Jesus is called a baby (brephos): “‘And this will be a sign for you, you will find a baby wrapped in clothes, and lying in a manger.’ And they came in haste and found their way to Mary and Joseph , and the baby as he lay in the manger.”

Furthermore, God knows the unborn personally. Ps 139:13-16, Isa 49:1 and Jer 1:5 all make this clear.

What makes this Christians-voting-for-Obama phenomenon astounding is just how pro-abortion Obama really is. Robert George not only wrote an excellent piece articulating how Obama is the most extreme pro-abortion legislator ever but also, as a bonus, used slavery to clearly explain how the pro-choice argument, by default, is utterly defective.

Of course, there is also the homosexual “rights” agenda that Obama supports, but that’s for another column.

George wonders how people of faith can vote for Obama. I’ll go a step further. I’ll say that if a self-professed Christian voted for Obama, I would severely question whether you are a Christian at all.

I realize that’s a bold statement in today’s “who are you to judge” world (which tangentially is what I believe people say in order to avoid being held accountable for their sin). Ultimately, I’m not making that judgment. After all, I can’t profess to intimately know the person’s heart; only the Lord does. But while I won’t make a judgment on a person’s faith, I’ll certainly question that person’s faith, or at the very least, the maturity of it.

What’s more, I would also add that anyone who professes to be an evangelical but voted for Obama should not be in any position of leadership at their local church (Sunday school teacher, class leadership team, deacon, elder, pastor, etc). Since such people are neither able to think biblically nor pragmatically on the simple issue of Obama’s worthiness for presidency, I would argue that they should not be granted the privilege of leading anyone at church. Would I recommend churches going so far as asking their leaders to reveal whom they voted for, with the intention of dismissing Obama supporters? Two words for you: why not? Spiritually immature believers (if they are believers at all) should not be in positions of leadership.

When I asked one of my analytical brothers in Christ about whether Christians can justify voting for Obama, he agreed that he doesn’t know how anyone can reconcile being a Christian and being a Democrat. Those identities are in direct conflict with each other. My friend’s implication echoed my own: if you voted for a Democrat, you must not really be a Christian. Let’s be clear: it’s one thing to not be a diehard Republican, which I am technically not. But it’s quite another to vote for a Democrat…especially this particular Democrat, who is more extreme than Kerry and Gore before him.

Young evangelicals, in particular, seem to be especially supportive of Obama. This seems to be a culmination of many factors, including a liberal worldview developed thanks to an aggressively secular public education and also in private education. Unless parents raise their children with intentionality to provide them with a biblical worldview, we will see that the trend of evangelicals voting for Obama and Democrats in general is not an aberration but a trend.

We also have seen that many black churches have sold out their faith in order to elect an African-American as president. From coast to coast, black churches prayed for and celebrated Obama’s win. To these churches, their race is more important than their Savior. This election is a spiritual indictment on those churches.

If there is anything positive to come out of this evangelical voter analysis, it’s that it gives the church universal a wake-up call. It’s time for the church to examine itself and see where it is helping to mass-produce shallow or fake Christians and return to biblical Christianity. My fear is that the church is simply going to hit the snooze button.