Anatomy of an Obama Christian
By drredeye • Jan 28th, 2009 • Category: Features
I must admit I don’t know very many “Obama Christians”…that is, Obama supporters who also claim to be Christian.
This is probably b/c I like peace in my life. To paraphrase a bumper sticker, “Know Obama-supporting Christians? No peace. No Obama-supporting Christians? Know peace.”
Recently, I got some insight into an Obama Christian. It happened at the end of an email exchange that started when Scarlett (not her real name) forwarded a joke about the joy of Bush no longer being in office to her distribution list. Somehow, my wife is on her list and has already received several emails in the past from Scarlett that gushed about Obama.
Upon receiving this email forward, we sent a short, two-sentence reply to Scarlett:
Do you think it is biblical to celebrate the end of a staunchly pro-life administration and to celebrate the start of arguably the most liberal, anti-Christian President in the history of America? Please take me off your mailing list.
This was the long reply from Scarlett:
YES, i will take u off mailing list but i must state this.
thank u for writing so powerfully and telling me how racial and the prejudiced view you all hold against God’s elected president Obama, and that also, after so many prayers were offered by CHRISTIANS, did your GOd hear the prayers or he did not listen to you all? AND IF HE has answered the prayer or chosen to give you what he thinks is right at this time… u are agaisnt GOD? and even pastor who also accepted and who rejoiced and prayed accordingly! i am not surprised. yes, we have every reason to celebrate the GOd given victory to president obama. many christian pastors and organizations all over the world along with others are rejocing the event and u are hating it so much…doesnt that tell so much about you all?
in addition to hypocrcy about prolife, the past admini. left a mess, jobless situation and many more things..yes, we still believe that GOd brings one down and raises another up so, this is not the GOd of the bible u serve! so it seems that u have idols of “prolife and children” that u are serving. taking few verses of the bible and making it a mandate for others. i feel sorry for folks like you.
yes, i will take you off my mailing list, but i must say this. since u are so strong about this point. and did not take it as a joke but now that u are taking it seriously i must respond. it seems in this part of the hemisphere, like my senior pastor’s wife from kenya, wrote to me on obama victory that (scarlett), “in this part of the world, sadly, being a republican, prolife, christian and caucasian are one in the same thing’.
when u talk about pro life, you dont think of millions of innocent people that bush admin. administered in killing in last few years? or that is ok with you? what is the difference between you and those terrorists who kill also? i dont see Christlikeness in your stand like this just like u may not see my stand for women and theri rights because u dont KNOW what it feels like to LIVE IN POVERTY, i come from a country that is densely popoulated and many sleep on the streets coz there is no place, no food and no luxuries that u deserve here. because you have not gone thru pain, you dont understand but u are so dogmatic, the messgae of Christ is in the head but not in hearts…u cannot feel the pain. YOU DONT KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO BE RAPED DO YOU? I DO! AND I KNOW MY FRIEND WHO FACED GANG RAPING KNOWS, SO DONT TALK ABOUT PROLIFE FROM ONE SIDE… u want many to live in streets and feel good about you being rich and heping? but never wanting others to make choices? what is better to think of the already born and living or prevent something that is not yet born? and i can also give you many scripture ref to that but i dont want to argue. i must state that i know u will also not call me a Christian after this but i dont really mind cos, u are not my authority, only GOD knows each heart so no one has the right to judge.
just because many like you would like to give birth to many kids DOES NOT MEAN that everyone has to follow you! Thank GOD,he gives every woman a choice. i DONT SEE IT IN THE BIBLE GOD being ONeSIDELY PROLIFE AS YOU MAKE HIM OUT TO BE…YOU USE THE WORDS TO SUIT YOUR AGENDAS BUT NO WHERE THE SIN OF ADULTERY AND POOR UNWED GIRLS LIVEs are dealth with.. ARE AT STAKE…NO, I DONT SEE YOU DEALING harshly WITH THE GIRLS’ LIVES, OTHER THAN GIVING THEM BABIES TO LOOK AFTER OR FIND AN EASY WAY TO GIVE THEM FOR ADOPTION SO THEY GO AND HVAE MORE ILLEGITIMATE BABIES (BIBLE CALLS illegitimate and legitimate) but u dont deal with the real heart issue.
i am glad thru this election GOD has shown the real deep hatred you all have, either they call themselves republicans, or christians and that also in the name of CHRIST!
just like you like to stand up for one thing, i stand up for other and i also wont have anyone say nonsense about obama and what GOD can do thru him. so, yes, in addition to taking off mailing list, DO YOU ALSO WANT TO TAKE US OFF THE (CHURCH SUNDAY SCHOOL) LIST? DO YOU WANT TO TAKE US OFF THE CHURCH? DO let me know. i know my family and i stand up for what is right not just one sided view that you in this part of the world hold. i know world rejoices but u are all at the loss cos your agedas are confronted, u arenot able to play the ‘big person’ role to others coz with choices peple make they will be able to live on their own…. face it, you like it or not, HE IS the president, and bible says TO PRAY AND HONOR YOUR GOV LEADERS…NOW ITS UPTO YOU TO OBEY THE BIBLE.
Jesus knows me this i love…continuing to cling to the OLD Rugged Cross of Christ, my Lord and my God!
Whew. There are Joe Biden speeches that aren’t as long as this.
The nice thing about this long email is that it gives some insight into Obama Christians. Granted, there are some Obama Christians who won’t exhibit all of the following characteristics I’ve gleaned from Scarlett’s response here, but they will certainly share some, if not most, of these attributes. They are:
- Obama Christians have liberal leanings, if not an entirely liberal worldview.
Scarlett made it clear that pro-life has no currency in her worldview; in fact, she actually sounded pro-choice. Jobs, poverty and government intervention in both are more important in her worldview than saving the unborn, which is consistent with liberals. Makes sense because indeed, one cannot possibly vigorously support Obama and be a social conservative. It would be like a Jew vigorously supporting a Nazi…or Kanye West being humble…such opposites just can’t happen. - Obama Christians tend to have “black marker theology”.
A “black marker theology” is one where acceptable beliefs are picked-and-chosen while beliefs that don’t fit are figuratively blacked out of the Bible with a marker. For example, Scarlett repeated her belief that all Christians should honor and support Obama as God’s appointed leader for America. Unfortunately, this belief uses a black marker to wipe out the parts of the Bible where believers were praised for not honoring and supporting God’s appointed leaders, such as Peter and John not honoring or supporting the Sanhedrin (John 4) …or Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego not honoring or supporting King Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 3) …or Moses and the Israelites not honoring or supporting Pharaoh (Ex 3:7-10) …and other examples.
As another example, Scarlett states that she doesn’t “see it in the Bible God being onesidedly prolife.” Well, when she blacks out the pro-life passages of the Bible, it’s no wonder she doesn’t see it in her Bible.
Furthermore, Scarlett argues that Obama’s election must be proof that the Lord is pleased with Obama and has granted him favor. In order to hold this view, Scarlett must black out all the biblical passages where the Lord allowed evil kings and rulers to rise up in order to judge His people. - Obama Christians are prone to angry, hate-filled attacks.
This is another liberal characteristic, BTW, as seen in the reactions by those opposed to Proposition 8 backers (violent assaults, physical attacks, job losses, and even listing your address if you supported Proposition 8 so people can find you to harass you). Notice Scarlett’s frequent ad hominem attacks and childish name-calling in response to our simple two-sentence email. Scarlett refers to her heart more than once, and while I agree that I can’t judge her heart, I can certainly judge the overflow of her heart…which is what she says out of her mouth (Matt 12:33-36). And what she said to us doesn’t look pretty. - Obama Christians have hypocritical tendencies.
Hypocrisy runs amok in this email as, in the midst of all the hate she spews in her email, she scolds us for being hateful (”i am glad thru this election GOD has shown the real deep hatred you all have”). Later, she hypocritically yells at us: “NOW ITS UPTO YOU TO OBEY THE BIBLE” although she herself does not. - Obama Christians have made Obama a god in their lives.
This is actually not very different from non-believers who love Obama. The only difference is that Christians are specifically not supposed to put any human on a pedestal as a savior of sorts. Scarlett made the interesting statement that “[I] also wont (sic) have anyone say nonsense about obama and what GOD can do thru him.” Yes, Obama can do no wrong (i.e., sinless), and must never be criticized (the Obama version of the Fourth Commandment). Obama may not be God (big ‘G’) in their lives but he is a god (little ‘g’).
I could shoot down every single point Scarlett makes but that’s not important. Having the last word is not important. What’s important is examining the anatomy of an Obama Christian. It gives me no great joy to sound the alarm about “Obama Christians”. I grieve over the spiritual damage that is unwittingly occurring to these people, and it is my hope and prayer that this post will help at least some of them to realize the truth of what is occurring.
drredeye is a former fetus and former pro-choice advocate. He was raised essentially by a single mother in a lower-class, crime-infested neighborhood in the city of Chicago and later survived the dot-com bust under Bill Clinton's watch. That background helped hone his brutally honest style that colors his conservative opinions. Due to a combination of that provocative style and his often unique perspective on the issues of our day, his writings have been published by a major Chicago newspaper, a Christian magazine and other web sites. You may not always agree with the Doctor, but he'll always make you go hmmm. Yep, satisfaction guaranteed or your money back.
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I’ve got this bookmarked for a better reading later, but just now I’m too busy with school and rehearsals to really focus on what you’re saying. I’m intrigued, but I need to think about it a lot more before I throw in my 2 cents.