And Jesus Wept

Another drive home punctuated by some folks in the car behind me becoming very animated, pointing and shaking their heads presumably because as they pulled up behind me they noticed the Obama sticker on my rear window.  It's a new phenomenon to me, seeing people behave like that over a sticker supporting the President.  The man I voted for and still have faith in.  OUR President.  I don't mind the disagreement but I half expect that one day someone will take it a step further and climb out of their car to try and peel the sticker off, or worse, try to peel me.  That could get ugly.

Oddly, I think, as I stopped at a light to turn and they drove by on my right, I glanced at the back of their car, not looking for a McCain/Palin sticker but for any sign that they were part of a Christian group.  I was a little caught off guard to realize that was my first thought and I haven't been able to get it off my mind.  It really shouldn't have surprised me at all.  I hear people talk all the time about The Christian Right hijacking politics but it's really politics that has hijacked Christianity. 

Just like any good drama, the story unfolding on the political debate about President Obama has it all.  No one can deny the presence of conflict essential to any decent tale.  You've got An- and Pro-tagonists - completely interchangeable, of course, depending on which side of the story you happen to be helping to write. There are even other plot lines to follow as this nation-defining circus plays out.  One of those subplots (we may find later it was the most important plot all along) is what is taking place amongst the Christian community.  I wonder how many "lost souls" have been and will be forever turned away from God and Christianity, or any sort of spiritual awakening at all really, by witnessing the examples of many of our Christian Brothers and Sisters during this time.  When I think about American Christianity now I don't think of God's Love for all, doing "good works", sins being washed away by Christ's Love and Sacrifice. I have begun to assume that any Christian I meet could just as easily also be a liar; a hypocrite; a racist; and if not, they probably support those who are.  Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor rally this past weekend wasn't supposed to political (although we all know it was).  Instead it turned into a massive prayer group - bent on destroying the sitting President's chances of success. 

I can understand religion playing a major part in one's stance on the Pro-life/Pro-Choice debate.  If one believes that an unborn being is, in fact a full-fledged human life, then I would think by all means your Christianity and interpretation of "Human Life" will influence your views. What I don't understand is how one's belief in Christ could possibly give justification to those same people to also be against social justice and the government helping those in need. I'm sure I'm not the only one who sees a huge contradiction there, yet many Christians become absolutely enraged by the prospect of their tax dollars going to help the less fortunate.