What to make of Obama.

As a Christian and a republican, I have been concerned lately about the democratic presidential candidate. Who is he? People were asking that question, even dems, when he first emerged as a potential nominee last year. So, because of some rather disturbing allegations I've been hearing, I decided to go online and do some research for myself.

Let me just say that getting fair and unbiased information on the net, particularly concerning presidential candidates, is almost impossible. On one side people will say that a candidate is the devil incarnate, and on the other side people will refuse to acknowledge even the possibility of a problem with their guy. It's like trying to get to the bottom of a fight between your children. When people are so deeply emotionally invested in a particular side of a complicated issue, you can't get information from them that you can count on.

So I'm guessing, based on what I think I know about people, that the truth must be somewhere in the middle - between "radical leftist who will destroy us all" and "new messiah who will solve all our problems."

Therefore my assessment of Obama is thus:

He is, I suspect, nothing more heinous than a fairly liberal democrat who will probably tax the snot out of richer Americans to pay for social programs that will work fantastically or fail miserably depending on who you ask. He has probably dabbled in and flirted with some level of radical ideology in his younger days. He has rubbed shoulders with controversial leftist individuals and organizations (here and abroad - ask Uncle Fred about Kenya) - but I don't see how he could have avoided some of that, being a black democratic politician in Chicago. To what extent these entities have influenced his future political objectives is still unclear to me. He ultimately wants to do the right thing, but, as we all know, the right thing to one may not be exactly the right thing to another (maybe not even to the majority of Americans).

I suspect he will, unfortunately for me, bring us closer to a society that is at least a little more dependent on government programs and services. Whether or not dependency is his intention I can't say, but we all know that people will eventually become dependent - and the programs and services will replace a healthy amount of good common sense, prudence, applied wisdom, self-government, self-discipline, and old-fashioned American independence and self-reliance. But as so many Americans have been tossing aside those virtues over the past 60 years or so, we can only expect a little more "socialism" to infiltrate our lives. So I guess I won't blame Obama for it when it comes - I'll blame us (too many Americans in general, but not most of the people reading this blog) for needing what he will probably bring.

What really worries me more than anything else is not Obama himself, actually. It's the vote of confidence that radical leftist groups will feel they've been given if Obama wins. Groups like the Nation of Islam (Ferrakhan seems to love him), Earth Liberation Front, ACORN, and so on, may start coming out of the woodwork and asserting themselves more - simply because they feel their time has come (because they do). But even that isn't what really worries me. You see, when the leftist radicals start assuming more legitimacy - so will the radicals on the opposite side. I have a bad feeling that we're going to see a re-emergence of the Klan, the neo-nazis, white supremists, "christian" groups (with a well-deserved lower case "c") who will preach that blacks are the cursed tribe of Dan or carry signs that say "God hates fags," anti-government militias - and the list goes on. In short, I see a very real possibility of a "radicalization" of America. And I fear it will be difficult to stay out of it.

This is where the church must stand for Jesus, not political extremities. We will have to work harder than ever to close racial divides, and show extra love toward individuals whose sin we nevertheless condemn. And we must become painfully aware of our own sin so that we can repent and live lives that are upright before our Lord and our community.

I think the good news is that people will feel a need for Christ in their lives more than ever. Let's prepare for that, brothers and sisters. It's time we as American Christians really start to look like Jesus - and refuse to participate in the cultural ugliness the world may soon wallow in.

For such a time as this.

Stephen