I don't care my President is a Christian!
I don't care if ...
- My plumber is a Christian
- My banker is a Christian
- My auto mechanic is a Christian
- ....
- And I don't care if my President is a Christian!
Why I don't care:
- Because some Christians have been duped into voting for one politician or another based upon said politician's profession of faith. I'm not going to dance to that tune!
- Because some Christians naively view the President as an Old Testament King. I view the President as a C.E.O. who needs to manage the Executive Branch.
- Because I once fell into that trap myself and voted for Jimmy Carter.
Time names James Dobson as one of the 25 most influential evangelicals in America
Questions:
- Is it important that the President is a Christian? Why or why not?
- Am I off base?
I look forward to your comments
In an ideal world, it would be wonderful to have a born-again Christian in the White House. But there are many Americans who feel, unfairly I might add, that a Christian could not truly be a good president for all the people. That feeling is unfortunately based on the stereotypical view of how "Christians" are portrayed by our popular culture.
ReplyDeleteI would also say that, humanly speaking, it could be a daunting task for a truly born-again Christian to serve as president, given the range of decisions that he (or she!) would have to make every day. How would a Christian handle the fact that our government engages in subterfuge, spying, and misleading our enemies? And what about things like state dinners where alcohol is routinely served? And what about the political hoops that a candidate has to jump through in order to be elected?
In my lifetime, I have witnessed the election of John Kennedy as the first Roman Catholic to serve as president. We now have a serious Mormon candidate in the early running. Is it possible that we might have the opportunity to even vote for a candidate who is an open "fundamentalist" at some time in the future? Perhaps. It's an interesting discussion.
In answer to your initial comment, I don't believe that we MUST have an avowedly Christian president.
Jim, I missed this post earlier - or more likely, started reading your blog after this. I've posted this on message boards elsewhere - I completely agree with you. While yes, it would be great to have a Christian in the White House, there are way too many other things right now that are more important and would affect my voting decision far more than whether or not the individual professes to have a relationship with God.
ReplyDeleteAfter all, GW professes to be a Christian, and has been president for nearly 8 years - has that eliminated abortion or anything else of concern to Christians across the country?