Christian Respect for Political Leaders

 

 

Singer Carrie Underwood will perform “America the Beautiful” at the inauguration ceremony for the new United States President, Donald J. Trump, on 20 January 2025. Once this was announced, the singer began to receive vitriolic and hateful comments from persons opposed to Mr. Trump. Ms. Underwood seems to have taken the approach that it is an honor to be asked to perform at the ceremony, regardless of who the new leader is.

When Jesus said “Render unto Caesar,” he was warning against elevating the temporal government over the Kingdom of God. He was not telling us to remove ourselves from any involvement with the government.

Once, during the presidency of Barack Obama, a coworker of mine was bitterly complaining about the president. I was also not particularly fond of the president, but I told the coworker that it was the responsibility of every American, especially those who are Christian, to be willing to jump in front of a bullet to protect our leader. He responded, “Not me! I would be hitting the floor!”

It is our duty and honor as Christians to be civically involved, even if we do not personally approve of our current political leaders. Paul, who would ultimately be executed by the Roman government, would agree.

Mark 12:17; Romans 13:1-7; Hebrews 13:1-17; 1 Peter 2:13-17

President Obama Sings "Amazing Grace"

At the memorial held at Emanuel African Methodist Church for the Bible study members murdered by a white supremacist, United States President Barack Obama sang the hymn, "Amazing Grace."

Just Another Thing to Argue About

For those who live in other countries and may not know, the United States is currently sharply divided along ideological and political lines.  Many people, on both sides of the divide, are primed to be offended at the drop of a hat, even by a television program about the Bible.

The History Channel is broadcasting a ten hour minseries entitled The Bible.  Some have criticized the miniseries for its sporadically episodic nature, for its omissions, for its sometimes less than state of the art special effects, for its uneven acting, etc.  The USA Today newspaper ignored all of these to report that the “History Channel opens the gates of Hell.”

What the newspaper was talking about was the appearance of Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni as Satan.  Twitter and the internet are buzzing about the fact that some people are convinced that Ouazanni as Satan looks like an evil dark version of United States President Barack Obama.

Mark Burnett and his actress wife, Roma Downey, are the executive producers of the series.  Burnett had this to say, “This is utter nonsense.  The actor who played Satan (is) a highly acclaimed Moroccan actor.  He has previously played parts in several Biblical epics – including Satanic characters long before Barack Obama was elected as our President.”

Downey added, “Both Mark and I have nothing but respect, and love our President, who is a fellow Christian.”   She was expressing the biblical view of government, that it is ordained by and put into place by God.

Iranian Pastor Freed

Youcef Nagarkhani (b. 1977, Iran), a pastor of the Protestant evangelical Church of Iran, was released three days ago after spending the last three years in an Iranian prison under the threat of a death sentence.  What was his crime?  Pastor Nadarkhani was originally charged with the capital crime of apostasy; leaving Islam to follow another religion.  The punishment in Iran for apostasy is death.  Though apostasy is not officially a crime in Iran, judges may still level the charge against a person based on religious fatwas.  Nadarkani insisted that he was never a Muslim; even though he was raised in a Muslim family, he never accepted Islam and, instead, became a Christian as a teenager.  He steadfastly refused to convert to Islam.

Youcef Ndarkhani's wife, Fatemah Pasandideh, was also arrested and charged with apostasy.  She received a sentence of life imprisonment but was released after four months.

International criticism of the charges against Pastor Nadarkani was raised loudly from around the world.
United States president barack Obama said, "The United States condemns the conviction of Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani.  Pastor Nadarkhani has done nothing more than maintain his devout faith, which is a universal right for all people."  The British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, also condemned the sentence.

During the three years of his imprisonment, the charges continued to change and eventually included charges of rape, extortion, and baptizing converts.  The charges, in the end, became that Nadarkhani had attempted to evangelize Muslims.  The penalty for this crime was set at three years and the pastor was released for the time he had already served in prison.

Christians around the world are rejoicing that their prayers for Youcef Nadarkhani's safe release have been answered.  Pastor Nadarkhani is to be admired for his absolute refusal to betray his faith.

The Faith Statement of U.S. President Barack Obama

"I am a Christian, and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life."^[297]

... "I'm a Christian by choice. My family didn't—frankly, they weren't folks who went to church every week. And my mother was one of the most spiritual people I knew, but she didn't raise me in the church. So I came to my Christian faith later in life, and it was because the precepts of Jesus Christ spoke to me in terms of the kind of life that I would want to lead—being my brothers' and sisters' keeper, treating others as they would treat me." U.S. President Barack Obama

He burned a Quran and twelve died.

In response to plans to build a mosque two blocks from the site of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attack on New York City, Pastor Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, set off an international incident when he declared "International Burn a Koran Day" for September 11, 2011.  He planned to burn multiple copies of the Quran.  Christian church leaders quickly called on him not to do this, followed by calls from political leaders from around the world.  Jones said he might not burn the Qurans if U.S. President called him.

After traveling to New York and speaking with President Obama, Jones said "there's no longer a need to actually set fire to anything."  He declared that his church would not burn the books, "Not today, not ever."

On 20 March 2011, Jones and another pastor put the Quran on trial (International Judge the Quran Day) and burned it in front of thirty people in Gainesville.  He denied breaking his earlier pledge, saying the the pledge was about International Burn a Koran Day.

On 1 April 2011, Islamic protesters in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan attacked a United nations office. Three foreign United Nations workers, five Nepalese United Nations guards, and four of the protesters died.  Two of those killed were beheaded.  Eight-one other persons were injured in the attack.

The Quran burning was also cited as the cause of an attack at a Catholic Church in Pakistan in March, 2011.

A Pakistani Islamic court has declared a fatwa against Pastor Jones, offering $2,200,000 for his head for desecrating the Quran.

Many are blaming Pastor Jones for the violence, injuries, and deaths and he bears a large part of the blame.  The response to his action seems irrational and disproportionate to many.   U.S. President Barack OBama responded to the incident:

"The desecration of any holy text, including the Koran, is an act of extreme intolerance and bigotry.  However, to attack and kill innocent people in response is outrageous, and an affront to human decency and dignity. No religion tolerates the slaughter and beheading of innocent people, and there is no justification for such a dishonorable and deplorable act.”

The entire incident could have been avoided if Pastor Jones had iust read and obeyed Romans 12:18.

"If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men."

What They Think Of Us: Bill Maher about U.S. President Barack Obama

The United States Midterm Elections Are Tomorrow

International readers of this blog may or may not be aware that tomorrow, Tuesday, 2 November 2010, the United States will be holding its “midterm elections.”  This means that these elections are coming at the middle point of the four year term of the current president, Barack Obama.

We have a bicameral (“two-house”) legislature, composed of The Senate and The House of Representatives.  Senators are elected for six year terms.  The senatorial terms are staggered so that, every two years, approximately one third of the seats come up for election.  The seats held by the United States Representatives are open for election every two years.

The significance of this current election is that there is a very real possibility that the opposition party, the Republicans, may take control from the current majority party, the Democrats, of one or both houses of the legislature.

I do, of course, have a position on this, but that is of no consequence here.  This posting is to address the question of political involvement by Christians.  Some say that Christians should have no political involvement at all, not even to vote.  Others have enthusiastically jumped, feet first, into the political system and come dangerously close to implying or even saying that there is a “true Christian” political stance.  Some even identify the political party which they say is Christian.

The first Christians existed under a worldwide political system, the Roman Empire, which brought peace and uniformity to most of the known world.  It brought modern roads, bridges, and other infrastructure, laws, and a system of justice.  It did this by bloody conquest, brutal suppression of dissent, eradication of entire cultures, and slave labor.  The system favored and rewarded the rich and the powerful and was corrupt from top to bottom.  Christians and other minorities who were even suspected of disloyalty were openly persecuted.   

Listen to what Paul said about it. 

“Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:  For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to [execute] wrath upon him that doeth evil.  Wherefore [ye] must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.  For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.  Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute [is due]; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.” Romans 13:1-7.

 Paul did not stutter or equivocate.  He was giving an interpretation based on what Jesus had earlier said.

 The Pharisees opposed Jesus.  They tried by flattery to put him off his guard and soften him up for their real intent, a figurative knife in the ribs.  The asked him a question to which either answer they anticipated would have enraged someone.  As he always did, Jesus did the unexpected, turning their figurative knife blade back at them.

“Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in [his] talk.  And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any [man]: for thou regardest not the person of men. ⁷Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?  But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, [ye] hypocrites?  Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny.  And he saith unto them, Whose [is] this image and superscription?  They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.  When they had heard [these words], they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.” Matthew 22:15-22

 Whose picture was on the coin?  Who had it in their pocket?  Why was it in their pocket?  Did they control it or did it control them?

 The Christian faith is full of paradoxes; things which seem to be mutually exclusive, but which both are true.  This is one of them.   Jesus linked and separated the Church and the State.  His message on this: My Kingdom is first but because you belong to My Kingdom, you must fulfill your duties to theirs.

 Government did not give us God, God gave us government.  We can’t advance the Kingdom of God by politics, but we can use politics instead of letting it use us.  Taking personal Christian responsibility for our votes and civic involvement we can honor God.

 Catholic Archbishop Charles Chaput says it well.  If, like me, you are a Protestant, read “Catholic” in the sense of The Church, the εκκλησία.

“First, all political leaders draw their authority from God. We owe no leader any submission or cooperation in the pursuit of grave evil. In fact, we have the duty to change bad laws and resist grave evil in our public life, both by our words and our non-violent actions. The truest respect we can show to civil authority is the witness of our Catholic faith and our moral convictions, without excuses or apologies.” Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M., Cap.

http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/politics/pg0228.htm 

We Live in a Bizarro World

His, or its, name is Bizarro, an imperfect clone of Superman, who lives on a square planet he created when he realized he could never fit on our strange world. Bizarro World is populated by imperfect copies of Earth's inhabitants and its culture is based on chaos and disorder, failure is celebrated, and stupidity is highly respected. To a Bizarro, ugliness is beautiful.

The character is used in the Superman comic book universe to make statements about us and our illogicalities and absurdities. We live in a Bizarro World where the popular culture is more interested in parties, or in mixed drinks, or in getting as much unencumbered sex as possible, and in casual drug use, than it is in what is happening in Darfur, or in Colombia, or in the international sex slave trade. More people know about the latest happenings in the lives of Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton than can name a single person in U.S President Barack Obama's cabinet.

In the DC Comics compilation trade paperback, Superman: Escape from Bizarro World, one of the stories is the 1984 tale, "The Mark of Bizarro."  Bizarro Superman grows weary of fighting his Bizarro clones of Earth's superheroes (the Bizarro Justice League) and decides to create a supervillain.  Bizarro Flash tells him, "Hah!  You beat us all up again, Bizarro Number One ... so naturally, you lose!"

Bizarro creates Bizarro-Amazo, a clone of a villain who almost defeated the real Justice League by stealing their superpowers.  In true Bizarro fashion, Bizarro-Amazo returns his stolen superpowers to the members of the Bizarro Justice League.  This makes him the greatest super-villain: having no superpowers.  When Bizarro Number One reminds him that Bizarro-Joker and Bizarro-Luther also have no superpowers, Bizarro-Amazo decides to one-up them all and turns himself off.

The citizens of Bizarro World erect a glass case (cracked of course) in which they place the body of Bizarro-Amazo.  The last frame of the story has Bizarro Lois Lane looking admiringly at the encased body and saying, "No wonder everyone admire him!  Us merely think stupid ... him not think at all!"

B.H.O. Birthday

Today is the birthday of United States President Barack Hussein Obama, born 4 August 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii. We should all pray for him that he will be led in his decisions by the Holy Spirit.

Book Comment: The Church Ladies' Divine Desserts

The Church Ladies' Divine Desserts. Heavenly Recipes and Sweet Recollections (2001) is a cookbook compiled by Brenda Rhodes Miller. The recipes are for cakes, pies, cookies, candy, custards, puddings, frozen delights, sauces, frostings, fillings, glazes, and beverages. Sweet delight.

Along with the recipes are numerous biographical sketches of gracious Black Church Ladies (and one male pastor) who faithfully serve their churches, and have done so for years. The compiler, Brenda Miller, is the executive director of the DC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy and is the wife of a Baptist pastor.

The foreword was written by Dr. Dorothy Irene Height (b. 1912, Virginia - d. 2010), an educator and social activist who, for forty years, was the president of the National Council of Negro Women. In 1994, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and, in 2004, the Congressional Gold Medal. At her death, US President Barack Obama had the capitol's flags flown at half-mast to honor her.

Super Obama

This is not, never has been, and never will be, a political blog, so this is not a political post. This is a comment by a Christian man on a situation involving another Christian brother, President Barack Obama.

On 30 August 2009, I wrote about an Obama Christ painting on http://www.jesusoftheweek.com and said that, as a Christian man, President Obama should be offended by the picture and should be trying to discourage others from doing similar paintings.

Now, on http://www.stylinonline.com/barrackobama.html there is a posting of a Super Obama T-shirt by the artist Alex Ross. The painting depicts the President tearing open his business suit (just like Superman) to expose his superhero uniform underneath. On his chest, instead of Superman's "S" is a large red "O." It is well-known that Superman is considered to be a literary Christ figure.

I am aware that most people will just find the Super Obama shirt to be funny and will think nothing further of it. I suppose that I am holding President Obama to a standard to which he does not hold himself. I just wish he would make some sort of an effort to discourage this sort of thing.

This, and other issues, is discussed on the group blog (six writers), Holy Heroes, Religion in Comics. http://holyheroes.blogspot.com/. A warning: you will not agree with every post and some of the subjects discussed may offend you.

Obama Christ

     This is not, never has been, and never will be, a political blog, so this is not a political post.  This is a comment by a Christian man on a situation involving another Christian brother, President Barack Obama.

     People have fainted in rapturous states at Obama rallies, some have said that Jesus was also a community organizer, others have called him "the One," he is presented as Jesus in a picture posted on http://www.jesus of the week.com,  and The Nation of Islam leader Lewis Farakhan has openly called him the Messiah.  Evan Thomas, a Newsweek editor, declared, "I mean in a way Obama's standing above the country, above - above the world, he's sort of God!" All of this should instantly offend, horrify, and disgust any Christian and President Obama, as a Christian, should insist that it stop.  He is the President of the United States but he is just a man.