Missing from our national debate: Love and Respect, on all sides!

Before I begin my blog for today let me share this with you. We are all flawed. We are all different. Unless you are descended from American Indians, then you, I, and all of us have either come from some other place on the planet and/or we are the children of people who were once known as rebels and revolutionists. It is Monday, April 19, 2010, and this is America, a land where we are privileged to express our heartfelt thoughts, ideas, and opinions. For those who read my stuff on a regular basis, you have no misgivings about where I stand on political issues, our identity as a God fearing nation, and our historical founding that has provided the blessings of God on our land. However, as I talk with folks here and there, and as I listen to what is being said, it is clear that our disagreement with others can often lead us to vilify them and to impugn their character and their motives. Our current President identifies himself as an African American. I believe him to be on the opposite end of where I am in terms of what this country is all about. I oppose any and all efforts to make us into a socialist society. However, I do not reject him as a person and I refuse to entertain racial slurs about him or his family. To me, folks who traffic in this kind of hateful trash embarrass all points of view, they are not reflecting Christian values, and they should be ashamed of this form of personal character assassination.

President Obama is, in my opinion, wrong about what is needed to get America back where she belongs. He is not wrong because of the color of his skin. He is wrong, in my opinion, because he fails to honor the Godly principles that have served us since our founding. It's okay for us to be fierce in our defense of these differences but it is never okay for me to slam him as a man, to make fun of him because of his race, or to poke fun at his family in order to help me win an argument. We are only human and having these strong differences can become heated. That's understandable since the stakes are so high. But when heat becomes hate we have crossed a line that violates God's mandate to us that we are to love our enemies, (Jesus speaking in Luke 6), and to pray for and support the government ordained by God during whatever time period we are living, (Paul's letter to the Romans, Chapter 13). How can we be clear in our opposition while also honoring the calling God has placed on our lives? We can start by our awareness of how easy it is to cross the line and that we should go out of our way to make clear our position regarding these Scriptural mandates even as we voice our opposition to policies and programs that we believe fail to honor the God who made us the nation we are.

I must tell you that I receive far too many emails that have a denigrating tone regarding individuals with whom we disagree. Please don't send those to me. They do not honor God and they do not advance the cause of our argument against the march of socialistic policies. They end up being mean spirited that are neither humorous nor enlightening. This doesn't mean we should be silent. This does not mean we should be passive. We have been given the responsibility to operate our lives in the time continuum that God has placed us in, with all the rights and privileges He has provided to us, therefore, we should exercise these rights by our voice and our vote in seeking to see our nation be one that acknowledges God. How can we not speak out against the killing of babies? How can we not speak out when laws are established that 100% contradict the clear laws of God? How can we not speak out when our nation adopts a worldview that proclaims there is no God? We can't be silent but we can be light and love into this world of darkness and hate. May God help me to speak out even more but to do so with an understanding that we are all sinners in need of the love and forgiveness of a Holy and Righteous God. Have a great day and go ahead and think about these things, it will do a body good! Amen. .....More later.