During the course of an election year, one is used to coming
across all sorts of surprises. Often it’s some sort of a vocal
gaffe like, “I actually voted for the $87 billion before I voted
against it.” Sometimes it is a photo; say, of a candidate posing in
the turret of a tank, or maybe in what looked for all the world
like a powder blue bunny suit.
So far, the list of 2008 doozies is short, although the campaign
season has thus far been excruciatingly long. There’s been the
Barack Obama middle name controversy as well as a photo of him
dressed as a Muslim tribal chief, and a few Hillary Clinton crying
jags. But to me, the winner so far has got to be Barack Obama’s
revelation that his support for same-sex unions is justified by the
Sermon on the Mount.
Yes, that Sermon; the same gift of love given us by our Savior
as a roadmap to the virtues which, if followed to the letter, can
neutralize the Seven Deadly Sins and lead us through the narrow
gate to life eternal. Senator Obama, in his Pauline attempt at
being all things to all people, defended his support of
legitimizing homosexuality by pronouncing the following in Ohio on Sunday:
If people find that controversial then I would just
refer them to the Sermon on the Mount, which I think is, in my
mind, for my faith, more central than an obscure passage in Romans.
That’s my view. But we can have a respectful disagreement on
that.
Now, many politicians have tried to pilot their way through the
stormy seas of Christian America by quoting the Bible or, in the
case of some, merely carrying one. Who can forget erstwhile altar
boy John Kerry’s embarrassing invocation of James 2:14: “What good
is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no
deeds?” This from a man who’s a charter member of the “I’m
personally against abortion, but…” club. By their fruits you
shall know them, indeed.
Too many politicos will deny that public deeds must accompany
their faith, and cower behind the imaginary wall between church and
state. But Obama has taken this a step further; using faith as
license. Now this is nothing new among relativists and their ilk,
but for a major presidential candidate, and one who feels it
necessary to proclaim his Christianity daily, it is truly
remarkable.
THOUGH OBAMA FAILED to specifically identify chapter and verse from
the Sermon, it is assumed that he was referring to the warning to
“judge not, lest ye be judged.” This, of course, was spoken in
reference to the measure of mercy we will receive at the Final
Judgment and accordingly admonishes us to temper our earthly
judgments with mercy.
The “obscure passage in Romans” that Senator Obama referenced on Sunday
is, by the way, a great example of one of the many that is mostly
ignored by a great number of folks who find God’s commands
impossible and inconvenient. It goes further than calling
homosexuality a sin; it reveals that homosexual acts are in
themselves the punishment for turning away from God:
They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and
worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator — who
is forever praised. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful
lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural
ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with
women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed
indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due
penalty for their perversion.
To suggest that the Sermon on the Mount’s admonition to avoid harsh
judgments in this world contradicts God’s commandments concerning
sins against Him, comes perilously close to blasphemy. Should this
idea — that we are to make no moral judgments — reach its likely
conclusion, the rule of law, as it was originally conceived in this
country, would crumble in a few short years. Yet, the notion that
public officials should divest themselves of faith in performance
of their duties is growing.
A speech given by Obama in 2006, where he discusses the
theological beating given him by Alan Keyes on the Illinois
campaign trail in 2004 illustrates the point:
I answered with the typically liberal response in some
debates — namely, that we live in a pluralistic society, that I
can’t impose my religious views on another, that I was running to
be the U.S. Senator of Illinois and not the Minister of
Illinois.
Later on in that same address is the real kicker, and one that
should give all Christians pause. In a single paragraph, Obama
perfectly illustrates all that Jesus said concerning the
differences between His followers, and those of “the World”:
At some fundamental level, religion does not allow for
compromise. It insists on the impossible. If God has spoken, then
followers are expected to live up to God’s edicts, regardless of
the consequences. To base one’s life on such uncompromising
commitments may be sublime; to base our policy making on such
commitments would be a dangerous thing.
Lisa
Fabrizio is a columnist who hails from Connecticut. You may
write her at mailbox@lisafab.com.
