I’ll be the first to admit it: evangelicals can be gullible.
That’s odd given the Good Book’s admonition to trust no man.
“Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit,
according to the tradition of men,” writes Paul (Colossians 2:8,
NKJV). That verse appears to have fallen on deaf ears when it comes
to Barack Obama.
Mesmerized by the kid from Honolulu, some evangelicals,
particularly young “moderates,” are tempted to break ranks and
defect to the Obama bandwagon. At least, that’s what media pundits
would have us believe. Polls still show that conservative
Christians favor McCain, but Obama is faring better
than Kerry did in 2004.
And no wonder. Obama’s campaign isn’t afraid to target more rural areas awash with religious voters.
Unlike past Democratic presidential nominees, he’s not schizoid
when it comes to talking about his own faith (which, admittedly, is
a clash between the bizarre and the watered-down). He’s even
set
up a website to lure young evangelicals into the fold.
Granted, Obama’s attempted coup of the evangelical right is
hardly a universal success. He continues to tick off conservative
mainstays like James Dobson, who can see past the senator’s rock
star persona and occasional biblical references to his liberal
core. But others are not so wise.
Rick Warren, for example.
The purpose-driven pastor is hosting a two-hour forum August 16
for both Obama and McCain. According to a Saddleback Church
press release, topics of the day will include “poverty,
HIV/AIDS, climate and human rights.”
What a lineup. Obama will have yet another opportunity to
espouse his Marxism-couched-in-religion talking points, and Warren
a chance to solidify his role as the “new evangelical,” concerned
more with global warming than abortion (it’s only the
slaughter of 47 million cellular globs, after all).
Warren says he’s organizing the event to bring light instead of
heat to the political process, but what’s the real message the
world-famous pastor is sending to evangelicals, many of whom
respect him as a legitimate, Bible-believing minister of the
gospel? It’s that Obama may be liberal on abortion and marriage
redefinition, but he’s still a great guy. Maybe you should even
vote for him.
The rub is that some evangelicals will buy the line, and Obama
is a master at delivering it. Take his speech at a Planned
Parenthood event last year. Appearing before an adoring
crowd that could barely contain its uproarious applause at several
points, Obama talked about his commitment to “choice,” but he
blunted his remarks by saying many pro-lifers are people of “good
will.” He also chided those who stand in the way of finding
commonality on the abortion issue.
“They want us to believe that there is nothing that unites us as
Americans — there is only what divides us,” he said. “They’ll seek
out the narrowest and most divisive ground. That is the strategy to
always argue small instead of looking at the big picture. They will
stand in the way of any attempt to find common ground…. Their
days are growing dark. It is time to turn the page.”
So, what would “common ground” on abortion look like in Obama’s
administration? He answered that question later in the speech. “The
first thing I’d do as president would be to sign the Freedom of
Choice Act,” he said, referring to legislation that would wipe out all state and federal
abortion restrictions, even the partial-birth abortion ban
supported by the vast majority of Americans.
Way to reach out, Barack.
Later, he showed again his magnanimous olive branch to
conservatives by pledging to gut federal abstinence education
programs and indicating that sex education for kindergarteners “is
the right thing to do.” After a pause, he qualified the statement
with the terms “age-appropriate” and “science-based” (I wonder if
Obama thinks those terms apply to Planned Parenthood’s explicit
website for
teens, crammed with how to’s on an assortment of sex acts?).
Such examples show Obama’s duplicity. He tries to snooker
evangelicals into believing he’s a different kind of candidate, but
when it comes to actual policy, he’s just as liberal as the next
guy. Even more so.
To some evangelicals, though, it won’t matter. He talks a good
talk, and that’s enough for them. Warren, for one, is doing his
part to give Obama a platform. It’s part of a strategy that might
work, given the current state of Christianity in America. Obama
might be the most pro-abortion presidential candidate ever
nominated, but that’s all right because he’s a smooth talker.
The Apostle Paul gave us a warning about something like that, if
we stopped to read our Bibles as the minister of change exhorts.
