Dr. Voddie Baucham, Jr.
Today I sent out a divisive political and ethical email that I feel quite strongly about. I forwarded Voddie Baucham's Barack Obama: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing. I know that a lot of my Christian brothers and sisters would not like it, but nonetheless, I thought it is something that needs reminding.

I received the following email from a Christian friend of mine:

"Dear Rob,

Please remove me from your email list.

Senator Obama is a Christian. Senator McCain is not and does not want to be. Eight years ago, I heard from the Christian Right that the reason I should vote for George W. Bush was that he is a Christian. Only the Lord knows that for sure, if that is true. I do know that he has been responsible for some of the most heinous acts of violence in this young century. The motivation for this, was greed (control of oil resources). This is not how our Lord would have acted. Do you know how many innocent have died in Iraq? Do you know that one of the very first Christian congregations in the world (in Iraq) has been displaced from Iraq? Did you know that even under they tyranny of Saddam Hussein, the people had religious freedom, and now they now don't?

If we want the United States to be known as a Christian Nation, it should strive to act the way Christ would act. It does not. It does not support justice for the poor, instead it gives to the greedy (hoping they will share). The Bible contains over 300 on how we should treat the poor and the alien. In United States, we Christians ignore these passages because they make us uncomfortable. They are about giving to others - more than just a customary 10%. We even ask our Government for tax credits on that 10%. Truly, we receive our reward.

Yes, Senator Obama is pro-choice. I am not. But I am pro-poor. Senator McCain is neither. Have the last eight years of war, famine, oppression, torture, and erosion of rights done anything to promote the message of Christ? I think just the opposite. Americans are now more hated throughout the world and as a result, and in more danger. Hatred of Muslims is not Biblical, that that is what I hear from many of our number today. Senator McCain will further the oppression of the rich against the poor, which is something the Lord warned us about. He will continue the injustice that the Lord deplores. This is why most African-Americans will not vote for him.

==============================

Question: why do we (as Christians) not attack divorce instead of abortion? Did not the Lord devote many words to this subject? How many words did he devote specifically to abortion? Why doesn't the Christian Right attack this subject? Are not both sins? Divorce destroys the lives of everyone in a family. One sin is not worse than another, both cause separation from God. Could it be that it is because Christians partake in divorce at the same rate as the culture around them?

Abortion, though wrong, is not a sin that occurs primarily within the body of Christ. It is a sin of the culture around us. We are hypocrites! Lets take the Log (failure to support justice for the widows, orphans, poor, the aliens) our of our eye, then we can see clearly. Abortion (like any sin of the culture) should be attacked by spreading the Word, not by legislation. We are called to spread the Word, period.

If we concentrate on following our Lord and spreading his Word to the unbelievers, we will save many lives, including the unborn. We were not called to legislate, but to witness. Only He can change the World, not our government - it is corrupt. Legislation is viewed as oppression by the very people we want to bring to Christ. We don't want to witness, it is uncomfortable, legislation is easier.

For the last eight years, has our Government done anything about Abortion. No, and for very good reason. If the legislation were successful, we would not support the "Party of Rich". We know that our Lord would want us to have the same heart for the poor that he did.

Anne Coulter once said "If Democrats had half a brain, they would be Republicans." I quickly quipped the converse: "If Republicans had half a heart, they would be Democrats."

Thank God I am neither, my allegiance is not to this World but the World to come. I also thank God that He is neither.

But, I do know that the Lord would rather that I act with my heart, not just my head.

Black Christians, in our country, are not primarily supporters of the Republican party, even though they are anti-abortion. Ever ask yourself, "why"? Could it be reasons of social justice and the Republican party's failure to address the very issues that Christ addressed while on earth?

Followers of Christ, wake up! Yes, we are called to be good citizens, but are also called not to be of this World. Carefully consider your primary citizenship - is it of this nation (part of the World) or of Heaven and the new Earth? Are the two compatible? Ask the Lord, the Spirit within you can give you this answer.

Please Father, forgive us, we don't read and follow your Word, instead we play politics in the World!

Rob, even though I still love you, I cannot tolerate anymore attacks on Christian leaders that are trying to make good changes in the World. While Senator Obama is not perfect, I believe that through his policies, Christians will better be able to show Christ's love to a dying World. But since this country is "free", vote for the non-Christian if you like.

Please remove me from your list."


Here is my response:

"Remove you from my email list, but you still love me? Just don't want to hear my ideas? Don't get it. I love you and welcome your dissenting opinion.

We don't intentionally kill innocents in Iraq or anywhere else when we go to war. That's not our policy. If it happens, it's a war crime. I'd be willing to share my views with you on the love we showed in removing a horrendous tyrant from power, yes, even if we were also intending to benefit from it economically (which certainly hasn't happened yet as increasing gas prices indicate). I did an article in the UT Journal of Arts and Sciences that was just published for the 2006 edition on this very topic. I could send that to you if you're interested.

According to the U.S. Dept. of State site: "In 2001 the Secretary of State designated Iraq a country of particular concern under the International Religious Freedom Act for its severe violations of religious freedom. Iraq was similarly designated in 1999 and 2000." Of course now that a tyrannical regime is going into a full-functioning democracy it is naturally going to have dissidents who act against religious freedom. That's not the intent of the government, which we are fighting to establish.

So I really don't see how our intention to preserve freedom and life in a failed country is somehow supposed to make us desire a president who would work toward destroying it here at home. Jesus did speak of "weightier matters of the law," and it seems to me that without life, you don't have poor, rich, taxes, divorce, wars, etc. The intention to preserve life is basic. We can actually do something about that by putting a president in office who will put Supreme Court justices on the bench to uphold it. This is part of protecting life. Of course the word is important, but so is legislating to minimize the slaughter of innocent embryos, fetuses, infants, disabled, and elderly... and anyone else for that matter. Should we no longer have laws against murdering anyone? Should we not attempt to do all we can to minimize murder in any form? Protecting life in any way we can is a call to every Christian. We have more responsibilities than simply to witness.

Our government has banned partial birth abortion. It was signed by Bush in 2003 and upheld by the Supreme Court in 2007. He refuses to spend tax payer money on abortions or embryonic stem cell research.

I grant the problems America has, and they need to be dealt with. But I think you've got misplaced priorities. Further, you offered no explanation as to why McCain, who goes to North Phoenix Baptist, isn't a Christian other than he stands for a lot of GOP policies (he also goes against some of them too). If that's the case, then you probably think that anyone who is a staunch Republican is not a Christian. Is that right?

I'm all for helping the poor as Christian. In fact, my wife and I do just that. Of course we [are] commanded by our Lord to give and take care of the poor. I just have a philosophical and political difference with you on the best way to do that. I don't need big government to give our money to the poor. One of the reasons for that is that I think it's more effective without it being tied up with a bunch of red tape. You may disagree with that, but stop implying that the only way to be concerned about the poor is to be a Democrat. Again, this is a secondary issue to the fundamental issue of life. That is what is clear in scripture. You vote for Obama, and unintentionally or not, you vote for the intentional killing of innocents. That to me has the result of being fundamentally un-Christlike.

Your bro who doesn't want to be removed from you or your ideas,

Rob Sivulka"
President, Courageous Christians United
[email protected]

Add Comment
Rob Sivulka says... (Reply)
"The only disagreement I'd have with Voddie's article is calling Obama a "wolf." He may or may not be. Though I believe Satan certainly uses anyone voting pro-choice, I don't think this is identical to the individual intentionally taking innocent life. Christians often for one reason or another don't protect life, but that doesn't entail they are murderers. Voddie's article is important in getting Christians to see their misplaced priorities." (7/1/08)
Rob Sivulka says... (Reply)
"After another correspondence with my friend, I concluded with these two paragraphs:

"I really don't get your take on this whole GOP oppression of the poor issue. You don't like the way they deal with the poor, so that makes voting for someone who will allow babies to be butchered perfectly legitimate? It's really beyond me. Further, I never attempted to "baptize" the GOP. I claimed that you can still be a follower of Christ and have a different political philosophy than the Democratic Party as a better way to deal with the poor. You on the other hand sure seemed to demonize the whole GOP as a bunch of un-Christ-like oppressors of poor people. Even if that's the case, I don't see how this is supposed to legitimize the barbarism of legalizing the killing of innocents.

Take two of your kids as an example. If one of them took the other's toy, it would be totally unjust for you to stand by and let the other one kill the other for it. Of course you agree with this. You'd rather neither happen and you'd punish stealing and prevent the other from killing (even though you yourself act unjustly at times). If that's true, then what you are really looking for is a pro-life Democrat. Right? But since you can't have that, why do you go with the pro-choice one? Because punishing thieves is really more important than preventing killing?"" (7/3/08)