Thursday, May 17, 2012

Urban legend: Should Christians Support President Obama? A message attributed to Dr. David Barton on the Charles Stanley program

Biblical Historian Says He Does Not Respect President Obama-Fiction!
Summary of the eRumor:  This is a forwarded email that says Biblical historian David Barton was a guest on Charles Stanley's In Touch Christian television program on the topic of "Is the United States a Christian Nation[?]."  The email says that Barton said that although he respects the office of the President of the United States that President Obama does not deserve respect.The Truth:  A spokes person for David Barton told TruthorFiction.com that he was a guest on the In Touch program but the interview circulating on the internet was a fabrication.
I found this next quote convicting because it has hit me where it hurts:  Should Christians Respect Obama?  Renea McKenzie at  Probe Ministries disagrees with the message behind this e-rumor.
Respectfully, I disagree. The person who wrote this email didn’t say how to respect the office without respecting the person holding it. It may be possible to do so; however, I believe it is more important to respect people than positions. It sounds very noble to say, “I respect the office but not the man.” It’s like saying, “I respect my boss’s position of authority over me, but I don’t respect my boss.” But in my experience, this attitude makes it very difficult to “do everything without complaining or arguing.” That habit derives only from love. And love is expressed by subordinates to their authorities largely through respect (Eph 5:21–6:8; note especially 5:33 and 6:5).It is possible not to respect the positions the President holds and still respect the President as an Image-bearing human creation if nothing else. But this kind of generosity which derives from thinking Christianly (a Christian worldview) is not expressed in this email. The tone of this email conveys contempt, not respect. I’m particularly unnerved by the way the term “embodiment of Evil” was tossed out there. Calling liberals Satan incarnate is sensationalist at best and certainly doesn’t portray the high view of human dignity that Christianity gives us.
I know all this and am troubled over the way my blog runs counter to the Biblical injunction to always build up and never to tear down. But somebody please tell me how to remain silent and supportive when I see this administration bully average citizens and drive hate-filled wedges between segments of the American population. 
Every facet of my beliefs I see being denigrated by the left in Washington, academia, news media and the entertainment industry; people who have my convictions being ridiculed on every channel, called "extremists" in the halls of Congress and I cannot remain silent.
But I do realize that in the end, all will come out as our Lord has ordained and that he chooses who will rule over us. In the end, all that matters is that all will bow down before Him as King of Kings.
So my issue is still unresolved; I only know that - in the end - the good guys win.
The Tunnel Dweller

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