“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than a sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
I’m not one to shy away from a debate on politics. I never let politics trump my faith and the Gospel, and I never use my platform as a pastor to share my view on politics or to try and push legislation towards my view. I will however, when given the opportunity or when a discussion is taking place, share my view on given subjects.
As we all know, the Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Senate Health Care Reform Bill last night. As I was surfing around on Twitter, I engaged in a few late night discussions on the topic, and then a few more this morning. I follow a lot of Christians on Twitter, and remarkably, I saw several diverse responses to the passage of the bill. Some point to Jesus and his teaching to care for the poor and the sick, while some others argue away the increase in taxes on the top wage earners in America to pay for it all, and then there are those who argue, that this is a bad rout to take as a Country for a list of reasons. I’ll reserve my thoughts for a potential future post…I’m not sure that I want to go there right now 
Here’s what has provoked this post, because this issue in itself is, in my opinion, becoming a bigger and bigger problem among American Christians. I’ve seen A LOT of people either in a straightforward way or in a suggestive manner say that we as Christians need to just accept this new law, because Romans 13 tells us to (paraphrased) “Submit to authority because all authority is from God…to rebel against authority is to rebel against God.” This suggestion and view of Scripture makes me shrill as if someone were taking their fingernails and running them down a chalkboard, here’s a couple of reasons why:
1. It reveals an ignorance about the foundations of our country: The United States of America is a Democracy in the form of a Representative Republic. Our authority is a document known as the Constitution. It is Government for the people, by the people. Our Senators, our Congresspeople, our Supreme Court Judges, and our President are NOT our authority. We are their authority. They are not to dictate rules and regulations to the people, rather they are to represent and enforce the will of the people and defend the authority of the land, the Constitution. We do not serve them, they serve us. Our American tradition is to give them honor and respect, but that should not be mistaken with authority. Our country is not a dictatorship.
2. It reveals an ignorance about the beginning of our country: To suggest that it is a sin or somehow against Romans 13 to speak out against a law that has been passed or to just “accept” what “is”, is to imply that the entire founding of our country was founded in sin. Our forefathers should have never picked up a rifle (they should have been content with oppression), the Pilgrims should have never boarded the first ship to flee persecution (they should have just accepted it), and we should all be speaking in a British tongue today (Because America would not be America). Who knows, maybe that is how you feel?
Romans 13 was instructed in a totally different political system than America. Maybe I shouldn’t be so surprised that people are interpreting it based on an American lifestyle and political system? America seems to be the filter in which we interpret the Bible many times. Romans 13 is definitely applicable in many situations, but not in this situation or in any debate concerning the laws of this land, it is up to our debate and our wills to form those laws. If the Democrats truly went against what the people said they wanted, and what polls said they wanted, it would not be the people ignoring Romans 13, it would be the politicians. There has been a huge movement in recent years for some people within Christianity to silence other Christians from sharing their political views. They complain “Christians are too political” – Yet, they will turn and loudly share their opposing viewpoint as they shame others into silence. We as Christian Americans have just as much voice as any other citizen, in fact it is our responsibility as citizens to be political, whether that voice is Independent, Liberal, or Conservative, we must share that voice with the character of Christ. That does not mean to sit back, accept what “is” and be silent. It means to stand up for what you believe in, while representing Christ well.
Popularity: 3% [?]
immediately started sharing their opinion’s about his choice. Some were praising the choice, while others started questioning whether or not Barak properly vetted Joe Bidden. Why all of the questions? Well, Joe Bidden has a history of saying things that are not so popular or proper. He made what could be considered as racist remarks about Obama, saying he was the first ‘clean’ ‘articulate’ African American in contention for the democratic parties nomination, he said that ‘you have to have a little Indian accent to go into a Seven-Eleven convenient store…I’m not kidding,’ as well, he point blankly said that his now running mate was lacking the experience needed to be President and that the office of President was not the place for ‘on the job training.’ Biden later blasted Obama’s lack of foreign policy experience and comments he made concerning Pakistan and Iran. The fear for democrats who support the election of Barak Obama is that something will come out about Biden or that he will say something that could potentially ruin Barak’s chances of being elected.
What if, John Edwards was the chosen running mate for Barak Obama, and Obama chose to select Edwards as his running mate 1 month ago? The experts this weekend were saying that some candidates are not vetted as much as others because they have already been vetted as Presidential candidates, therefore they feel that Biden may have had less vetting than someone who did not run for President this year, but what if the same process had been taken with Edwards? The recent news about Edwards’ affair would have sunk Obama’s ship, as would any issues with Biden if they were to come about.
there anything in my life that if it were discovered would potentially embarrass my God, my family, my church, or my employer? You are probably familiar with 
