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Thursday, December 06, 2007
Marvin Olasky :: Townhall.com Columnist
Ignorant Journalists and Evangelical Voters
by Marvin Olasky
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Are Barack Obama's friends -- like Bill Ayers -- legitimate political issues?

As voters ask questions about religion, some journalists are challenging records for theological illiteracy. For example, on Nov. 29, Chris Matthews complained that a YouTube questioner asked GOP presidential candidates about their views of the Bible: "If there was a Jewish fellow up here, an Arab fellow up here, a nonbeliever, he'd have to say, 'I don't believe in the Bible.'"

Way to go, Chris: Three errors in one sentence. Jewish believers would not say that: They trust the Old Testament, which makes up three-fourths of the Bible. Some Arabs are Christians, believing in all of the Bible. Arab Muslims also believe in the Bible, when the Quran does not contradict it.

Religion flummoxes many reporters. Matthews and others complained about questions on faith in presidential debates because the Constitution states that there should be no "religious test" for federal office. That means it would be unconstitutional for a Mormon to be elected and then not allowed to serve because of his religious beliefs or for Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., to be forced to swear his oath on a Bible rather than on a Quran. But it's fine for voters to take beliefs into consideration.

And that's apparently what they're doing. Democrats are trying to tap into voters' religious interests: Barack Obama is bilingual in "Secularese" and "Christianese," but when Hillary Clinton tries speaking "Christianese," she sounds like me speaking French. That's one reason Obama is improving in the polls.

On the Republican side, conservative evangelicals supposedly are easily led, but this year, the followers are leading and the leaders are playing catch-up. Christian conservative political groups spoke of sitting out the election because none of the major candidates appealed to them, but now Mike Huckabee is on a roll and the "leaders" have to think twice.

Huckabee, like President Bush, is not as fiscally conservative as some would like, but his eloquence is important. He fares well in comparison to Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson, who have organizational clout but little more.

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About The Author
Marvin Olasky is editor-in-chief of the national news magazine World, provost of The King's College, and a professor of journalism at The University of Texas at Austin. For additional commentary by Marvin Olasky, visit www.worldmag.com.
 
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Reply # 1
Date: Dec 10, 2007 - 2:36 PM EST
Subject: Reply to ColinCody 2
"To evangelize our citizens on the basis of his Calvinist views of salvation would do them a great disservice as they would still be pagans...only pagans who think they are Christians and thus far worse off than before."

Surely you have been a theologian long enough to know a Calvinist would replace "his Calvinist views " with "your Arminian [sp?]views" in your quote and throw it right back at you. Which is an example of an important idea I would like to address-

I find it amusing that many Christians and Christian evangelicals who make up dozens of denominations and hundreds of theological views want the country run according to "Christian" values, but cannot agree even among themselves exactly what those values are. Evangelical Christians are the most fractured and splintered group of Christians BECAUSE our different views on theological issues, but then think of themselves as a cohesive voting block for a particularly “godly” candidate. We are not.

You will be hard pressed to convince me that a “Christian Nation” based on legislation by elected officials will somehow contribute to the genuine conversions of new believers. Places where conversions are happening the most are in Africa and Asia–places where the governments are openly hostile to Christianity. We already live in a pagan society, and I don’t see any election result changing that.

The only Biblical example I can think of is King Josiah who punished pagan worship by the sword during his reign. {2 Chronicles 34:4-7} Apparently his biblically based rule did not change anyone, because it was DURING his reign that Jeremiah began preaching that Israel would be destroyed and held captive for its disobedience if it did not repent. Josiah’s own son (married to Jeremiah’s daughter) was an evil king. {2 Kings 23:32.} His political environment had little influence on him.
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Reply # 2
Date: Dec 10, 2007 - 2:34 PM EST
Rely to ColinCody 1
You sighted no chapters or verses in reference to a command "as citizens to vigorously partake in our nation's political life". You did not cite any Biblical examples of any Christian doing so. This is a point I was making with a previous post beginning with what EXACTLY does the Bible say about Christians and politics?

"He [MacArthur] thinks we can put our nation back on the right track by converting the majority of people to Christianity; therefore, being politically active is a betrayal of our primary responsibility to evangelize. "

You assume far too much. Nowhere does he say it is the job of Christians to get the country back on track. He believes that evangelism is what we are commanded to do. He essentially said it is the hearts of men that is God's focus, and not our political atmosphere. If that is God’s primary focus, it should be our primary focus. He never said we could not or should not vote, but the argument of a clear Biblical command for something resembling political activism does not exist.

I think it is also noteworthy that the only government designed by God and recorded in the Bible (that of ancient Israel in the Old Testament) is not a representative democracy. As a matter of fact it in no way resembles democracy.

The New Testament is primarily focused on Church offices and ordinances, the daily living and hearts of believers, and preaching the gospel to all nations. Again, there is no reference to government beyond obeying which ever one you happen to live under. Written at time when the vilest of pagan tyrants were in power.
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