I agree…both the Right and Left side can be quite ugly to one another….and I was simply giving one snapshot in a much larger picture…that of commenters on Facebook, and more specifically Christians.

I hear a lot of people saying “Well, they do this or that….or the liberals are rude, etc., etc.” Personally, when are we to set a standard for our own behavior in comparison to others? We aren’t. So regardless of the rhetoric out there, we are to response and move forward in a more loving, Christian way in my opinion.

Also, Tedd, you took your comment in much different direction than my post. I appreciate your comments and that you took time to lay them out. You posted reasons why Obama shouldn’t be the candidate, or where he falls short. My post was not about why someone should or shouldn’t vote for Obama, but simply about the comments rolling on through Facebook status and the nature they had taken in the discourse. I don’t have a desire to get into reasons why I supported or didn’t support either candidate.

Ultimately, we must be very careful when we speak as if one candidate is more Christian, or is God’s candidate. Both candidates had inconsistencies in the Christian ethics I hope that I can live out….just as I have inconsistencies. Everything that one says about Obama, we could write up the same thing about McCain, just fill in the gaps with other issues.

There are a couple of great articles that have been published this last week that I think speak for many Americans.

I think the change will be good…he can’t fix our problems, but maybe we can all take on more responsibility as citizens.

http://www.conversantlife.com/politics/change-has-come-obacalypse-now

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-wallis/james-dobsons-letter-from_b_139253.html

I agree…both the Right and Left side can be quite ugly to one another….and I was simply giving one snapshot in a much larger picture…that of commenters on Facebook, and more specifically Christians.

I hear a lot of people saying “Well, they do this or that….or the liberals are rude, etc., etc.” Personally, when are we to set a standard for our own behavior in comparison to others? We aren’t. So regardless of the rhetoric out there, we are to response and move forward in a more loving, Christian way in my opinion.

Also, Tedd, you took your comment in much different direction than my post. I appreciate your comments and that you took time to lay them out. You posted reasons why Obama shouldn’t be the candidate, or where he falls short. My post was not about why someone should or shouldn’t vote for Obama, but simply about the comments rolling on through Facebook status and the nature they had taken in the discourse. I don’t have a desire to get into reasons why I supported or didn’t support either candidate.

Ultimately, we must be very careful when we speak as if one candidate is more Christian, or is God’s candidate. Both candidates had inconsistencies in the Christian ethics I hope that I can live out….just as I have inconsistencies. Everything that one says about Obama, we could write up the same thing about McCain, just fill in the gaps with other issues.

There are a couple of great articles that have been published this last week that I think speak for many Americans.

I think the change will be good…he can’t fix our problems, but maybe we can all take on more responsibility as citizens.

http://www.conversantlife.com/politics/change-has-come-obacalypse-now

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-wallis/james-dobsons-letter-from_b_139253.html

I was one of those people who twittered something along the lines of “I voted for McCain, but I will support and pray for Obama.” I think some people have gone too far with what they said, but why can’t we express our concern for the direction of the country. I am an open person and I don’t shy away from much. I wanted people to know who I voted for and why, but I also plan to do whatever I can to be a support to this country and its President.

I guess I am just tired of being told I voted for McCain simply because I’m a Christian and he’s a Republican. The truth is I voted for McCain because he doesn’t support murdering babies, semi-socialist ideals, redefining marriage, nor big government. Period.

I read both of your posts and several others like it over the last few days. I will grant you that it is wise to be careful how we speak, and some comments have been regrettable (if not downright unscriptural). However, what is greatly concerning to me is the fact that in all corners, comportment seems to be trumping convictions: including for Christians, which is astounding to me. You are correct that some comments have been unbecoming of Jesus followers, and I do not believe Obama is the Antichrist. But you seem to be artfully dodging the SIGNIFICANT differences that many Christians have with him ON THE ISSUES in favor of focusing on the reactions to his win. I think what you are seeing (and criticizing) is not lockstep conservatism, at least for everyone, but genuine fear. For several reasons.

1. Obama is not only pro-abortion but seems almost rabidly so. God help us if even CHRISTIANS see wholesale killing of the unborn as a “secondary issue” that we just wish no one would talk about! I’m not going to clutter this response with a bunch of links; just look up his voting record on the matter. And opposing parental consent at the very LEAST is unconscionable. Look also for links on the Born Alive Infant Protection Act (BAIP)–protecting newborn infants who somehow survive an abortionist’s efforts to kill them–and Obama’s rationale on not supporting such a common-sense measure. If you believe the Bible is true, how can you believe a nation will remain unpunished for not only killing its most defenseless citizens, but voting in those who see no problem in doing so with impunity? Or do we suppose that God’s changed a bit… gotten soft since He sent His Son for us, isn’t ticked anymore, and will just look the other way? In other words, is He less holy and therefore more tolerant of ungodliness than He used to be? It is not lost on me that Billy Graham, who has been a spiritual advisor to almost every president since Eisenhower, although urging fellow believers to pray for our new president in his difficult task ahead, has stated that he cannot be advisor to Obama because of his stance on abortion.

2. Support for the homosexual agenda and ENDA. This includes a private fundraiser at the GLSEN founder’s home in March 2008 at which he apparently assured one individual that the hate crimes bill could likely be passed into law. Similar laws have passed in Sweden and Canada, and have resulted in pastors being jailed for daring to preach on what the Bible has to say on the issue. Don’t think it could happen here? Don’t kid yourself. I don’t know many mature Christians who speak with hatred toward homosexuals; but although loving the person and disapproving the lifestyle are not mutually exclusive propositions, some people seem determined to say they ARE. One need only lodge a complaint of “hate speech” under proposed hate crimes laws to get pastors in a LOT of trouble, even when they are reaching OUT to the very community they’re accused of “hating.”

3 God holds nations accountable for their leaders (1 Samuel 8, 2 Samuel 24); how much more so if WE vote them in?

I disagree with a lot of the economic policies Obama espouses. Did you listen to his notions on taxation, and do you still believe charges of his having socialist leanings are entirely unfounded? I am concerned how much he talks about “change” without ever saying much about WHAT he plans to “change.” The Bolshevik Revolution was quite a “change” for Russia in 1917, but I don’t think that was a positive thing! I worry what his stick-it-to-the-rich approach, however viscerally appealing to those of us on the lower rungs, will do to an already damaged economy. So yes! I have concerns, no matter how much of an intelligent, good-looking, well-intentioned, nice guy he is. But his willingness to condone things I think it’s pretty clear the Bible condemns is what terrifies me.

I concede your point that there is still an undue amount of vitriol preceding and following this election. I myself am guilty of some of it–as I mentioned in a private post to you, I think getting TOO wrapped up in who won or who lost is evidence of our having forgotten (and I do sometimes) that this is our secondary citizenship to a far more long-lasting Kingdom. But while I do not [yet] see a Thought Cop around every corner, nor do I buy the notion that we should all just ditch the issues and chant with Rodney King, “Can’t we all just get along?” I think what we support and whom we support matters: and I will be doing my best to pray for our new president and the new country leadership, as Paul directs us to. But I am still very afraid of where he will take us… not because Obama himself can do anything to us outside of God’s sovereign will, but because God Himself certainly can. Unlike a lot of Americans, and American Christians, too, apparently, I don’t believe God places the happiness and prosperity of Americans above His stated expectations for people–individually, and as a nation. And knowing my own shortcomings and sinful inclinations as I do, that is enough to give me pause on both levels. C. S. Lewis said it well: “I have no patience for people who say they do not fear God ‘because He is good.’ Have they never even been to a dentist?”

Kyrie Eleison!
Tedd

So when is the buzz is about the transition team or Palin or Obama’s presser, you’ll see a graph showing the volume also which words its being cross-referenced with.

If interested, check out the site at http://AnOrangeAmerica.com

all awesome comments.

Tyler, I love your thoughts. It’s funny how we often have to qualify our choices to others.

Kyle: Yes, there was vitriol on all sides…the left is just as entrenched as the right.

Julie: sorry to hear that. we moved from LA after living there for 7 years, to Dallas…very different for us. Fuller is a great, great place..hang in there. It’s great seeing both sides at Fuller and getting to interact with such a wide variety of people.

rhett