Who are you planning to vote for?

[TK]

we are not in a battle against non-christians, but we are in a battle against the enemy and his schemes.

greg boyd's comments have merit, but we should do as he suggests AND ALSO vote.

TK

[TK]

i wanted to add that the additon of new supreme court justices may be of utmost importance; what if a liberal court enforces an "equal time/fairness" requirement for radio programs? they've been talking about it for a long time. of course there are many issues that a liberal supreme court might wreak havoc with.

TK

[mbeckg]

I would vote for Ron Paul too.

[RickC]

On another Christian forum, TheologyWeb to be exact, they require that you have something about your political persuasion in your profile. I put: "Nonpartisan."

I have this for at least these reasons:
1) I'm not loyal to, nor registered with, any party.
2) I'm somewhat "apolitical" as a believer in that, my heavenly citizenship is my primary life-focus.
3) What political opinions I do hold aren't represented by any existing political party.

I'm undecided who to vote for or if I'll even vote: But probably will....

The following is a sketch of some of my thoughts about the "tickets" and politics in general.

Libertarian
I considered libertarian philosophy some time back and almost "converted," so to speak. The primary pluses were: "Let's not waste money" and "I don't want the government to tell me what to do." The serious negatives were: current crimes and/or dangerous behaviors or sins could be legislated as perfectly legal/legitimate. To name two: prostitution and drugs.

Democrat
My ideas on fiscal policy are more consistent with this party than any other. This party, traditionally, has been for the working class. That's me: "the working poor!" However, since the 60s, this party has become liberal on moral issues and essentially secular-humanist in orientation. If Democrats supported biblical values, they would have my vote in a heartbeat. Scot McKnight has said, "I tell my friends I've voted Democrat for years...for all the wrong reasons."

Republican
I've voted Republican since 1992. Reason: moral issues, not fiscal. I skipped 1988. Up till '92 I had always voted Democrat; the last vote being cast for Walter Mondale {V. Ron Reagan, 1984}. Mondale said, "I'll raise your taxes." Some say this harmed him a lot, which is true! I thought, "Hmmmm...an honest politician! He gets my vote!" I mean, where's the beef???

I had seen the rise of the Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority in the 70s; the "religious right" movement that's with us today. It was, and is, a good thing in that it got evangelical Christians more involved with society. It was, and is, not such a good thing in that I believe the Republican Party has been pandering to theologically conservative Christians just to get votes. Carl Rove was the strategist on how to get the evangelical vote. The "moral issues" was among the things he baited evangelicals with. This isn't to say that Rove, and other Republicans, didn't believe as they did on the moral issues they brought into focus. However, now that our culture is becoming more and more "tolerant"...add-on the "evangelical left" movement: We now see that the moral issues that have been a major contributing factor in Republicans' winning elections aren't nearly as prominent in the Republican platform. To try to get votes, enter: Palin, moral issues on a lower VP level....

The South, up till the rise of the religious right phenomenon, had traditionally been strongly Democratic: the working class. Since about the time of Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority, relatively contemporary to the the Democratic Party's going immoral on morality, the South has gone predominantly Republican.

Nation-wide, I think evangelicals {they/we/me} got "suckered in" on "moral issues" by Republicans to a large extent. At the same time, the Republicans delivered to a degree: "partial-birth abortion" was stopped, and we have a conservative Judge {Roberts} on the Supreme Court.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

End this post musings

I don't want a dispensationalist president, should McCain win and pass away.

What business does a born-again Christian have on the filthy program: Saturday Night Live?
{which I don't watch...I saw this on the news}.

McCain has a great sense of humor. I like him.
He's also a war hero and the first candidate for Prez who was in the Viet Nam "war."
This is a persuasive factor for me: I'm a Vet too {it's a human "comradery" thing} and remember Nam quite well: I missed the draft by one month! Anyone who lived through what McCain did deserves honor on principle, imo. This doesn't qualify him for Prez, but it surely doesn't hurt....

I like Obama too. I think he's a sincere guy with a good sense of humor.
But he's "green behind the ears," especially compared to McCain. His relatively short history in politics makes me wonder how much "hype" is in his postmodern message; if it actually has any real "make a difference" substance. Obama's party, on one hand, is "THE Immorality Party" on abortion, and other moral issues. On the other hand, my views are compatible with the liberal "giving" aspect of the Democratic worldview wrt stuff like helping the poor {me: the working poor!}, and so on.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've stopped fellowshipping with some "Christian friends" who have kept sending me emails stating that Obama is a "closet Muslim," and an especially ungodly and dangerous one at that. After rebuking these people by email for this nonsense, they keep sending similar ones. As a result, I delete their emails and don't plan to visit them, nor their church(es). This is upsetting and sad.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lastly, I listened to "Bob Burney Live" on Columbus, Ohio's WRFD AM yesterday. Bob brought up an interesting and relevant point. He said, "If the Democrats win, it's a fore-drawn conclusion that Hate Crimes legislation, wrt homosexual issues, will become law." He went on to say how this could/would affect Christians directly, potentially making it illegal to say homosexual practice is a sin. Bob may have a good point, though I think that there would {or at least should} be a Religious Clause in such legislation that would still allow for freedom of speech. However, this could possibly bring, or lead to, restrictions on what one could say in public; it might become "in church alone" or "restricted to clergy." It could lead to restrictions on what one could say in the work-place or in public at large, anywhere. I can't imagine having to request governmental permission, on any level, to be freed up to say what the Bible says. Or, what if a homosexual person were to ask what my beliefs about homosexuality was? If I said homosexual acts are wrong and sinful...I could be taken to jail....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks for reading, .
As officially "nonpartisan," I'm seldom all that interested in or talk about politics.

[TK]

they might also pass "the fairness doctrine"- then radio shows/stations like Steve G's might be in trouble. i dont know all the ins and outs of how this would work, it it ever is passed.

TK

[Paidion]

On another Christian forum, TheologyWeb to be exact, they require that you have something about your political persuasion in your profile. I put: "Nonpartisan."

I have this for at least these reasons:
1) I'm not loyal to, nor registered with, any party.
2) I'm somewhat "apolitical" as a believer in that, my heavenly citizenship is my primary life-focus.
3) What political opinions I do hold aren't represented by any existing political party.

I think all disciples agree with Rick that our "heavenly citizenship" is our "primary life-focus.

Nevertheless, I am a Canadian, and I AM a member of a political party. This doesn't necessarily mean that I'm "loyal" in the sense that I would always vote for the candidate representing this party no matter what. Many of my political opinions ARE in harmony with this party, but some are not.

Disciples of Christ will never agree in all deatils with ANY of the major parties (in Canada), or EITHER of the major parties (in U.S.A.). So does that mean they shouldn't vote? Not at all.
Surely there is one party which better represents your belief than the other(s)! If so, support that party, or even join it. Then vote accordingly. Doing so may prevent a government coming to power which will work very hard against the values we cherish.

[Joshua]

McCain.

One big reason is the possible appointment of new supreme court justices.

[livingink]

McCain

[darinhouston]

Obama skips church, heads to gym
By: Jonathan Martin and Carol E. Lee
November 23, 2008 09:01 PM EST

President-elect Barack Obama has yet to attend church services since winning the White House earlier this month, a departure from the example of his two immediate predecessors.

On the three Sundays since his election, Obama has instead used his free time to get in workouts at a Chicago gym.

Asked about the president-elect's decision to not attend church, a transition aide noted that the Obamas valued their faith experience in Chicago but were concerned about the impact their large retinue may have on other parishioners.

"Because they have a great deal of respect for places of worship, they do not want to draw unwelcome or inappropriate attention to a church not used to the attention their attendance would draw," said the aide.

Both President-elect George W. Bush and President-elect Bill Clinton managed to attend church in the weeks after they were elected.

In November of 1992, Clinton went to services in Little Rock, Ark., on the three weekends following his election, taking pre-church jogs on the first two and attending on the third weekend a Catholic Mass with the Rev. Jesse Jackson, with whom he was trying to smooth over lingering campaign tensions.

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In the weeks after the contested 2000 election, Bush regularly attended services at Tarrytown United Methodist Church in Austin, Texas, and Al Gore was frequently photographed arriving at and leaving church in Virginia.

On his first day as president-elect, following weeks of Florida recounts and court hearings, Bush went to church with his wife, Laura. They attended an invite-only prayer service on Thursday, Dec. 14, at Tarrytown United Methodist Church. About 300 people attended, including top campaign staff and visiting clergy. During the service, the Rev. Mark Craig, senior pastor at Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas, told Bush, "You have been chosen by God to lead the people."

Obama was an infrequent churchgoer on the campaign trail, though he did make a series of appearances in the pews and pulpits of South Carolina churches ahead of that heavily religious state's primary.

The issue of where he worships is, of course, fraught. For about two decades, Obama and his family attended Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ. But, with the public disclosure earlier this year of incendiary sermons at Trinity by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama and his wife, Michelle, in June resigned their membership in the large South Side congregation.

At the time, the then-Illinois senator said that he didn't want his "church experience to be a political circus" and expressed regret for the unwanted attention members of the congregation had received, noting that some reporters had taken church bulletins only to call sick members and shut-ins.

During the campaign, Obama returned to Chicago to attend the South Side's Apostolic Church of God on Father's Day Sunday to give a speech aimed at the black community on the importance of fatherhood and family.

A number of Washington, D.C., churches of different dominations and traditions are now competing to become the spiritual home of the new first family.

The Obama aide said the family "look[s] forward to finding a church community in Washington, D.C."

[Michelle]

but... the election is over...