warning: long, political and religious rant.

as i walked to my car this morning, the sun was shining and the weather was just about perfect despite the fact that it was raining, which came from a tiny portion of the sky that was dark. but the contrast between dark and light was linked by a brilliant rainbow. i stood beneath my bright yellow umbrella and gazed at it. and it filled me with such peace. did you see it?

i've kept quiet during this election. now's my time to talk. i am appalled at the way that so many christians are thinking and acting and pushing. i have never seen a campaign run with such fear. i've seen fear mongering tactics rise up during campaigning and i've seen religious friends of mine live in the fear of McCain not winning...and now that he hasn't, i've seen this overwhelming fear that the world is going to hell.

fear.

remember in the bible where god says that we are not supposed to fear? and that fear does not come from him? what does that say about the republican tactic of using obama's middle name when they referred to him, and sarah palin's allocations that he pals around with terrorists? the party's constant reliance on perpetuating fear and using it to manipulate people into a vote.

as the weeks to election day grew fewer, i received several emails from christians asking me to pray about my decision on who i'm voting for. some sent prophecy...saying that if obama is elected, nothing good would come of it. yesterday, i received an "urgent" prayer chain request asking me to pray that the person who god wants to be president would win. i can pray for that. but then, the prayer email went on to specifically mention McCain. asking god to put favor in the hearts of americans so that they would vote for the republican ticket. seriously? that's not how god works. that's a prayer with an agenda. it's not about caring what god wants. it's about caring what you think god wants.

do people REALLY think that the reason obama won is because christians just didn't pray hard enough? or that people didn't really listen to who god wanted them to vote for? i know that god is in control of this world and that what happened is what he wanted to happen...what he knew would happen. it's all part of his plan, see.

does god really want four more years of war-lording, fear, and economic crisis? what DOES god want for america? and who WHO can stand up and say that they have heard directly from god and know, without a shadow of a doubt, that he wanted McCain. could people who strongly supported bush for religious reasons stand up today and say they made the right decision voting for him? i can't.

i am a christian. and i voted for obama. my reasons are many. and guess what, i'm pro life. i'm a pro life christian who voted for obama. and i am proud of my vote. i don't believe that government can successfully legislate morality. it just doesn't work. of course, they can make it harder for people to get abortions, but people still will. they can make it illegal for same sex couples to marry, but that won't change the fact that those couples are in love and plan to spend their entire life together.

see,the next four years is so much bigger than a woman's right to choose or a stance on gay marriage. it's about hope and future and picking this country back up, piece by piece, and putting it together again. it's about standing behind a president who "gets" america. it's about seeing why this god-forsaken war in iraq has gone on long enough. it's about realizing where threats lie and where they do not. it's about unity and not division.

"And God said, this is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. " Genesis 1: 12-15

god is so much bigger than this election.

a local pastor said the following, which i think is helpful:

I think what many Christians are starting to realize/discover/struggle with is that there is not one expression of Christianity. Theologically, that is not the case and certainly politically it cannot be the case. As evangelicals, we've been given a recent narrative that defines the parameters for us narrowly. From that standpoint, the shock value of discovering that Christians with deep and thoughtful convictions vote differently than ourselves is necessary and important.

we grow in our faith when we are pushed and challenged and pulled. we grow when we look deep inside ourselves to figure out what we believe matters to jesus. we grow when we are wrong. we grow when we are right. and we must cast each vote with fear and trembling (of god.) no matter who we vote for. we must revere god in such a way that we should feel that we've made the best decision in our vote. that we've come to a peace about what he wants us to do and who he wants us to vote for. but, we must, at the same time, admit our fallibility. simply, we could be wrong. and it is that very thing that makes us human.