Will No One Rid Me Of This Turbulent President? 04/26/10 Peter B. Steiger Disclaimer: I don't especially like the current President, and I think a lot of his policies cater to his friends and special interests without the best interests of the citizens at heart. The funny thing is, no matter what year you read this and what administration is in power, the above statement will still be true. Lately the following has been circulating in email and on Facebook: God last year, you took my favorite actor, Patrick Swayze. You took my favorite actress, Farrah Fawcet [sic]. You took my favorite singer, Michael Jackson. I wanted you to know my favorite president is Obama. It's funny, see, because if we have figured out that God is taking away all our favorite people, we can fool him into killing someone we don't like by claiming that person is our favorite too. Except it's not funny at all. There is so much wrong with this story, it's going to take me a while to sort it all out. I'll start by hitting you over the head with my Bible. It's a Thompson Chain Reference, whatever that means, using the NIV translation. So when I thump you with it, it might bruise a bit. In Luke 6:27-31 Jesus tells us: 27 "But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you. Meanwhile over in Romans 13:1-5 Paul says: 1 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4 For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. My reading on this is, it just ain't nice to even joke about praying for someone's death because you think he's a bad president. You don't just love on your friend you see at Wednesday evening Bible study every week. You don't just love on the cute girl in the choir. You love people you don't like, and if they have been placed in a position of authority, you add to that obedience and respect... not because they're the same political party as you, but because God placed them in authority for a reason. I understand, it's "only" a joke. Hopefully nobody passing that around seriously believes God will strike the President dead, or even seriously wants that to happen. But you know what? Joking about a wish for someone's death rarely falls in the category of loving and blessing that person. If you know me at all, you know that I'm the class clown. I'm the first one to break everyone's concentration on a serious subject with an inane joke about the lesson or an awful pun. I'll even call my best friend an idiot... with my arm around him and a big grin on my face, because he knows from my behavior that I do love and respect him and the name calling really isn't anything I mean. He also knows he's free to call me an idiot right back, and then we laugh and watch a football game together. I would never use that same attitude with a person I am not on friendly terms with. I hope you can see the difference. Moving right along, I also take issue with the whole concept of turning prayer life into a joke. If you're not a believer in prayer go ahead and skip this section; now I'm lecturing my brothers and sisters who share my beliefs. What does that say to our attitude towards God and the one means of two-way communication He gave us, that we would trivialize it by using it to make a joke about politics? Here we are at the throne of God, in the presence of the Creator of the universe, and we say "Please kill this person... ha ha, I'm only joking!" Tell you what, next time you feel an urge to do that give me fair warning so I can get out of range of the lightning bolts. On a larger scale, it disturbs me to see such hostility among people who say they are Christians, towards opposing political groups. I see petty name-calling, comparisons to Hitler, slanderous accusations without a shred of fact behind them, and great glee taken when those opponents suffer personal misfortune. If you have ever done any of that, go back and re-read the excerpt from Luke 6 that I started off with, and tell me how it applies here. I know it sounds crazy, but what do you think the world would be like if we all spoke and acted as the Christians our Lord desired?