Dr. James Dobson from Focus on the Family, and others of the very Conservative Christian Right, are losing their power. Not every Evangelical, or every former Republican, or every Christian, is allowing them to speak for them anymore. That's good news for all of us Christians, and everyone who isn't a Christian, and for everyone in our country. Their votes and their public speaking, which they considered Christian, helped get our country into this mess - the war, the economy, the environment, the corruption and deceptions, the lack of justice and lack of respect for the Constitution - well, we all know the long, long list! All done by the man they - yes 'they' - elected because they thought he was such a strong Christian. All done by the voters who thought that America should be a more Christian nation, and voted for Bush because he bore the right title.
If you don't think that Dobson speaks for you, there's now a new website called www.jamesdobsondoesntspeakforme.com. There's many other organizations giving a place for Christians who make their voices heard, including the Matthew 25 Network Political Action Committee, that takes Matthew 25 far more seriously than Dobson does -- when God will assemble the nations at the Last Judgment and judge them according to how they took care of the poor and needy and the stranger and the sick.
Unfortunately, many on the Conservative Christian Right still make judgments based on two issues -- abortion and homosexuality. Their score card seems a bit tipped, considering how often they love to quote the Bible. What does the Bible say about these issues?
Abortion: Zero. Zilch. None.
The closest verse is Numbers 5:12, which seems to be for abortion, depending on what Bible translation you use. There are some verses about the sanctity of life, but since most conservative Christians do not have a consistent life ethic -- meaning they aren't against war and against capital punishment, nor are they for any governmental help for the family to help with the an unwanted child -- it's difficult to make a strong case that they are getting this stand from the Bible. And since this stance began to be popular during Reagan's White House election, it's not a stance with a long history.
Homosexuality: Six verses that are quite specifically about homosexuality.
All of these verses are about degrading sexual practices and none about loving
homosexual relationships or about homosexuality as identity.
A Nation should care for the poor and the needy: About 600 verses.
Most are ignored by the Christian Right, who believe that charities and the church and individuals should help the poor and the needy, not the government. As a result, the Christian Right refuses to make legislation that would help those in need. Unfortunately, they're not doing well on their own. They haven't yet fixed New Orleans, or Kansas, or Iowa, or the problems with the returning vets, or the mortgage crisis or unemployment or the economy. They insist that only they are the ones to help, but are uncaring, ineffective, powerless, or all of the above.
Caring for creation -- the environment: A minimum of 20 verses.
One could make a case that any of the 50-100 verses about creation imply that we are to care -- as God has cared.
Against War: About 150 verses about peace.
The Christian Right doesn't even mention these verses, nor the most important -- about the "blessed peacemakers". They seem to have no awareness of the possibility of peace, or of diplomacy, and their candidate believes that diplomacy and surrender are the same thing.
Most Progressive Christians do not believe every letter and verse in the Bible, but the fundamentalists, conservatives, and literalists tell us they are following the Bible and therefore can't vote for a Democrat. Perhaps it's time they check their translations before they get our country into even more trouble!