One of the great things about interactive blogging is that, even when you don’t have good thoughts, your readers will. On Monday, Robert Smelser wrote: “…politics encourages behavior that is firmly not Christ-like from Christians. I Timothy 5:22 wars us not to cooperate with the sin on another, but look at how quickly we will spread lies about a candidate we don’t like. “Obama is a Muslim! We don’t know where he was born! He was sworn in on the Koran! Etc.” We become like the example in James 3:9-12 where we allow blessings and curses to flow from the same mouth. We set aside our Christianity to condemn another with lies and half-truths.” His words seem prophetic now. On one Christian mailing list yesterday, one member sent message after message of what can only be called muck. No discussion of issue. Almost no message that was true or fair in its entirety. And he remained unrepentant because of how bad he perceived the candidate he was maligning to be. The end justifies the means. I wish I could say this man was unique, but I’ve seen the same hateful messages coming from other Christian sources.
Bobby Ross posted this link yesterday: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/12/AR2008101201966_pf.html. It’s a good read, reminding us that politics in America have always been dirty. But does that excuse that kind of behavior by Christians?
Our political discussions damage the relationships between brothers. They create barriers between us and outsiders. (I’ve heard it said, “You have to be Republican to attend that church.”) Our mishandling of the truth in political discussions leads the world to distrust what we say in other areas. We lose our Christian testimony. Is it truly worth it?
I say no.