- by Alan Adaschik

To call yourself a Christian it is necessary to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. This is the litmus test for Christians and to deny the divinity of Christ is to deny Christianity. Beyond this, being a Christian means that you mirror God in your thoughts, actions, and daily life. God, above all things is Truth. There is nothing false or hidden about God. God also embodies three spirits which we call The Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost. Mirroring this trinity are the three fundamental aspects of God’s truth; love, tolerance, and forgiveness.

There you have it. True Christians accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, but also strive to be a reflection of God in mind, body, and soul. First and foremost, Christians never lie. Lies are anathema to God and a reflection of Satan. Christians also love God and all other people as they do themselves. Because they love others, they are tolerant of them and show other people respect even if they are not Christian. Finally, they forgive others for their transgressions.

In the Daytona Beach New-Journal, it was reported that 78% of all Born-again Christians voted for George Bush as President of the United States. This vote is alarming for several reasons but the most compelling one is that these Born-again Christians have chosen a man to be their leader and the leader of this Nation who reflects none of the values that define being Christian.

The stock and trade of George Bush is that he is a liar. He used subterfuge and lies to lead this Nation into war and subterfuge and lies to defeat his opponent in the recent presidential election. This alone disqualifies George Bush from the ranks of Christianity. But beyond this his lies are bringing death, destruction, and mayhem to millions of innocent people throughout the world. A man who does such things is not a Christian, but instead, is doing Satan’s work. Furthermore, as far as love, tolerance, and forgiveness are concerned, you do not love people if you hate and kill them and you are not tolerant and forgiving if you subscribe to the non-Christian notion that if someone is not with you, they are against you. Such a doctrine is not only un-Christian, it is un-American as well.

All of the above being true, why did so many Born-again Christian vote to keep George Bush in the White House? Simply put, because he supports their political agenda and that agenda is to make this Nation reflect Christian values. In consideration of what Christian values are, this should be a good thing, but left unsaid is that the Born-again Christians want to codify their perception of Christian values in civil law. There’s the rub. Anyone who subscribes to the notion that Christian values should be codified into civil law is both un-Christian and un-American.

God wants people to come to Him freely, willingly, and without compulsion. This being true, codifying God’s laws, if you foolishly wish to call them that, into man’s law offends God and is repugnant to Him. And as much as it may surprise you, this includes abortion and murder. Proof of this is when Jesus said, render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and render unto God what is God’s. During his time in this world, Jesus never once spoke out against the brutality of Roman Rule or the dismal institution of slavery even though many of his followers wanted and expected him to. Why? Because man’s law is irrelevant to God and works at cross purposes to everything that God stands for.

In conclusion, 78% of Born-again Christians supported George Bush for re-election even though he is anything but Christian because of a shared political agenda that is anything but Christian. Truly, a Christian Political Activist is an oxymoron because the moment one turns to man’s law to do God’s work, that person offends God and has turned away from Him.

Civil law is a set of rules enforced by the barrel of a gun. We tolerate the abomination of civil law because we all fall short of the Christian ideal and some of us, unfortunately, also fall short of being human beings. However, Christian ideals should never be the basis of civil law, because civil law applies not only to Christians, but to everyone. Those who strive to make civil law reflect Christian values are not being Christian because what they really are trying to do is make others conform to their way of thinking through the power of the State. Logic and reason alone should be the basis of civil law. To hold otherwise is un-Christian and un-American.

P.S. Does anyone recall that a church is supposed to lose its tax exempt status with the IRS when it engages in political activity? Do you think that any will under George Bush’s leadership when he has forged political ties to the fundamentalist Christian movement and they were instrumental in getting him re-elected? What is the cost, both monetary and otherwise, that this nation will have to pay because George Bush now owes the “religious right” a favor?