Faith & Politics
The following is an article Pastor Clay submitted & was partially used in the Pueblo Chieftain on Saturday, February 11, 2012.When it comes to faith, and politics, my belief is that faith is interwoven in every fabric of life, including politics. Unfortunately, we have come a long way from the statement made by the First Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, where he said we have an obligation to elect Christians to public office. Although that is not a welcome statement today, nor is it pragmatic, although it seems like most politicians try to appear "spiritual" while they are campaigning, with the hopes of obtaining the "Christian" vote.
As one who does believe the Bible to be the inspired Word of God, I do not accept the idea that Mormons are Christian, and Mormons themselves teach that Joseph Smith had to have his "revelation" because all of the Christian denominations had fallen away from the truth of God. (So in that sense, it is surprising that the Mormon church wants to be considered a Christian denomination, especially when its teaching are so contrary to basic biblical Christianity.)
Newt Gingrich professes to have had a conversion experience, asking Jesus Christ to be his Savior, and his life seems to be different than it was before that conversion. I can accept that.
Rick Santorum is a devout Roman Catholic who certainly seems to live out his faith without hypocrisy, but an Independent Baptist doesn't always see eye to eye with a Roman Catholic, either.
As for President Obama, his religious faith seems to be somewhat hostile to people of faith in general, reflected in his statement made when he didn't think he was being recorded, referring to "people who cling to their guns and their religion". By that derogatory statement, he is seems to be renouncing his own faith as unimportant to him…even though he sat under the preaching of Rev. Wright for 20 years, yet never heard any of the hatred coming from those sermons. Perhaps that's why the President's program of "Obamacare" forces medical people of faith to violate their faith by performing abortions on pre-born children, which is murder. If someone votes for a candidate who is in favor of taking the life of an innocent child, then that voter is also responsible for the life (lives) that are lost as if they actually performed the abortion.
Faith is important. I am a citizen of heaven, as well as the United States, and God wants His people to be the best citizens of this country that we can be, so it is essential that we be educated about the candidates. As a pastor, it is my duty to God to help people to understand the beliefs and the positions that the candidates hold, in light of what the Bible tells us is right in God's eyes. No candidate is perfect, nor will there ever be a perfect candidate. As a pastor, I do not tell people who to vote for or how to vote on certain issues, unless the Bible deals with that issue. Otherwise, that is a decision between them and God for which they are accountable.
Without some radical changes taking place, I could never vote for President Obama, due to the harm he has done to the country, so anyone running against him would likely get my vote.