a letter to evangelical Christians

dear evangelicals,
i want to say first and foremost i count myself in your ranks. that is, i believe in Jesus and His call to spread the good news (evangelize). i am evangelical in the small e sense, like most of you. those of you who actually belong to the one particular denomination that is called evangelical w/a big e, i'm not a part of that. but, i am a part of the big evangelical umbrella of Christianity.

however, i feel like i have to let you know some things. neither candidate is perfect, neither represents everything you believe. and, neither vp candidate does either.

since many of you have jumped on the mccain/palin bandwagon, i did want to let you know somethings that may be passing under your radar.

first, torture is not a Christian value. (A) "poll of 600 Southern white evangelicals was released Sept. 11 in Atlanta in connection with a national religious summit on torture. It shows not only are white evangelical Southerners more likely than the general populace to believe torture is sometimes or often justified, but also that they are far more likely—to tweak a phrase from Proverbs—to “lean on their own understanding” regarding the subject." that whole, do unto others thing as they would have them do unto you seems to be glaringly absent here. oh yeah, that love your enemies thing Jesus said a few times might be considered as well. if you don't want al queda, russia, or whatever other group out there to torture our soldiers, then we've got to stop torturing people first. that's the thing about the golden rule, it's you treat others how you want to be treated...first. you set the example. and, then, if they don't respond how you want, well, you return their hate with love. turn the other cheek. forgive. so, unless you'r saying that you want other people to torture our soldiers, tell our gov't to knock that crap off.

second, you might want to check more into mccain's positions on things that you've been very vocal on, like homosexuality. although he is against gay marriage, he's recently reached out to the log cabin republicans and indicated that he's willing to lift the don't ask, don't tell policy. here's quote about mccain you might also find interesting, "We're pleased Senator McCain is not attending the Value Voters summit,' said Patrick Sammon, president of the Log Cabin Republicans." so, they're good enough to fight and defend your country, just not get married in it.

third, stop saying that palin is for abstinence only education. she's not. although a 2006 gubernatorial survey said that was for abstinence only, she also said she wasn't a mere two weeks after that. while she thinks you should teach abstinence, it's not the only option. in fact, here are her words, "I'm pro-contraception, and I think kids who may not hear about it at home should hear about it in other avenues,' she said during a debate in Juneau."

fourth, if you're going to jump on a particular bandwagon because they're like you, remember that all of the candidates have openly stated that they are Christians. all four have said they are personally against abortion, although all four vary on how that would affect their public policy. and seriously, read obama's conversion story. it seems a lot more authentic than mccain's statements from just a year ago that basically said yes, i go to church, but that's a personal issue that i'm not really going to talk about. stop telling lies about how obama is secretly a muslim, and when you hear those lies, confront them with the truth.

i feel like i could go on forever. look, we're brothers and sisters. we don't have to agree on everything. i just want us all to stop pretending that one party is "our" party. both need to do a much better job caring for the poor, defending the weak, looking out for the fatherless and the widows.

sincerly,
ed