Obama - the Christian's choice

At our church on Sunday we had a sort of hustings for the American presidential election.

One chap recently returned from holiday in the USA, told how he had been taken to a Romney rally, and how wonderful it was that he was endorsed by all sorts of Christian leaders saying its OK to vote for a Mormon because of his moral values,

Another chap - a barrister, was called to the front to give an Obama perspective.  He annoyed me because he spoke about abortion and gay marriage - very bravely in what I have always seen as a conservative church - but without any real substantiation for his views as to how they derive from Scripture.  It was sentimental mush.  If you have to be pro-choice adn pro-gay marriage you have to explain how you understand those things to be endorsed in Scripture - its not good enough to talk vaguely about equality.

If I had been asked to speak I would have been much more cautious about abortion and marriage, not hiding them as issues but staying more away from them and talking instead about a recent Radio 4 interview with American voters.  In that interview, one Romney supporter said that she was opposed to obamacare because people should sort out their own health care - it was a private matter.  She said it was OK to make people pay taxes for a police force because they are protecting your constitutional right to property.  So what she is really saying in my view is that it is OK to make the poor pay to have her fancy HD ready telly protected, but its not OK to make rich people pay to have a poor person's liver protected.

I think God is more concerned about people's livers than their tellies.

I think God is more concerned about the poor than the rich.

Would I vote for the one who says 'Me, me, me' or the one who says 'My neighbour, my neighbou, my neighbour'?

So when the show of hands was taken at the church, I raised my hand for Obama.

So did three quateres of what I have always seen asa conservative congregation, whci on that morning included all the old people who normally attend our 'traditional' early service.

I was surprised. 

But pleased.