The Political Inquirer

Ever since the day that I heard the speech that Illinois Senator Barack Obama gave at the Democratic National Convention in 2004–a year where I as a college student was investing interest in politics for the first time only to be disappointed by the fact that the best the Democratic Party had to offer up against incumbent President George W. Bush was some senator named John Kerry that failed to inspire–I knew I wanted the person speaking to be the future President of the United States. Yes, it is true, I knew nothing of his policies, his voting record, or whether or not he was even doing all that well in his current office. I did know he was different in an almost iconic way.

The mere reality that if someone like Senator Obama became President we would, for the first time, have elected someone of an African-American heritage was promising in and of itself. And being someone who has worked in an inner city context for nearly four years it was exciting to hear that the Senator had begun his career on the streets of Chicago fighting for the forgotten members of our society. This politician was one of us it seemed. But at that time I had no reason to believe he would run for office.

That was until Obama formed an exploratory committee. I was one of many who wrote and made sure that my voice was heard when I affirmed that I would vote for someone like Obama. Then I watched as he went from underdog to victor in Iowa, only to lose ground soon thereafter. Now I watch as he gets closer and closer to toppling to Clinton Dynasty (which was not supposed to happen). As time has gone by I have become more educated about what the Senator stands for, and though I can’t say I agree with him on everything, I can say that he still has my vote locked up and that I already voted for him during the California primaries.

As amazing a person I may think Senator Obama to be I also know that there is one thing that must be avoided at all cost: messianic politics. It is true that Senator Obama has, at times, been accused of such a thing. I disagree that he sees himself that way and I appreciate his message of hope (a religious ideal being morphed into a civic one by his campaign). Never the less, this does not mean that many of his supporters don’t see him this way–as some kind of Savior.

Religious people in the United States–especially Christians; especially Evangelicals–have had to learn some hard lessons about crowning a politician with the favor of God all too soon. One may remember that the greatest blemish on the amazing career of the Reverend Billy Graham was his alliance with President Nixon. Graham would even use his “crusades” to throw support Nixon’s way. This all came back to sting Graham really bad when all the Watergate details became available and during the controversy that arose thereafter. And of recent many Evangelicals have felt betrayed by the talk of the religious right and President George W. Bush who in many matters failed to come through for possibly his most powerful voting block.

This election is no different. There are those who, like James Dobson of Focus on the Family fame, have tried so very hard to get Mike Huckabee elected because he is the only hope for the pro-life, pro-family agenda. Or so it has been presented. Many Feminist groups have hailed Senator Clinton as the one whom we should believe in, as well as other long standing staples of the Democratic Party. There are others who have seen Ron Paul–the only “true” Constitutionalists–as America’s last chance to repent and turn from her imperial ways. And of course there are the many Obama (and I guess McCain as well) supporters who believe that this or that candidate is the last stop. Without this or that person in office, we are doomed.

This can become most dangerous when, for example, a Christian who supports Huckabee, or Obama, or whoever, begins to justify all the actions and stances of his or her candidate of choice. This is why we have had so many Evangelicals–people who follow the religion of a person who died on a Roman cross without putting up a fight–supporting the war in Iraq. It is felt that to preserve anti-Roe politics for instance, we must then also support war because, well, it is give one-take one. Once you’ve been invited to sit in the Big (White) House it is hard to criticize the host.
The religious citizen–whether Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, or whatever– must avoid hailing this or that politician as king. Whenever we are willing to justify the actions of even our favorite politician, and reshuffle our religious values to do so, we have already lost our prophetic voice in society and place our faith in great danger of being stereotyped and put in allegiance with this or that party, politician, or policy.

As we grow closer and closer to November please be a good citizen and get involved. When your candidate of choice wins this or that primary or caucus feel free to celebrate (I am loving then ten-in-a-row momentum we Obama-ites got going). Tell everyone why you support your candidate, or your party, or whatever. And let your religious values guide you in your decisions. But please, please, do not say that Jesus or anyone else had lead you to vote this or that way. But please, please, do not act as if this or that politician is God’s choice and if we reject that politician at the polls we rejecting our very own American Messiah. Each candidate is but a human like you and me, flawed as can be, and will make many mistakes along the way. Vote for who you think is best, but remember, none of them are divine.

Brian LePort is the Director of Education for the San Francisco Lighthouse; he is working on his Master of Arts in Exegetical Theology from Western Seminary; he is a weekly contributor to The Political Inquirer in the area of religion and culture; and he can be found blogging at brianleport.com.