The Monday Muse: Single Issue Politics?

A few weeks ago I posed a question concerning the involvement of Christians in the political process. Jumping on the back of that question, I want to address another question relating to Christians and politics. It seems that conservative, evangelical Christians are often branded as single issue voters. What is the single issue? Abortion. Some thoughtful Christians argue that we must think and vote more broadly. They say that abortion is not the only issue to consider when voting for an elected official. On the other side of the coin, there are other thoughtful Christians who argue that abortion is the preeminent issue amongst all of the issues. Yes, we must consider the other issues but abortion trumps them in importance. So let’s put it on the table.

Does the issue of abortion carry greater weight and importance than all other issues? Or should we think more broadly even it leads us to vote for a pro-choice candidate?

Since this is a hot topic, please be respectful when engaging one another. In other words…play nice.

The Monday Muse: Christianity & Politics

I recently read that the Obama camp has hired a professor from Wesley Theological Seminary, Dr. Shaun Casey, to be his senior adviser for religious affairs. The evangelical vote has become a major point of interest for Obama as well as McCain. Many people may assume that religious conservatives and evangelicals alike will vote for McCain since both groups tend to associate with the Republican party. However, tension has grown within these assumed associations due to the frustration held toward the Bush administration.

A few months ago James Dobson, a staunch Republican, made it clear that he is troubled by McCain’s candidacy and will not be voting for him in the presidential election (not voting for Obama is a given).

Combine all of these scenarios with the release of An Evangelical Manifesto, a document seeking to give guidelines for evangelical involvement in the public square, and you begin to see the difficulty this presidential election and the current landscape of America is creating. So here’s our question:

What level of involvement should we have in politics as Christians?

I know faith and politics can be a heated topic so while holding fast to your convictions, remember to discuss/debate with respect. I already have a follow-up question for next week that focuses a little more on the issues. Let the games begin.

(HT: Justin Taylor)

Chuck Norris for Vice President

It seems Chuck Norris has shifted his focus from endorsing candidates to joining one. Chuck recently laid out his argument for why he should be chosen as someone’s running mate in the upcoming presidential election. He does not discriminate against any one of the remaining candidates so his flexibility could be someone’s asset. Of course, so can his roundhouse kick. The question is…will you support Chuck?

(HT: Josh LaFave)

An Evangelical Manifesto

An Evangelical Manifesto was released today at the National Press Club. If you are unfamiliar with this document and its purpose then take a moment and check it out. The purpose of the manifesto is “to clarify the confusions that surround the term Evangelical in the United States, and to explain where we stand on issues that cause consternation over Evangelicals in public life.” I believe this could be a very helpful document but I will save my comments for a future post.

Justin Taylor has put together a nice summary of the manifesto. Justin also posted an interview with Os Guiness, who was on the Steering Committee for this document. Dan Wallace had a few words about the manifesto just prior to its release. I’m sure we’ll see many more posts and comments to come in the next few days.

As you get a chance to read it, I would love to hear what you think. I’ll share some more thoughts on this manifesto soon…so stay tuned.

Obama: The Most Pro-Abortion Candidate Ever

These are the words of Voddie Baucham in a recent post on Barack Obama. Speaking of Obama, Baucham says, “He could not even bring himself to vote for the Born Alive Infant Protection Act which would have protected children born in the process of an abortion. That’s right, Mr. Obama cannot even bring himself to support a plan that simply says to doctors, ‘If they slip past while you are trying to kill them, you have to let ‘em live.’”

Read the whole article.

Huckabee/Obama Victorious in Iowa

The Iowa caucus results are in with Huckabee and Obama winning handily. The surprise of the night saw Clinton come in a close third behind Edwards. Already the field is getting smaller with Biden and Dodd dropping out of the Democratic race. This year’s election is shaping up to be quite interesting. I think there is a real possibility that Huckabee and Obama could face off in this year’s presidential race. Not many people would have predicted that scenario at the beginning. However, it is early and Iowa is only one state.

Huckabee is Chuck Norris Approved

This is the ultimate endorsement of a candidate. Every time I watch it I crack up. This may be reason enough to support Mike Huckabee’s candidacy. I think someone should turn the last shot on the video, Chuck Norris Approved, into a t-shirt. I guarentee it would sell.

Grudem Endorses Romney

Election time is upon us. It is time to get behind the person we believe is going to be best suited to run this country. I will reserve my thoughts and political opinions for another time. However, Wayne Grudem has written a thought provoking article endorsing Republican Mitt Romney and encouraging other evangelicals to consider doing the same. Initially I was surprised by hearing Grudem’s support for Romney. However, after reading his article I believe Grudem makes a great case for his decision. He not only lays out a solid argument for supporting Romney but he also makes some good points about how we should decide on supporting any candidate as an evangelical Christian. I think we would all do well to read and consider Grudem’s words.