Polianiac

The following comment appeared last week in an emailed newsletter from a church in Texas [reproduced exactly as it appeared]: We now have two Presidential Candidates: John McCain and Barak Obama (named in alphabetical order) Jesus teaches us to “Pray for our enemies”-that means anyone who opposes us in any arena of our lives including politics. As Christian American citizens I encourage all of us to pray for these candidates and their families by name each day.  Pray especially for the person you oppose so that you may “be a child of your Father in heaven” who loves and desires the best for all -even His enemies. Wow. Where do you start with this one? I had to start by seeking immediate treatment for the whiplash effect I suffered during the giant leap from “praying for presidential candidates” to “enemies of God”. Are you kidding me? The obvious answer is no, this particular pastor is not kidding. How scary is that?

If we were to accept the underlying belief that any opponent constitutes enemy, where does that leave us? Seems to me the answer is something like isolated or remote-from-others. I see nothing constructive or appealing in that outcome. I also see no point in the adoption of this world-view. Where does this stuff come from? One thing I do know is that God may have commanded that we “pray for our enemies”; but, I also think He had something to say about how we each view and treat our fellow man.

I could spend time analyzing what might lie at the heart of this statement or rag on about crafting a statement to include “alphabetical order” (followed by the glaring misspelling of a particular candidates name); but, I won’t. I think I will just allow this to stand as the most vivid illustration I have found for the inherent wisdom behind Separation of Church and State.