This is a continuation from an earlier blog post “A Confession of a Modern Evangelical Part 1″ in response to the following question a friend asked me after he found out I voted for Obama. Props to my friend for getting me to think about this more critically. You gotta love friends like that.
“How can a God follower and believer of Jesus Christ support abortion and gay marriage without going against the morality that the bible teaches”?
 
Gay Marriage:
I have tremendous respect for people who do not hide what they believe. Being open and honest with others in a spirit of unity even while disagreeing is pretty inspiring.  So in that sprit, I believe that marriage is a sacred union established by the creator of the universe between one man and one woman.
 
Here was my thought process while thinking about this issue with regards to voting for Obama:
1. I love the separation of church and state. Our forefathers, most of whom were not evangelical christians, knew what they were doing long ago when they recognized the importance of this. Put simply, I do not want the government dictating my personal belief system.  Now, it just so happens that I would not disagree on this particular measure, but that could change some day. I LOVE the freedom to believe how I please and the freedom to express that belief openly. 
 
2. I just don’t feel that the best way to love people like Jesus did is to dictate how they should live through the passage of laws. If we really want to make a difference in this world lets focus more on loving people, living life with others, and in the midst of life on life interaction we will grow, learn and change.  There are so many AMZING people who evangelicals just write off for no real good reason. In addition, Jesus called the church to be a light in the darkness, not the government.  To pass this privilege on to the government is just lazy and doesn’t take seriously what Jesus has called his followers to. 
3. Obama has said that he believes that marriage is the union between one man and one woman.  He believes this particular issues is one that should be decided at a state level. He has also said that he supports the civil union of same sex couples. I am cool with this for two reasons.  First, this is outside the realm of the church. (Remember I like the separation of church and state. See above for why) Second, I want my friends who are gay couples to be able to visit one another in the hospital. I want them to be able to pay for medical expenses and care for one another in the same way married couples can. This is the just thing to do. Just because they are gay, does not mean they do not deserve these rights. God loves them as much as anyone else.
 
Bottom line, if evangelicals were to spend as much time really truly loving people into following Jesus as we do trying to pass all these measures, I believe Jesus followers would begin to have a tremendous impact for His kingdom here in the U.S. What are we afraid of?
  
There are of course other reasons why I voted for Obama, but these are the two I was asked about.  I know that there are a million articles, TV shows, radio shows and such out there contradicting what I have said about his positions.  I had a simple approach. I listened to the words that came out of his mouth, learned what I could from his past, listened to other men and women I respect who are closer to the issues, and made a decision.  
 
Now I pray for him because he as a tramendously difficult task ahead of him, and if I were him, I would want people praying for me.
 
Derrak