Christian political leaders rally around McCain!

In Denver, Colorado on July 2, 2008, a group of about 100 Christian Conservative leaders gathered to discuss the current political atmosphere. I attended this conference and sat on one of its panels to discuss political, social, and economic issues. The next day the press began its coverage and got most of the facts correct. 

The Associated Press headline read, “Conservative evangelicals discuss backing McCain.” Times/CNN: “Christian Conservatives Uniting Behind McCain.” The Los Angeles Times reported “Religious right starts to consolidate for John McCain.” Also the World News Daily headlined “Evangelicals say McCain’s the one.”

 What was not reported was the heated, honest discussion over the current direction of this country and what to do about it. You cannot get 100 unaffiliated leaders together without conflict, emotions, and venting. Many attendees have large followings and influences worldwide. Some could call on political policy makers to push their own agenda and opinions. What the press did not report on was that after the long hours of speeches, nominations, discussions, and even disagreements, the conclusion was met with camaraderie and support. 

I did not meet anyone there whose first choice for President was John McCain, but he was the choice of most who left that room. It was said that the process of Christian political leaders to choose their leaders should have started immediately after the 2000 election. It was clear that Dick Cheney would not be running in 2007, so we should have chosen our nominee and supported him early. We will not make that mistake again.

 While no one group or individual championed the meeting, it was obviously called and attended by those who supported Mike Huckabee for President. After all, it was a Christian political meeting. Mike Huckabee was in the hotel the night before, but did not attend this meeting, and I did not see him in the hotel during the meeting. However, I did speak with him the night before, and he seemed relaxed about the idea of supporting the Republican ticket and had genuine, solid ideas on why John McCain was the only sane choice now. I think his presence there, speaking to so many of his followers and supporters, made the choices on the following day much easier. Supporting John McCain was no longer seen as the group turning their backs on their first choice, Mike Huckabee. 

However, Mike Huckabee’s appearance at the hotel did raise some questions. Did Mike Huckabee approve the support of John McCain? Did Mike Huckabee ask for our support and pressure for the second position on the ticket? I know when the press learns of the appearance of Mike Huckabee at the hotel the day before this event, there will be speculation about his motives. So let me give you my personal, first hand views.

 

I suppose if any politician was in the same hotel for another reason but found a hundred of his most loyal and financial supporters, he would stop by and say hello to a few of them. That happened the evening before in a private suite. It was not a reception for Mike Huckabee, but he was certainly the star there. He did not give a speech, nor did he discuss the Vice-Presidential position in the suite. What he did talk about were his values, love for his country, and obedience to God. I stayed until he left and spoke to him several times, and I did not get the impression that he knew about the meeting that would follow the next day. However any reasonable person would assume he knew.

However, at the meeting, one of his supporters did come up with idea of sending a letter to John McCain to request Mike Huckabee be added to the ticket. That motion came at the end of the evening and seemed quiet arbitrary and a spur of the moment addition to the conversation. It was a second thought to a comment, and became a motion.

 I know some will wonder if it was an attempt of the “Religious Right” to force Mike Huckabee’s name onto the ticket. It would have been a brilliant move, and I would have supported it; but, I do not think it happened that way. John McCain will get the support of the Christian political leaders, but Mike Huckabee will always have their hearts.

The “Wright” response.

Reverend Jeremiah Wright has recently made national news with his inflammatory comments, and in the process has introduced America to the phrase “Liberation Theology.” What is Liberation Theology? Is it a new Gospel? Is it comparable to any other theology? This phrase and the philosophy behind it are the remnants of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. Its logical place would be the black church.

The Civil Rights Movement had to begin in the black church because that was where all past organization and motivation for oppressed black people came from. On the plantation, one of the few places for blacks to meet without being watched by white slave managers was Sunday morning church service.  It was also where slaves could have leaders that they chose instead of those chosen by Master. The preacher was one of the few slaves who could approach Master on behalf of other slaves to address grievances.

Thus, the slave preacher was usually in the forefront of the Underground Railroad Movement. He  coordinated with other Christians from the North based upon a common faith and a common theology. Christians like Harriett Beecher Stowe, John Brown, the Quaker church, and the Wesleyan Church worked with Christians like Harriett Tubman to publicly denounce slavery and help slaves escape. On the other hand, you also had the militant slave preachers like Denmark Vesey and Nat Turner who lead revolts and rebellions.

It was a Christian movement which eventually pushed this country to tear itself apart to end the institution of slavery. Then came discrimination as “Separate but equal”, and again, it was the Christian church that lead the way with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Christian Leadership Conference, and the thousands of black churches in black communities throughout America organizing, educating, and strategizing to confront this threat to liberty and dignity.

I was a young man in the 1960s, and while I serving in the Navy a white racist shipmate dropped 2,800 pounds of metal on me in an attempt to kill me. I became permanently disabled and continue to face physical struggles. I went through radical and angry responses and found a solution which worked for me and may work for the rest of America. It was racial forgiveness. Not racial “restoration” and not “liberation theology. It was an old theology called “Forgiveness.” As a Christian, what other resolution was there? What other response could I give?

I could have demanded an apology, special treatment, or punishment for the perpetrator. However, if I demanded anything from anyone, I would be dependent upon them. If I was going to be free, I would have to act like a free man. First, I had to totally forgive the hatred and attempted murder. I had to forgive whatever contributing factor I placed upon my country and white people. The real “Liberation Theology” was not new; it was very old - it was the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The “New Civil Rights Movement” has hijacked the Gospel and twisted it to suit themselves. They have taken the philosophy of forgiveness and turned it into a total acceptance of every lifestyle and belief system possible. They have developed a new philosophy called “Tolerance”, meaning to hold everyone’s beliefs to equal standing with your own beliefs. Not just acceptance of others’ right to hold different beliefs, this new philosophy of Tolerance requires you to view their beliefs as of equal value to yours. It requires a change in your beliefs to tolerate others. This requires you to have no beliefs.

So, Reverend Wright can be a Christian minister and accept beliefs of Farrakhan as equal to his Christian beliefs. He can accept abortions as equal to his Christian faith, and he can believe poverty is caused by government action not individual action.

Reverend Wright could build a great church because the masses love to be taken care of and his passion for their plight gives them hope. I found that real hope lies in the total forgiveness of my Christian faith, and it has truly liberated me from the anger, frustration, and hatred of the past. I went on with my life and have achieved some levels of success, especially in my Christian walk. So, I do not need a Black Liberation Theology. I no longer belong to the black race; I belong to the race of Christ.

I was blessed when Dr. D. James Kennedy produced a biography of my life for his television program, “The Coral Ridge Hour.” It highlights my struggle with the anger and how I found complete release. As this nation struggles with past and present wrongs, this message may help us all adjust. Instead of punishment, reparation, or guilt, let’s try forgiveness.

In the 1940s black men and white men (like Reverend Wright) went to war to fight for the freedom of others, and then came back to America to face discrimination at home. White and black people joined hands again for a new push for civil rights. They took down Poll Taxes, fought against illiteracy, and again, worked for the dignity of all men.

This was the era of Reverend Wright. He and I grew up in the middle of that America, and it formed our views of America. I also joined the military, I also faced open hostility from white America, and I also went on to a radical response to that hostility. However, I came to a profoundly different conclusion about my country and the proper response to these problems. The fight for freedom was just, but the response to being free has not always been justified.

Once World War II ended, the “war industry” disassembled and returned to the actions of community building. People went back to their lives and began to build families, culture, and careers. However, when the Civil Rights Era of the 1960s and 1970s was won, the Civil Rights “industry” did not disassemble, but redirected itself to other areas because there is a lot of money, influence, and power in addressing “problems.” So, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Louis Farrakhan, and the others could not maintain their status as advocates for the MOVEMENT unless the movement continued. You will never see them celebrate the achievements of America. You will never hear them praise the accomplishments of the individual. Furthermore, you cannot expect them to acknowledge the great progress America has made in racial equality. They are crisis managers, so they cannot get paid if there are no crises.

After the Civil War, 360,000 white men had been killed on the Union side. They died fighting their brothers and cousins to free strangers. That was the original “apology for slavery” everyone is crying for today. Those that remained alive returned home and started families while the former slaves dealt with the newness of freedom. Slaves did not blame America for slavery, and despite today’s call for “forty acres and a mule”, most blacks did not expect much from the government. The call for Civil Rights was a call for personal freedom and protection, not government control and management. I did not fight for the right to be managed by America; I fought for my God-given right to participate in the America dream.

To view the Coral Ridge Hour program featuring Mason Weaver, see “The Power of Forgiveness” on my web sight http://americanbeliefs.com/media.html

Who do you believe, Jesus or Obama?

Barack Hussein Obama recently stated that he “prays to Jesus, not to Allah!” – read the story here: http://www.nypost.com/seven/03032008/news/nationalnews/smeared_o_has_cross_words_100255.htm. I would love to ask him to explain who Jesus is, and then compare his version to the Jesus of the Bible. I cannot ask him personally, so I will ask all of you who are Christians - especially Black Christians - to consider something else he has said about the Jesus and the Bible. Obama has declared the Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount gives approval for same sex marriage. He made this statement in Ohio last weekend. Hear the audio here: http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPolitics.asp?Page=/Politics/archive/200803/POL20080303b.html.For all of you black folks who support Barack Hussein Obama because he is a black man, how does his belief about Jesus affect your vote? There is something else he said during that speech you may find fascinating. Not only did he use the Sermon on the Mount to justify his support for same-sex marriage, but he also declared a passage in the first chapter of Romans, which condemns homosexuality, to be OBSURE, and dismissed it! Barack Hussein Obama said, “If people find that controversial then I would just refer them to the Sermon on the Mount, which I think is, in my mind, for my faith, more central than an obscure passage in Romans.” Now, ask yourself a question: even with the liberal, God hating press trying to convince you to leave your Bibles at home when you vote, how can you get your mind around this justification to support same-sex marriage? You can say it is just his opinion; but, isn’t it his opinion about your Jesus?

This is a challenge to your faith. Do you believe the Bible has obscure passages? Barrack Hussein Obama seems to be saying the you cannot read the Bible for yourself, he must determine which passages are important and which are obscure. You cannot make up your own mind he must make it up for you? I challenge the Christians of America to believe God not Barack Hussein Obama. Here is what Romans says in Chapter One, Verse 26: “Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.” This is not a matter of interpretation; it is a matter of redirection. He is using the Bible because we are still a Christian nation. His beliefs are based upon his flesh, not his spirit. He wants to be president and needs to assure us that his position is near our own. But do you believe that the Bible supports same-sex marriage? Does your pastor preach that the Sermon on the Mount approves homosexual relations? Are you Christians willing to turn your back on Jesus just to find “hope”? Is there hope without Jesus? So, what we have here is Barrack Hussein Obama who appears to be so wise that he can not only interpret Biblical passages, but determine which passages are relevant and which are OBSCURE. I just want to know; is your blackness is stronger than your faith? I just want to know if you can support a man who so easily redirects the truth of the Bible to justify something as anti-Biblical as same-sex marriage. I just want to know if you will stand up for Jesus or stand up for Barack Hussein Obama. You cannot do both.