Evangelical Christians and Barack Obama

I am the only American Evangelical that I personally know who admits to voting for Barack Obama for president. While most of my friends use every opportunity to rip his administration, I remain cautiously optimistic that he will turn out to do some good for our country. Before you log off, at least listen to why I voted for him.

1. I have believed from the day that it started that the war in Iraq was a mistake. It does not meet what I understand to be the standard of a "just war." It was sold to Congress and the American people with lies. It has resulted in the deaths of thousands of our soldiers as well as multiple times that of Iraqi civilians. If we are ever able to establish a lasting government in Iraq (a big if), it is still questionable as to whether it was worth the cost. Therefore, I voted for Obama because I believed he would end the war long before John McCain would.

2. I believe that George Bush failed in so many ways as a leader. I don't doubt for a minute his dedication to Christ, but it takes more than that to run a country. While I believe that McCain would lead better than Bush, I thought that too many of their policies (tax cuts for the rich; shoot first, negotiate later) were similar.

3. I think it is time for Christians to stop being single-issue voters. That issue, of course, is abortion. Make no mistake, I take a back seat to no one in my opposition to this heinous practice. However, 30+ years of history has clearly demonstrated that the number of abortions is not going to be increased or decreased because of the occupant of the White House. (This is a discussion that deserves its own post one day.)

Does this mean I am unconcerned? By no means. The amount of money that the Obama administration is throwing at the economic crisis is frightening (of course, Bush was doing the same thing). I sincerely hope that Republicans can take control of at least one house of Congress in 2010 to provide some balance to the Democrat's agenda.

Rather than just bashing our president and his policies, I think we would do better to be supportive of that which we can support and gain listening ears in Washington.