Politics are a big interest of mine, yet I have been very deliberate to clutter this area with only things that are either of concern even for the Christian who isn’t into politics or those that would hold deeper intellectual cachet than the usual partisan tripe.
Well, take a look here.
It appears that Focus on the Family, aka the ministry political outreach group of Dr. James Dobson, have encouraged their supporters to “pray for torrential rainstorms” for the night of Obama’s speech tomorrow night (as it is to be held outdoors, at Denver’s Invesco Field at Mile High).
In their defense, Focus have come out and said that proclamation was intended to be “mildly amusing”.
The joke was lost on me.
Wanna know why?
Because vast swaths of Americans no doubt hold that God really does work that way with His creation, i.e., the only way poor old God would be able to get something done would be through the weather… as commanded by the fervent prayers from more of one group of people against another. (Think of it as a kid playing his aloof grandparents off one another to get around being grounded.)
In this sort of scheme, God becomes our Hit Man, Mob Guy, Messenger Boy, or Biggest Endorsement the Galaxy Has to Offer to Whomever Courts Him Best.
That also makes Him an idol.
Allow me to lay my cards on the table here openly and honestly.
Attempted humor or not, I find these guys’ sentiments vile, theologically bollicksed and despicable.
The God of whom they supposedly speak is a) not at our whims and b) smart enough to reveal Himself in ways that no phalanx of political hacks can pat themselves on the back for provoking.
Demographers and other people-qualified-to-speak-on-such-things say that the younger generation of thinking evangelicals (the age group of pretty much everyone that reads this blog, I’m pretty sure) are turning away from the GOP in droves and are growing to repudiate them entirely.
May I present to you Exhibit A.
I do think it is funny how so many folks think that God is for the GOP and against the Dems. Like He’s choosing sides??? I liked this post. That’s a bunch of bull poo…how about we start praying and asking God for things that matter–souls and the like–not rainstorms on the Dem National Convention.
I think your tone is mean spirited and too aggressive. To cast such blame and anger on a group that for years has stood firmly to preserve conservative values, is unfair. Even Alan Combes is more understanding than you on this non issue.
Hi Aaron:
Thanks as always for your thoughts.
In actual fact, the piece was far more restrained and fair-minded than you make it out to be. Read it with care again and you’ll see that a) I wasn’t attacking Dobson/Focus as much as their mindset. Were people of the opposite persuasion of Dobson et al to play similar games this post would be just as relevant to them. And b), the point is quite simple either way: when our relationship to God has developed into one predominantly described by an ‘I-initiate-and-God-responds’ worldview, idolatry is not far afield. Defining the world solely in terms of whom God is for/against disturbs me to no end-yet thinking of this sort stamps such delineations summa cum laude.
And finally: if you’re going to try and vilify someone or their beliefs, find a better boogeyman than Alan Colmes. He’s a quota-satisfying vaudeville scarecrow that has the worst job this side of a Victorian-era whipping boy.
God bless,
-dixon