I saw an interesting “news” article today. President Obama likes broccoli. I knew there was something up with that guy. I mean, who admits that his favorite food is broccoli?!? Icecream, sure. Lasagna, I can go with that. Nachos Supreme, definitely. But broccoli? C’mon!
Actually, like many of you, I don’t consider this to be newsworthy. Not.at.all. But there it was on my homepage – daring me to click the link and find out why there is any hoopla about the president and his veggies. It seems that there’s a little waffling when it comes to his food choices (I’m killing myself here – I hope you appreciate puns as much as I do). The president has mentioned how great pizza night is in the West Wing. Now he’s trying to push broccoli just because he’s at a healthy eating event? How DARE he (how many exclamation points and question marks do I need to adequately express outrage in print?)?!?!?
Hang with me here…I’m stretching…but nope, still not news worthy. And yet…sigh…it’s on the news, all over Twitter, and who knows where else. Which brings me to today’s point: it’s time to leave the President alone.
Obviously I’m gearing this towards anti-Obama-ites (is that a thing?). But bear with me. I’m writing as a registered Republican who really wanted Mike Huckabee to be POTUS. I’m not what you would call an Obama supporter. I disagree with some of his major points of view.
But here’s the thing – I’m sick and tired of the vitriol being spewed from those who oppose him. Republicans, Tea Party Hooligans, Independents, Right Wing Democrats, whoever…. The man gets a lot of hate pushed his way from radio, television, Twitter, Facebook, and every corner where you might find an angry conservative.
Stop it.
Stop sharing the memes denigrating him, his ethnicity, his policies, and everything else. It’s not Christian. There, I said it. It isn’t godly to keep the insults and put-downs going around.
The Bible tells us that we are to be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor or to governors. No, I’m not calling the President an emperor, so stop with the accusations of empire and dictatorship. The principle from the Bible is that Christians are good people who submit to authorities over us and treat people with honor and respect. That even applies to national leaders that we may dislike or disagree with.
I’m not asking to agree with his policies. I don’t. Our national government has given us a proper outlet for voicing opposition through the ballot box, petitions, and other lawful means to let our dissent be heard. Personal attacks are not part of God’s agenda for healthy Christian behavior.
So please, no more anti-Obama memes. No more name-calling. No more hateful ranting. If you consider yourself to be a person of faith it is time to knock it off. And don’t worry – the next time there is a conservative person in office I’ll be telling the Left Wing folks the same thing.
What do you think? Have you seen anti-government sentiment go too far? Where do you think Christians should draw the line?
Chris Linzey 
Name-calling? Most of us were taught as little kids not to call names. Guess some never learn. Ranting? Depends on whether or not what one is ranting about is valid. Personal attacks? Might have to elaborate specifically on what you mean. “Vitriol from those who oppose him”? When people have opposing views, anger may surface, but anger is not always bad. More important to see beyond the emotion to the facts and issues at hand.
I agree with giving opinion without being abusive. I agree with being under leadership, but recognizing when that leadership is wrong.
Mike, I agree with your points and will add to the discussion.
It is impossible to leave a person of leadership alone; a leader is going to receive criticism or praise. Big deal. It comes with the territory. Obama can take it. The problem lies in the fact that almost everyone has an opinion, but few (regular folk) are very informed, and a bit of that is due to bullsh– news, such as that which you mentioned, Obama and brocolli. To be informed these days, one has to sift through nonrelevant news or overkill news on one topic and seek out more than what is on regular TV or is in the paper. Furthermore, to be really informed, news info has to be sought continuously, preferably with an objective mind and a wider lens (more world news). Obama’s policies, promises, and actions and omissions since in office, alongside current events worldwide, for example– who can discuss those? Those are relevant pieces to talk about, whether you want to praise or criticize Obama. The informed speaker, whether pleased, hopeful, angry, critical, or dissenting is worthy to be heard. PastorLinzey, I am guessing from your title that you want everyone to Leave The President Alone, but I disagree. We must keep a watchful, critical eye on our leaders, for they have the power to alter history and make changes that affect us and generations to come. The President also affects the way America is viewed worldwide. Maybe you don’t mean leave him alone though, you just mean play nice. Instead, I would rather useless news stop taking up so much space, the informed speak up, and the merely opinionated shut it.
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Actually, I’m not talking about refraining from engaging. I believe that I DID mention that I believe it is okay to dissent! I just get tired of watching Christians dissent poorly, falling back on slander, gossip and personal attacks. I would rather we be known for engaging the issues intelligently without all of the crud we get from fair and balanced talking heads, internet memes, and so on.
Thanks for reading. 🙂
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I agree that the putdowns, insults, etc are not godly, and are not going to get us anywhere. BUT I still feel people are VERY uninformed of what he and his administration are doing to our country. We still must continue to be informed and fight back where we need to in order to keep what this great nation was built upon. We can’t just say “I disagree with his policies but OH WELL HE’S THE PRESIDENT.” This seems completely ignorant to me.
A bit about me politically…
I was a registered republican who was let down big time. As I’ve gotten older and wiser (I guess that’s to be debated hah), I’ve paid attention to what is going on behind the scenes. I’ve worked in a few churches now and realized once you see behind the curtain, you’ll want to vomit. There is so much corruption and this comes from our sinful nature. I am now (to the government) an independent who sides more so with the “Tea Party ‘Hooligans'” as you put it. (Don’t call people names eh?). In studies of American History, seeing what and why this country was founded, I’ve begun to lean more toward the Libertarian point of view politically. Ultimately, I’m for limited government, conservative financials and conservative morals.
A bit about me spiritually…
Again, as I’ve gotten older I guess I’ve become what you might call a 5-point Calvinist. I have ‘divorced’ myself from all denominations as the one I was raised in (Assemblies of God) is full of it’s own issues (allowing evolutionists in for example). I just want to stick to the core of God’s Word, the Gospel message and not the rules/regulations of men. That’s my final authority. Obviously I still submit to SOME church leadership, not all because I believe leadership must be vetted as well – I’ve seen too much to just blindly submit to leadership. I do listen to and respect the leadership of John Piper, Mark Driscoll, Louie Giglio, Albert Mohler, D.A. Carson, Andy Stanley, Matt Chandler, Craig Groeschel, Steven Furtick, Francis Chan, Miles McPherson, and plenty more. I am very anti “religion” because I believe Jesus was also. Jesus was a rebel to society and to the establishment.
I know as Christians we are not of this world (I think I’ve heard that somewhere!) but at the same time we all live here, our children live here and we need to keep in mind what type of future we want our children to have.
Recently I heard a little off-the-cuff talk from Albert Mohler, who made a great point. He was recalling the story of when Paul saw Athens, a city filled with idols, he had a nervous breakdown. He had the “yuck factor” that almost undid him. But what did he do? Leave Athens and say he didn’t want anything to do with it? No, he got over it. He got over it for the cause of the Gospel and for the cause of Christ. He got over what was upsetting him and went to Mars Hill to preach the Gospel.
So yes, don’t denigrate the guy, don’t call him names, don’t use racial slurs, don’t pass around jokes or anything that is untrue. Get over your anger, hatred and vitriol. Get your head out of the sand and take a stand for what you believe in and what OUR guidebook (The Bible) holds to be true. Get out there and preach the Gospel, make a difference in our society. Get over disagreeing about something and get out there to make a difference! And I believe that includes being involved in political issues, social issues, MORAL issues and so much more!
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Mike, thx for the thought-out response! I agree that we ought to voice dissent. I am unhappy with the way many “Christians” do it. As for the Hooligans remark I was trying to be descriptive rather than merely derogatory (you’re not the only one to call me on that). Thx again for the honest dialogue!
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I am unhappy the way many so called Christians do it as well. Where’s my “Like” buttons for your reply? Haha
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🙂
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In my observations and personal experience, the term “Tea Party hooligans” represents an accurate description of the behavior of quite a number of those who subscribe to its tenets — and that includes Christians — because they fully intend to cause trouble. Keep in mind that a lot of people are very informed as to what Obama “is doing to this country,” which as the head of the executive branch is not a whole lot, but many, many people on the political right, including “libertarians,” are frightened due to losing their privileged status. After all, that’s what this whole left vs. right thing is ultimately about.
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Yup – power struggles abound
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I agree. While I disagree with some of his policies, in the end he still the POTUS. I remember how all the Bush folks were so angry at how poor Bush was being slandered, and they go about doing the same to our current president.
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We speak nicely of the guy who backs our horse. We speak poorly of anyone else.
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So true
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Well stated! Most sad to see fellow believers who write so derogatorily of others, including leaders, as if they didn’t realize that people link such attitudes with the gospel they purport to proclaim.
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It shows that most people prioritize their politics over their faith
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