“Faith got hijacked, partly because of the so-called leaders of the Christian Right, all too eager to exploit what divides us. At every opportunity, they’ve told evangelical Christians that Democrats disrespect their values and dislike their church, while suggesting to the rest of the country that religious Americans care only about issues like abortion and gay marriage, school prayer, and intelligent design. I don’t know what Bible they’re reading, but it doesn’t jibe with my version.” – Senator and Democratic Presidential Candidate, Barrack H. Obama, in a Political Sermon delivered to the General Synod, United Church of Christ, June 23, 2007

There is something inherently wrong about a politician delivering a political speech to a gathered Church membership. There is something inherently wrong about a Church that allows the deliverance of a political speech to their gathered membership. A politician can be a religious person and as we all do, he or she will make decisions based on what they deeply believe and value personally regardless of what they publicly profess to believe. When politics and religion meet on the pulpit bad things come of it. Some observations of current world events should make that obvious even to a politician. I do find it interesting here in America that when a liberal speaks of his or her religion, they are considered enlightened. When one with conservative views speaks of his or her religion, they are derisively characterized as the ‘Christian Right.”

If you search the word in a dictionary, you’ll likely find faith defined as the belief in or trust in something unseen. In Hebrews 11:1 (NIV) it says:

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

For examples of faith and the power of it in the context of Christianity, I recommend that Senator Obama, or anyone for that matter, read the entire chapter of Hebrews 11. However, he does insist that my Bible, and possibly yours, doesn’t jibe with his version. From his comments, I can only surmise that his version of the Bible is OK with killing unborn children, homosexuality, suppressing prayer and is lacking the Genesis account of the creation. Or, if the creation account exists in his Bible, he doesn’t feel it a worthy alternative to the unproven theory taught to our children in public schools.

When something is hijacked, it’s stolen. Control of it is taken over by another or a group of others. I’m no theologian by any stretch, but I am a Christian. If there is one thing I can state emphatically to Senator Obama or any of the other politicians who feel the need to pontificate their thoughts on spirituality is that my faith is mine. Its foundation is the promise. In whatever one has faith, it is personal and cannot be hijacked. A person might abandon or surrender his faith, but it cannot be taken from him. I’m no political strategist either, but my advice for Obama and the other politicians who are professing faith to make themselves more attractive candidates is stick to politics and don’t trifle with faith. In my version of the Bible, God was never appreciative of that approach.

Politicians in general and most commentators like to tell us that Islam, the religion of peace, was also “hijacked” by the radical Islamists that are trying now to kill all of us. You’d think, that if their Bibles “jibed” with mine, these new found spiritualists and Biblical scholars would be telling us the Genesis account of the sons of Abraham. Let me briefly summarize for you. Abraham had two sons. His first, Ishmael, was born to his Egyptian maidservant, Hagar. God promised Abraham a son, but his wife Sarah was barren and aging. Abraham decided, through his lack of faith and with the coercion of Sarah, to work God’s promise of a son on their terms – thus Ishmael.

“The angel of the LORD also said to her [Hagar]: You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.” Genesis 16:11-12

Some years later, the promised son, Isaac, was born to Sarah and Abraham. God fulfilled his covenant and made the promised son, Isaac, the patriarch of the Hebrews. Ishmael became the father of the Arab race. Biblical teaching is that the promised son, Isaac (the Jews), inherited the Promised Land. Islam teaches that Ishmael (the Arabs) is the promised son of Abraham and rightful inheritor of the Promised Land.

If our politicians were as Biblically inclined as they would have us believe, at least until elected, wouldn’t they be telling us that Ishmael whether through the guise of Islam or something else is merely fulfilling his Biblical destiny. But, for them to do that then they’d also have to tell us that our Biblical choices are alignment with Isaac or support for Ishmael.

Maybe the next time one of our politicians tries to convince us of his or her Biblical foundations, a concerned journalist will ask them some deeper questions than what’s your favorite Bible verse. Maybe they’ll ask them to put today’s global conflict into a historical and Biblical context.

2 Timothy 4:7

Copyright 2007 J. D. Pendry