For the Love of God: Why Christians Should Not Vote for President Obama in November

Among those Christians who tend toward either liberalism or non-traditionalism, and especially black Christians, the "progressive" Barack Obama seems like a viable candidate for president.

I am going to do my hardest to dispel that myth

I hold that President Obama has exhibited a pattern of implementing policies that inhibit, stigmatize, or otherwise go against Christian values and thus should not get a single vote from anyone who considers himself a follower of Jesus Christ.

Let me be crystal clear that this is not a pro-Romney, pro-Ron Paul, or pro-any-one-person post.

My focus is on the president and his actions.

I believe that the issues facing our country are far too grave to simply cast a thoughtless vote for any candidate who seems good enough or has a certain letter in front of his name.

I agree with the theologian Dr. Jack Cottrell when he writes:

"The only real issue between Obama and Romney is this: which one wants government to do what God wants it to do, according to Romans 13:1ff. and 1 Tim. 4:1-4? I.e., which one wants government to protect the rights of every citizen, to defend us from those who want to violate those rights, to enable us to lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity?" (emphasis mine)

And nowhere does the president more clearly fail this test than with respect to the issue of the right-to-life.

Not only are his pro-choice views outside the mainstream of American culture, but that of biblical orthodoxy, as well.

 Scripture clearly affirms the dignity of every human person, so it is verboten for a Christian to support widespread violations of that dignity.

Here are some verses that illustrate this point:

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them"-- Genesis 1:27 ( mankind is made in the very image of God)

"So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets"-- Matthew 7:12 (we are to treat people in kind with how we wish to be treated)

 "But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?"-- 1 John 3:17  (God's love compels is to help our brother in need)

 "Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward"-- Psalm 127:3 (children are a gift from God, as opposed to a burden)

  “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous"-- Matthew 5:43-45 (hating another human is not a viable option for a believer)

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world"-- James 1:27 (true religion cares for those in need)

 "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God"-- Micah 6:8 (God has charged us to be just and merciful)

With this in mind, how does President Obama's record on life square with the biblical exhortations to love, care for, and be merciful toward our fellow man?

 (1.) According to the Washington Post fact checker, then Senator Obama voted "present" twice on a vote to ban partial birth abortion 1997, during his time in the Illnois senate.

The partial birth or D&E method is described as such:

This procedure is used to abort women who are 20 to 32 weeks pregnant -- or even later into pregnancy. Guided by ultrasound, the abortionist reaches into the uterus, grabs the unborn baby’s leg with forceps, and pulls the baby into the birth canal, except for the head, which is deliberately kept just inside the womb. (At this point in a partial-birth abortion, the baby is alive).

A partial-birth abortion portrayal.

  Then the abortionist jams scissors into the back of the baby’s skull and spreads the tips of the scissors apart to enlarge the wound. After removing the scissors, a suction catheter is inserted into the skull and the baby’s brains are sucked out. The collapsed head is then removed from the uterus.

Does it sound caring, loving, or merciful to suck out the brains of a baby who could at that moment be delivered and survive outside the womb?

Certainly not.

Understandably, such a procedure is illegal in many states.

(2.) In 2001 Senator Obama voted "present" twice on bills that would require parental notification before a minor could receive an abortion.

Is it too much to ask that a parent be informed about a major medical procedure that could fundamentally change or even ruin the life of their under-age child and kill their grandchild?

(3.)  Even more horrifying is that twice as a senator, Obama voted "present" on a bill that would give proper medical attention to babies born alive due to an abortion procedure gone wrong.

This is simply beyond the pale.

We're not talking about a baby in the womb, but a baby that has survived a botched abortion procedure and, like any newborn, is in need of basic care.

In my state of Illinois such children were left to die, and the President, then a senator, didn't care enough about those babies to vote a simple "yes" on the bill.

 You may think that President Obama should get a pass because he voted "present" on those bills rather than "no".

However, it is common knowledge that voting "present" (especially in Illinios) was/is an admitted  political tactic to keep politicians from being marginalized and stigmatized come further elections, not a moral decision.

Will believers cast their vote for man who puts party and politics before the lives of newborn children?

God forbid it!

(4.) As Commander-in-Chief, President Obama opposed a bill that would ban abortions being conducted on the basis of sex, as we often see in China.

(5.) The Patient Affordable Care and Protection Act or Obamacare has in it provisions for tax-payer funded abortions.

(6.) In addition the Obama administration's Health and Human Services mandate would force religious institutions, such as Christian hospitals and schools, to cover the cost of abortion inducing drugs.

To recap:  The president opposed bills that would...

  -Allow infants born alive after a botched abortion procedure to   receive medical attention.

  - Ban the grisly partial birth abortion procedure 

  - Grant parents the right to be informed of and give consent for their minor's abortion.

  - Ban sex-selective abortions.

And instituted legislation that would...

-Force tax-payers to fund abortions and embryonic stem cell research.

 - Force religious institutions to cover the cost of abortion causing drugs.

This abject disregard for human life cannot be reconciled with the God's high view of human dignity.

The two are totally contradictory.

I thought long and hard about other issues that I could write about that show President Obama's disregard for Christian faith and values, but if believers cannot be persuaded to not vote for a man who's moral compass would not compel him to speak or vote against infanticide then nothing will.

Whether it be his irresponsible use of drones in the Middle East, his derision of traditional marriage, his restricting of religious freedom in the military, or open mockery and misrepresentation of the Word of of God, this President has shown himself to be an enemy of those who seek to better know and follow God and who wish to see themselves fairly represented at the highest level of the U.S government.

And so armed with this knowledge, we have a choice before us this election: to support life and liberty or President Obama.

Our Christian belief extends to all areas of our life, including politics, which means even our vote must be brought under the lordship of Jesus Christ.

So if you love the Lord and His commands,  I pray you will abstain from casting your vote for President Obama this November and encourage other believers to do the same.

For God's sake and for the sake of all of us, who will reap the repercussions of for more years of President Barack Hussein Obama.