Clueless

The reaction of Dr. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, to the 2012 election in America is telling. He thinks it was a catastrophe of biblical proportions, yet his focus is breathtakingly narrow.

We are rightly and deeply concerned. We must pray that God will change President Obama’s heart on a host of issues, ranging from the sanctity of unborn life to the integrity of marriage. We must push back against his contraception mandate that tramples upon religious liberty. Given the trajectory of his first term in office, we are urgently concerned about a second term, knowing that the President will never again face the electorate.

It is all about sexual politics. No one is being forced to terminate a pregnancy, use contraception, or marry someone of the same sex. Instead, Mohler and other culture warriors are angry that people are allowed to make those choices of conscience for themselves. He wants the power to regulate sex and reproduction, but dresses it up as religious liberty.

We live in a society filled with greed, materialism, and violence. The wealth of the nation is being sucked into the hands of a few. The rich throw billions of dollars into buying politicians and elections rather than creating products of value, paying living wages to their employees, and paying taxes to support the common good. People go without food, shelter, and medical care while politicians spend trillions on war and the tools of death. There is no way to reconcile any of this with commandments to love others and pursue God that serve as the foundation of the New Testament. Never mind the dust. These are the logs in our eye as a society.

What requires reform in Mohler's eyes are regulating sexuality, the secularization of the electorate, and the inability of the Republican Party to appeal to a broader spectrum of our society. That agenda does not seem all that Christ-like. A little less lust for power by Christian leaders and lot more love for others would go a long way to convince younger generations that following Christ will give their lives meaning, purpose, and spiritual wealth.