TELLING IT LIKE IT IS !

Putting Obama before Christ

James L. Lambert

A few days ago, I happened to be in the lobby of a medical office discussing politics with a woman who shared with me an interesting story. She had a friend recently tell her that even though Sen. Obama “advocated everything [she] didn’t believe in” — abortion, gay marriage, a bigger role of government in people’s lives, higher taxes, etc. — she was still “thrilled” to vote for Obama as president because he’d be the first black president in our country’s history.

While an Obama presidency admittedly would be historic, a person’s skin color obviously shouldn’t be a criteria for voting for that candidate. Religion — especially the Christian religion — has deep roots in this country. Yet it seems that many people who claim the Christian faith are casting their religious values to the curb in favor of being able to claim a role in “a historic event.”

Rev. Adlai E. Mack, senior pastor and founder of Christians United Church in San Diego, is alarmed by this trend. It was during the early 1970s, while working toward his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, that Mack was introduced to moral dilemmas such as abortion. He was influenced by Dr. Paul Ramsey, professor of ethics, who decried the technique of ending human life so cavalierly in the womb.

Rev. Mack agreed with Ramsey, and remains grieved that abortion harms so many — especially those in the black community. According to the Life Education and Resource Network (LEARN) — the largest African-American evangelical pro-life ministry in the country — three out of five pregnant African-American women will abort their child.

Besides currently performing his full-time duties as a local pastor, Mack is a longtime Christian activist who routinely visits abortion clinics with the mission to persuade mothers to forgo terminating the life of their unborn child. Last week, Mack directed his thoughts to fellow believers in the church and to the black community at large.

He told this writer on Thursday: “If you’re willing to sacrifice your babies, your children, and your business for Mr. Obama, you have that choice — but I will not.”

Mack continued: “If Obama wins, the babies lose. If Obama wins, your children will be discipled by homosexual [activists] in the public schools. If Obama wins, small businesses will suffer. Raising taxes would be the worst remedy during an economic downturn.”

Rev. Mack notes that Senator Obama has the most liberal voting record in the U.S. Senate and is a longtime friend of abortion providers. Since joining the Senate in 2005, the Illinois senator has received a 100-percent rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America, the leading abortion advocacy group in the United States.

Furthermore, Obama has injected himself into the debate on gay marriage by denouncing Proposition 8, the California initiative that defines marriage as between one man and one woman. Biblical Christians agree that Christ himself has already defined marriage as between one man and one woman (Matthew 19:4).

On election eve, Mack concludes by asking his fellow believers: “Are you willing to sacrifice [your beliefs, your convictions] for this one man?”

I ask: Are you willing to put Obama before Christ?