Why My Friend Joe Hilley is Wrong About Barack Obama
By Michael Fletcher | Monday, June 21st, 2010 | Policy
I’ve recently connected to a friend from college who, after a career as an attorney now makes his living as a writer. I’ve told him he’s living the life I want. Among other things, his books include Sarah Palin: A New Kind of Leader.
Like most of the long lost friends I’ve found again, we’re connected on Facebook, so when his blog post came through today, I took the time to go over and read it: Barack Obama and the Ancient Prophets. Taking the words of the prophet Daniel to King Nebuchadnezzar, “. . . the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes,” (Daniel 4:25) Joe applies that to the present day United States. The theme of God granting authority to men is echoed in the New Testament in Chapter 13 of Romans where the Apostle Paul says, “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”
Joe speculates that in today’s world, those of us who call ourselves believers, and specifically those who opposed the election of Barack Obama, should now in turn accept Obama as the man God placed in the White House. Further, Joe says it’s our responsibility to get on the Obama bandwagon and help him accomplish his agenda. Joe writes:
If you believe God is at work in the world, if you believe that He still rules the kingdoms of man and sets over them whom He wills, then it is time to submit to His purposes, discern what God is working to accomplish through President Obama, and join Him in His work.
Not so fast Joe.
Yes, without question any and all authority comes from God. Yes, while it is way beyond my understanding, I can accept the fact that Barack Obama is the man God has placed in the White House at this time. And yes, I realize that Scripture calls for us to pray for our leaders and to obey the laws of the land.
Unlike Daniel and Paul, we live in a representative republic. We live in what is still, for the present, the greatest home of freedom in the history of mankind. In the United States we don’t have to fear that speaking out against our government means that we risk losing our heads. At least not yet.
So, while we’re commanded to obey the laws of the land, and yes pay our taxes, we’re not to keep silent in the face of evil and injustice. Now, don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t classify Barack Obama as the face of evil and injustice. But he is anti-life and anti-America. Look it up.
If you take Joe’s concept a bit further and apply it elsewhere around the globe, it’s a bit more problematic. Is he suggesting that Christians bow to every whim of leaders like Fidel Castro, Kim Jong-il and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? After all, if all authority comes from God, is not their authority granted by Him as well?
His premise would also suggest that Christian notables like Corrie Ten Boom and Dietrick Bonhoeffer were not following Scripture in the face of Hitler’s regime. Really Joe?
A quote often attributed to Edmund Burke says, “All that is necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing.”
I don’t think Joe is suggesting doing nothing. But I also don’t believe that just because God has allowed Barack Obama to be President that we are to keep silent and blindly follow.
I appreciate the point Joe is trying to make. Followers of Christ shouldn’t be all about the negative. We are indeed called to hold our leaders up in prayer. Scripture makes no distinction for whether or not we agree with them. But we’re not to blindly follow when so doing would compromise our values and our faith.
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About the author
Michael Fletcher works as a freelance writer and consultant in Richmond, Virginia. He blogs regularly at http://www.thewritesideofmybrain.com, http://www.richmondvabusiness.com and http://365thingsibelieve.wordpress.com
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8 Responses to "Why My Friend Joe Hilley is Wrong About Barack Obama"
Government-Approved Illegals !
Speaking of illegals, the government hasn’t built the fence high enough to keep out the un-American criminals who want to take away our freedoms.
Yes, the government hasn’t built the White House fence high enough to keep out the un-American criminals who somehow got into the White House and who are now working hard to take away the religious, social, and economic freedoms of true American patriots!
Here are two slogans that Obama would rather not think about: “Unborn babies should have the right to keep and bear arms – and legs and ears and eyes, etc.!” and “Unborn babies should have the same right to be born alive that abortionists had!”
If Obama should ever happen to Google “Dangerous Radicals of the Religious Right,” do you think he would feel guilty merely walking in the hallowed halls of that House where true Americans walked?
Is it safe to assume that Mecca Wafers are Obama’s favorite candy? And is barack-coli a vegetable or a disease?
(Neither Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi nor any other DemocRAT approved of this message!)
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by virginiaBNN and Bearing Drift, Sarah Storm Report. Sarah Storm Report said: BLOG 1: #tsot #tcot Why My Friend Joe Hilley is Wrong About Barack Obama http://dlvr.it/1wKth #teaparty #tlot #rs #palin12 #spwbt #sgp [...]
Hitler, the democratically elected ruler of Germany from 1933 to 1945, commanded both Catholic and Protestant Christian leaders to preach ‘unconditional subjugation’ to Hitler under the pretence of the Holy Bible – specifically, the Book of Romans, Chapter 13. When Hitler’s aim was to disarm Germany’s citizenry, Christian leadership obediently mollified their congregations with Romans 13. When Hitler’s aim was to abduct dissidents in the dark quite of the night without due process – Romans 13. When the burning flesh of her lawful neighbors manufactured the air unbreathable – Romans 13. Etc. {*3*}
“The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.”
- William Shakespeare, poet and playwright, 1564-1616
Please just google hitlers Favorite bible scripture.. and or how Goverment has and will use
pastors and clergy to bring the Sheeple into submission to obey evil..
Here is my link and some info here that I posted on facebook and Twitter..
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=666841219&v=app_2347471856#!/note.php?note_id=415994407173
also posted on twitter and wordpress blog..
Thank you for this post!
Anne in Virginia:-)
Wow. Romans 13. Epistle of Paul. Submit to authority because it is God’s will, and we are told we will burn in hell if we do not obey the government. Those words were certainly not written by any God.
I think we got over this in a little thing called the American Revolution. If you want to cite a book of fairy tales and tell me God himself wrote the entire book, we have a HUGE problem.
As for the Hitler analogies….what are you talking about? One of the aims of Nazi theology was to debunk all established religions. That is probably the one thing I could agree with them on. The only problem was they wanted to establish their own state-imposed ideology, which was even worse. This was one sphere they could never accomplish during their reign of terror.
Gimme a break here.
Implying your President is anti-American. You are an anti-American idiot. I can not imagine anything more unpatriotic than to accuse your President of being anti-American.
I heard the same kind of idiocy from the left when Bush was President – thank you for demonstrating that the far right is just as stupid and unpatriotic as the far left.
Cap’n, let’s be clear. I implied nothing. That was a statement. President Obama holds many anti-American sentiments. Some day, when I’m feeling more prolific and perhaps a bit more charitable, I’ll spell them out for you.
As for me demonstrating anything from the far right? Strike two. I don’t fit into any idealogical box, certainly not on the far right. Although I will give you points for recognizing stupidity on both ends of the spectrum.
But thanks for raising the level of civil discourse by calling me an idiot.
I understand context and your point. But “the greatest home of freedom in the history of mankind”? Eden before the Fall.
Michael,
Thank You for this article. It is true that God is the giver of authority. In our nation the authority has been given to the people to choose for oursleves various government authorities.
As far as the ancient prophets go, they were a check on the power of the king in ancient Israel and Judah. As a matter of fact, a prophet will on occasion be found rebuking a king for disobedience to God.
While we are to most definately respect President Obama as an authority that has been placed over us, and we must pray for his personal and professional responsibilites, this in no way obligates us to go along with all of his programs.
As a matter of fact, if his program goes against the Word of God, as Christians, we are obligated to oppose it and speak the Truth.
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