Election ’08: The Ugly

When It Rains, It Pours
Let’s get to the point: The election of Barack Obama jeopardizes all the advancements conservatives have made on both the marriage and abortion fronts in the culture war. The result of the election serves as a clarion call to Christians throughout our nation to redouble our commitment and expand our efforts to protect life and the family.

The Ugly News On Marriage:
Over the past ten years, lawmakers in more than forty states have passed laws protecting traditional marriage in state codes. In fact, the voters in thirty of those states have enshrined one-man, one-woman marriage amendments into their constitutions by an average margin of 68 percent. However, as a result of the 2008 election, these laws and amendments may not survive until 2012.

Sound far-fetched? Not for long. Barack Obama won the support of many homosexual activists with his campaign promises to support the full repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which preserves the right of any state to refuse recognition of another state’s gay “marriage”. After the repeal of DOMA, it’s possible (Obama’s newly appointed) federal judges will require Alabama to recognize gay “marriages” from Massachusetts.

There’s more bad news. Barack Obama has also promised to:

Support the repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” military policy, which allows homosexuals to openly flaunt their behavior, thereby placing military morale, discipline, and unit cohesion at severe risk.
Support passage of an Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which rewards unnatural and immoral sex practices with protection under federal workplace laws. If the legislation is passed, there will be much greater opportunity for employees to flaunt their lifestyle in the workplace. It also would provide homosexuals a new legal option with which to threaten or initiate litigation against employers for any sanctions against blatant outward expressions of their aberrant sexuality.
Support the inclusion of “sexual orientation” in the nation’s hate crimes laws, which, like ENDA, also elevates homosexual activity to special protected status. Existing laws against “hate crimes” allow certain minorities to receive protection based upon inherent, undeniable characteristics such as race or sex, not on their lifestyle choices. (Click here for FPN’s reasons for opposing adding “sexual orientation” to hate crimes laws)

The Ugly News On Life:
For more than thirty years, pro-lifers have been fervently laboring to change hearts and minds on the evil of abortion. This has resulted in some successes and many failures, with some of the more recent failures occurring on November 4th, 2008. But the advancements of the pro-life movement (mostly consisting of restrictions on abortion procedures, parental consent/notification, and a ban on federal funding for abortions) are all on the verge of being wiped out because of President Obama’s commitments to the pro-abortion special interest groups.

Barack Obama campaigned as an abortion “moderate”; he was supposedly the candidate who wanted to move past the “divisive” politics of pro-life vs. pro-”choice”. He even told voters that questions of when life begins were “above his pay grade.” But for someone who admits they don’t feel qualified to address the issue of abortion, Obama has spent his adult life acting like he’s qualified. During his political career as a state and federal lawmaker, Obama has voted:

in favor of government funding of “contraception” methods like the Morning-After Pill that cause abortions,
against prohibiting minors from crossing state lines to get an abortion,
against notifying the parents of underage daughters who cross state lines to get an abortion,
in favor of the destruction of embyros for stem-cell harvesting,
against banning partial-birth abortion,
against providing medical care to babies who are born alive after abortions, and
in favor of affirming the “right” to an abortion under Roe vs. Wade

In addition, Obama been rated as 100% pro-abortion by the National Abortion Rights Action League each year he’s been a US Senator. But his commitment to the pro-abortion industry is nowhere more evident than in his fervent promise to Planned Parenthood that his first act as president would be to sign the “Freedom of Choice Act” (FOCA), which would roll back every legislative advancement made by pro-lifers in the states. Passage of FOCA will canonize abortion-on-demand as a federally-protected (and taxpayer-funded) constitutional right. Thousands more unborn children will die each year.

Barack Obama will also have the opportunity to appoint two or three new Supreme Court justices, who will no doubt share his radical positions on abortion. President Obama will no doubt replace the more aged liberal justices on the Court with younger, liberal justices. This will result in a similar makeup to the Court as it is now. But, if 72 year-old Justice Kennedy, who is considered the deciding vote on most abortion cases, retires during the Obama administration, the court will take a decidedly leftward lurch for decades to come.

What Does the Future Hold for Christians?
Ingrid Schlueter, a conservative Christian blogger and radio host for VCY America, has offered some interesting thoughts on the results of the election:

Four more years of carnality, complacency, false doctrine, spiritual laziness, materialism and idolatrous self-absorption would be catastrophic, and that is exactly what we would have had under another “conservative” leader. Just like four years ago, there would have been a collective sigh of relief from evangelicals saying, “We’re safe for another four years. Whew!” Now, all of us realize afresh that the cost of following Jesus Christ is about to go up. We are reminded that God judges nations in history, and that He will not hold back in patience forever when America scorns and mocks Him.

While we are to pray diligently for those leaders God has placed over us (1 Timothy 2:1-4), Christians can take comfort in the knowledge that even the most unjust and oppressive regimes have no power but that which God has given to them (John 19:11). Even though political leaders may ignore Him or reject Him, God is the ultimate sovereign wherein all authority is derived. Although Christians may be persecuted, they can rest in the sovereignty of God over the world and the rulers thereof. The Lord will always preserve His remnant.