The Liberty Council, a nonprofit organization that defends religious liberties, is encouraging people to “Adopt a Liberal” and to “pray earnestly and intensely for them.” The Liberty Council is affiliated with Liberty University (Jerry Falwell founded the school) and has championed the idea of “praying” rather than politically criticizing “liberal” politicians.
The website that the Liberty Council created, has codified and has even named these liberals. Notable figures include:
- President Barack Obama
- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
- Mayor Michael Bloomberg
- Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
- Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
- Senator Olympia Snowe
Surprisingly, this list is made of both Democrats and Republicans. Liberty University has long been associated with the “Christian Right” movement of the 1980’s and 1990’s through Jerry Fallwell’s involvement. This certainly changes the the idea that the “Christian Right” has always been closely connected to the Republican party.
Is this what Jesus meant by, “But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” in Matthew 5? What is the motive behind such an organization?
The Liberty Counsel makes their intent clear:
Since the landmark 2008 general election, there can be no doubt that a very large percentage of our Nation’s leaders have a liberal mindset. The undeniable fact is that the 111th Pelosi-Reid Congress and the Obama Administration demonstrate a far left political philosophy.
David Waters at the Washington Post, who first picked up on this movement, had this insight:
It’s certainly a nicer and more faithful approach….Saturday at the conference, for example, U.S. Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), who founded the Arizona Family Research Institute, told the audience that President Obama “is an enemy of humanity.” (A spokesman for Franks later tried to “clarify” the remarks.)
Sunday, former Mike Huckabee adviser Rick Scarbrough, self-described “Christocrat” and author of the book “Liberalism Kills Kids,” accused Obama of staffing his administration with “well-financed, well-heeled, and highly-staffed professional infidels who have dedicated their life” to destroying America.
Indeed, this may be “nice” and biblical to pray for our “enemies”, but these people are not our enemies. They are our elected officials. Enemies in Jesus’ day were those who persecuted Christians. Persecution from enemies, in the 1st century, were people who wanted to kill or beat you. True, you may disagree on politicians politics and you should pray for them but are these leaders really enemies? The other misguided point that the Liberty Counsel makes is to a line politically liberal and religiously liberal. If one political leader is “liberal” on one issue, then that leader is branded a liberal for all issues, thus being un-Christian.
Under the Liberty Counsel’s ideology, am I a “liberal” because I want to make sure the everyone has some sort of access to health care? This type of “calling out” does not help Christianity, it only hurts it. It creates the “us” and “them” mentality. Their website called out branded Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine 
(a Republican) as a liberal because she “voted to expand hate crimes” to include sexual orientation.” I hope it is illegal to commit a hate crime based on sexual orientation, or for that matter any crime motivated by bigotry.
This misguided attempt to pray for our “liberal” leaders smacks of arrogance. The motive for praying should not be for people who are just liberal. It should be for every leader of our country, regardless of political affliction. To separate liberal from conservative in this way is akin to separating the good leaders from the evil leaders. Liberty Council’s website even proclaims, “[Barack Obama] calls himself a ‘citizen of the world,’ a term that reflects his support of a ‘one world government.” That is flat out untrue and makes Obama look like the boogieman. That is a scare tactic, not a prayer tactic.
I may disagree with Barack Obama’s political views on abortion and gay marriage, but I pray for him because he is our president not because he is a “liberal”. Let’s be careful with how we label people. I really wish Liberty Council’s campaign was entitled, “Love, pray, and spend time with someone who you politically disagree with.” But, I don’t think that fits on a bumper sticker.
3 Comments
Perhaps; however I would argue that the enemies Jesus used as an example weren’t really trying to kill anyone but Jesus. Who was an enemy of the crowd of people listening? I would argue it was not only the Roman army but also both the Pharisees and Saducees. They were an oppressed people who wanted to rebel, and that rebellion was sometimes focused at their own “political” leadership. Although I don’t agree with Liberty University on much at all, I fail to see a problem with praying for people with whom I find disagreement. And that would be what I think Jesus asked me to do. If they are against someones politics in particular, it could be humbling to lift that person to the Lord in prayer.
Oh by the way, your view on healthcare is not the only thing that makes you a liberal; by a long shot.
With all of the Jewish revolts that took place before, during, and after Jesus, I would say that the term “enemies” invoked an image of violence in the 1st century. Is some who just doesn’t like you really an enemy? I hope the definition of enemy does not group people who were disliked with people who killed someone’s momma in Palestine.
The issue here is to single out “liberals” as the bad man. It is pretty disingenuous to make a website devoted to separating Christians from the non-Christians. The website also contains a number of false and misleading facts.
I oppose homosexuality and abortion. Political conservatives would say that makes me a not a liberal. The point about health care speaks to the fact that people don’t realize that majority of Republicans want access to some sort of health care. I never said anything about it being run by the government.
The whole point of the post was to show that labeling a politician “liberal” because, for instance, they voted for legislation related to homosexual issues (but not on approving gay marriage, like Olympia Snow) or social issues is misleading. Grouping people into a class and saying they are the problem really does not solve the issue. Pray, yes, but making a point of accusing politicians with inaccurate facts only adds to the problem. The website kept talking about a “one world order” a clear reference to scaring people into thinking the liberals are the anti-christ and are taking over the world. Those are scare tactics, not prayer tactics.
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