The Church, the State, Dobson, and the Supremecy of Jesus Christ!

Yea, I know, you all thought I was gone, never to blog again.  Well, you were wrong, and boy aren't you excited.  The truth is, I have been extremely busy, and have had allot on my mind. There have been so many things that I have wanted to blog about, but not enough time to get it all down. Just to let you know up front, this post will be kind of all over the place, so please read carefully.

Ready?  Here we go...

I posted a comment of Facebook a few weeks ago regard the separation of church and state, and the fact that those words do not exist in our constitution.  I also mentioned the fact that the author of the portion of the constitution where that idea comes from, really intended (at least as proven through my own research) to protect religious freedom from the government, and not the other way around.  Unfortunately, historical revisionists have had their way, and the truth of what our constitution really says and intended is found only through intense research and study. This of course garnered some attention from some of my Facebook friends, but the conversation was all civil and respectful.

Jump ahead a few days, and I became involved in a discussion string on a friends Facebook page regarding Focus on the Family's involvement in the National Day Of Prayer, and their seeming need to demonize and incriminate the Obama administration.  Now, before I continue, I would like to clarify a few things about myself and my positions in bullet points, and hopefully set the stage for a clear understanding of the rest of this post.

• I am a follower of Jesus Christ
• I am a conservative republican who feels strongly about the mandate to pray for rulers and all those in authority
• I did not vote for President Obama nor do I agree with many of his positions politically or morally
• Irrespective of the above point, I will continue to support our President in prayer
• I appreciate James Dobson and hi organization and their commitment to protecting the institution of family
• Irrespective of the above point, I do not agree with fear tactics and political game playing as a resort for Christian leaders who are supposed to be an example to a lost world.
• I do not support historical revisionism and feel that it is extremely damaging to our culture and to who we are as a nation and a people

OK, now that I have that out of the way, I shall continue.  The thread I became involved in regard Dobson became about the role that he and other Christian leaders play in spreading ear and playing political games, do push an "extreme right" and religious agenda.  The most important things about this thread was that we all remained friends at the end.  It did get heated however and eventually the conversation turned to a "Christians" role in society and the need for diversity or lack thereof.

Here is my conclusion.  I do not agree with many of the things that Dobson's organization has recently done on a political level.  I do however agree with the heart of the message.  Here is my issue though.  While diversity in thought and opinion is OK, we are called as followers of Jesus, to build community, and to be of like mind, intent on one purpose.  How can followers of Jesus pull this off when we constantly focus on pushing our own agendas, spreading fear and ignoring the supremacy of Jesus Christ in all aspects of life and of our Nation?  We must come to a place where we understand that community is built through love, understanding comes when ears are open and mercy is given.  I feel like Christians have become so afraid, that we have forgotten to whom we belong and that His mandate is to love one another.  We do not have to agree, but we must love.  I do not ave to support President Obama with my vote, but I must support him through prayer and love.  I do not have to support homosexuality, but I must love homosexuals. I do not have to agree with or support abortion, but I must love the women who make the choice.

Our mandate is to love, period.  There is no fear in love.  We need to love as Christ loved and live as Christ lived, period.  End of story!