A follower of Christ perspective on the elections

[Over The Valley]

I'm pretty sure he's still got holes in his head, but your pal regularly preaches that he has info that we got the wrong man.

Anything new on your case ?

[Frank Broughton]

If you voted for Obama, it doesn't mean you are in support of slaughtering babies.

Sorry, but yes it does... If you voted for Obama you are no man of God and should resign today!

[buffy]

Excellent post, the only things I want to add is that it was directed to believers and not necessarily to a GOVERNMENT. Once it gets to be within the role of the government to care for the poor, there is threat of dependency, manipulation and abuse of power. Also, the definition of poor is one thing in America and quite another thing in, say, Africa. Jesus preached feeding, clothing, caring for the sick; I don't think Jesus meant that we should be providing free college educations, cell phones and abortions to the "poor"...We all need to read this article and ponder its truths, but, there is a balance that needs to be weighed along with the virtues of fiscal responsibility.

http://www.thechristianleft.org/

Ed Schultz asked on his radio show recently, “Is there a ‘religious left’?” Yes, Ed. There is. We are The Christian Left. We’re all around you. We’re among the people. Take a look. We’re part of the Body of Christ. We’re Christians. We’re Liberal. We make no apologies. In fact Jesus' ways are “Liberal.” That’s why He was killed. The Pharisees and the Sadducees were the conservatives of their time. This is clear. Oh and Ed, we love you. Keep up the good fight!

We’re not ‘New Age.’ We’re not waiting for some earthly leader to come and make everything alright - that man already came. When He comes back, there will be no doubt who HE is. Everyone, without exception, will know. Until then, we are part of the Body of Christ. We’re not ‘Communists’ or ‘Marxists’ either. We reject all such labels. We will not be profiled or pigeonholed and we will not ‘Be Quiet.’ We’re Christians. We’re Liberals. Please get used to it. Thank you. ;>)

Ann Coulter, Godless? Really? Wow …

See, it wasn’t just Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection that matter. It was his life too! The life he lived is a huge part of the deal, and he asked us to do a few things if you look at his words. Not only is what Jesus said the Word of God, but what Jesus DID is also the Word of God. Looking at the life of Jesus we see that Jesus made room for those cut off from the rest of society. Jesus put a name and a face on all who had been forgotten or pushed aside, even the dead. Jesus called us to carry our cross daily and follow him. That’s what Social Justice means.

“The Christian Left” -- left hate behind; left prejudice; left callous attitudes; and followed Jesus as HE left the 99 in the fold, to go find the ones who were lost, ignored, excluded, overlooked, abandoned, uncared-for -- all “the least of these.” We left hard-heartedness in order to be like the Samaritan who stopped to care for those in need.

James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 2:15-16 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?

What We’re All About:

We’re not about Dogma here. We’re just Christians who think the political and Christian right-wing have their priorities wrong.

Wikipedia says it pretty well in the following paragraphs:

The Christian left is a term originating in the United States, used to describe a spectrum of left-wing Christian political and social movements which largely embraces social justice.

The most common religious viewpoint which might be described as ‘left wing’ is social justice, or care for the poor and the oppressed. Supporters of this might encourage universal health care, welfare provision, subsidized education, foreign aid, and Affirmative Action for improving the conditions of the disadvantaged. Stemming from egalitarian values (and what Jesus Himself said), adherents of the Christian left consider it part of their religious duty to take actions on behalf of the oppressed.

The Christian Left holds that social justice, renunciation of power, humility, forgiveness, and private observation of prayer (as opposed to publicly mandated prayer), are mandated by the Gospel (Matthew 6:5-6). The Bible contains accounts of Jesus repeatedly advocating for the poor and outcast over the wealthy, powerful, and religious. The Christian Left maintains that such a stance is relevant and important. Adhering to the standard of “turning the other cheek,” which they believe supersedes the Old Testament law of “an eye for an eye,” the Christian Left often hearkens towards pacifism in opposition to policies advancing militarism. Many passages in the Bible illustrate the example set by Jesus regarding violence:

Luke 22: 49-51 When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.

Luke 9:53-56 And the town did not receive him, because he was headed to Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elisha did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.” For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.

While non-religious socialists sometimes find support for socialism in the Gospels (for example Mikhail Gorbachev citing Jesus as “the first socialist”), The Christian Left does not find that socialism alone is an adequate end or means. Christian faith is the core of their belief which in turn demands social justice.

The Christian Left sometimes differs from other Christian political groups on issues including homosexuality. This is often not a matter of different religious ideas, but one of focus — viewing the prohibitions against killing, or the criticism of concentrations of wealth, as far more important than social issues emphasized by the religious right, such as opposition to active homosexuality. In this case, similar to philosophies expressed by writers such as C.S. Lewis, these members of the Christian Left believe homosexual sex to be overemphasized when compared with issues relating to social justice, or even matters of sexual morality involving heterosexual sex. Bottom Line: We welcome ALL to their place at God’s table, just as they are. All means ALL. No exceptions. We reject all attempts to define our Faith by the two wedge issues of Gay Marriage and Abortion. -- End of Wikipedia content.

The Christian Left doesn’t get uptight about the same things as their right-wing brothers and sisters. Lefties tend to accept that we’re all trapped in the human condition, that we all struggle, and that we’re all sinners. They tend to focus on behaviors that Jesus focused on while he was here in body -- things like hypocrisy, organized oppression, exorbitant greed, self-righteousness, judgmentalism, selfishness, abuse of power, violence, etc.

Paul defined the human condition well: Romans 7: 14-25 “We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Too many Christians espouse a deeply ingrained code of written and unwritten expectations and rules that shame them and drain them of spiritual strength. The Christian Left focuses on a message to help people unmask the lies that keep them on a works/righteousness treadmill; a message to help people discover the liberation of the gospel, the grace in Jesus Christ, and the rest that comes from what Christ has done on the cross. Salvation is a free gift. It cannot be earned. But Grace isn’t cheap. After what Jesus has done for us, we offer our best to live up to what he asks from us (to follow his commandments).

Here’s what Jesus had to say regarding his commandments:

Matthew 22:34-40 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Many people accuse us of “Cherry-Picking” the Bible. We reject this silly sentiment. We think Jesus made things about as clear as they can get.

Another Christian Lefty, Marilyn Chandler McEntyre, Professor of English at Westmont College, Santa Barbara, California, put it this way in her article “A Voice from the Christian Left.”

“Many on the Christian Right are fond of posing the question WWJD?-- What would Jesus do? I’d like to remind them whatJesus DID do: He cared for the poor. He did not condemn the woman caught in adultery. He prayed alone. He commanded us to love our enemies. He preached peace. He ate, drank, and lived with ‘tax collectors and sinners’ -- the lowlifes and outcasts of his day, while reserving his condemnation for the religious leaders who, from a place of privilege, imposed their legalism and literalism on the people they were responsible for leading. He told his disciples not to oppose the healing work of those outside the ranks of his followers. And again and again he reminded us to care for the poor. (That moral issue gets more air time than any other in the gospels: 1 verse in 9.) If Christians concerned about how to respond to the grave global issues facing us all were to reread the Gospels for guidance, I think we’d find some pretty clear indications there about what Jesus would do ... and what he wouldn’t. (One of the few bumper stickers I’ve been tempted to affix to my still undecorated car in recent months reads ‘Who would Jesus bomb?’)

Whatever Jesus would do, given what he did do, and has promised he will do, I don’t think it looks much like what the insulated, self-congratulatory Fox News fans on the ‘Christian Right’ are doing.” [End of Marilyn Chandler McEntyre Quote]

Based on the Word, The Christian Left believes it’s obvious that the primary message of Jesus was love -- Love for God, and love for our fellow men and women.

Matthew 22:37-40 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. And a second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.

John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.

Matthew 7:12 Whatever you want others to do for you, do so for them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Luke 6:35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward in heaven will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.

Mark 10:43-45 Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many.

John 13:14-15 If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.

Love God and love people.Forgive people over and over again, as you have been forgiven by God over and over again. Show mercy, as you have been shown mercy by God. Help the weak, the sick, the depressed, the poor, the jailed, the oppressed, the marginalized, the outcast -- for one day you could be weak, sick, depressed, poor, jailed, oppressed, marginalized, outcast. It is also the only reasonable response to God’s overwhelming grace – sharing the same grace with the world.

The Christian Left rejects exclusivity. We believe that John the Baptist wasn’t kidding when he proclaimed the coming of Jesus saying, “and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” We firmly believe that all means ALL. The exclusionary gospel of the Christian Right is foreign to us. We do not recognize it. Jesus came to set the captives free and announce the arrival of the peaceable kingdom of God where ALL are welcomed. Like a member of The Christian Left (Shannon Maynard) has said, one of our favorite words in the Bible is “whosoever.”

The exclusionary tactics and demonization that is so frequently practiced by the Christian Right is not of the Jesus we follow. John the Baptist said, “every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” The tree that is the Christian Right all too frequently bears fruit of anger, hate and judgment. It produces some strange fruit. “The same strange fruit that white supremacists hung from the trees in the South. The same strange fruit that the Nazis baked in the ovens of Auschwitz. The same strange fruit that was diced and sliced with machetes in Rwanda. The same strange fruit that is left to rot to death in Africa because the cost of a cure may undercut someone’s bottom line. The same strange fruit that is pounded to death daily with rocks and bombs in the Middle East. The same strange fruit that are depressed to death because of homophobic bullying. Trees that bear these fruits, systems that bear these fruits are to be cut down and thrown into the fires – they are the chaff that God wills to burn in an “unquenchable fire,” where they will bear the fruit of domination no longer.” (from Rev. Mark Sandlin’s sermon, “All Means All.”)

Unfortunately in this country today, we have a sort of spiritual revival of the Pharisees --people who don’t want to practice love, grace, or compassion, but would rather try to bury people under legalistic demands that they themselves aren’t capable of keeping. Culturally crusading right-wing Christians have substituted the Gospel of Jesus Christ for a Gospel of Morality. They've made it more about following rules than loving God (having a relationship with Christ) and loving their fellow brothers and sisters. This is unacceptable. It's exactly what Jesus spoke out against. People are stuck in the Gospel of Morality. They are drained by the shame it produces. Far too many are repulsed by this false religious system they can't live up to. This insanity must stop. When we walk with Jesus, he refines us as he sees fit, by his Spirit. Proponents of the Gospel of Morality don’t get that on some level. Jesus didn’t say “Get refined then follow me.” He said “Follow Me … and get refined, the way only I can refine.” Isaiah 64:8; Jeremiah 18:2; Jeremiah 18:6; Romans 8:28; Matthew 4:19

Many folks stop by and tell us to keep up the great work in the name of Christian Charity. Charity is only part of the message. The danger here is allowing it to become about charity only, rather than social justice as well. Charity tries to fix up people so that the system will work better. Justice tries to fix up the system so that people will work better. We agree that a charitable attitude is important ... but it does not address the root of the problem, a system that sets up obstacles and barriers that make it nearly impossible for people to break the cycle of poverty, or the cycle of victimization, or marginalization, or the cycle of ...; Again, Jesus came to set the captives free. Colloquially charity clearly means to help someone with their immediate needs. Justice suggests that something deeper happens. Charity allows the cycle to repeat, justice readdresses that system that causes the cycle. Charity is as much about the giver as the one receiving. Justice is solely about the one receiving. Give a man a fish he eats for a day, teach a man to fish he eats for a lifetime. The System will never be perfect here on Earth, so Charity will always be required, but that’s no excuse to not advocate for The System to be just for all. When it is, the need for Charity decreases. The two are inextricably enmeshed.

So why are we here and why are we making these statements? Because there should be tension, risk and discomfort while doing ministry work, especially when we challenge deep-seated, right-wing, fundamentalist theology. It’s ugly, messy and dangerous. Oh, but worth every minute! If you are not attracting the same people that Jesus attracted, your message needs to be fixed. If the way you live the Good News (advocating Justice as restoration, universal inclusion, preaching a God of love and grace, feeding, quenching, clothing, healing, welcoming, visiting) does not place your life under a constant threat, you might want to question how fully you are living the Good News. It is time for The Christian Left to decry publicly the lies the right are telling about the Bible, and the fact that their interpretation of Scripture is slanted toward their fears and alleged concerns.

“A ship in harbor is safe -- but that is not what ships are built for.” John A. Shedd, Salt from My Attic, 1928

“No rabbi [or other minister] can be called a real rabbi, if his congregation doesn’t want to run him out of town at least once in a while!” (attributed to Rabbi Hillel, 1st century BCE)

Our Mission Statement would be meaningless and incomplete if we didn’t point out Christ’s finished work on the cross. His birth, life, death and resurrection mean everything to us. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that WHOEVER believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Finally, The Christian Left doesn’t tend to march in lockstep. All of the above statements may not speak for all members of this group. The Christian Left is a spectrum, just as The Christian Right is one.

“It’s easier to bow down and shout constant hallelujahs than to get our own hands dirty by following him [Jesus] out into the world of brokenness and mess.” -- Mark Townsend

“Sometimes I would like to ask God why He allows poverty, suffering, and injustice when He could do something about it. But I’m afraid He would ask me the same question.” – Anonymous

-- The Christian Left

[HipKat]

Agreed. There is a difference between someone who can't work or find a way to provide for his family, and someone who won't.

[buffy]

Agree, but, then you have to question leadership on why there aren't good jobs.

[HipKat]

Agree, but, then you have to question leadership on why there aren't good jobs.

they're all in other countries. You can't just create good paying jobs, when the bulk of what's out there are service oriented, unless you can open up a new industry that can be developed nationwide, like, ummm, Hemp for example, would create a ton of new jobs, but the Rockefeller laws that were passed to save his paper industry are not going to be overturned

[Bringthetruth]

If you are a New Testament Believer then you are admonished of God to pray for all that be in authority. That's it!!!

You don't get to lead according to a pseudo Christianity that thinks that God is Republican, Democrat or even an American. We don't vote our Pastor into office, we vote a President into office and God reminds us through His Apostle Paul that all that are in authority are ordained of God.

You might not like the leader that was elected but there something about him that evidently God chose to give this man such a responsibility. Even if under President Obama's watch Jesus comes back and condemns this thing, it won't be because Barak Obama is President, it will be because you the Church failed to reconcile man back to God.

While you were busy trying to legislate righteousness under the guise one nation under God, you let souls go to hell with your self righteous selves. You would have rather let a Mormon who uses the Book of Mormon to identify his Christianity and believes that Jesus and Satan were brothers, to lead our nation.

Fact is, if you are any God respecting, God fearing Believer you would know that no matter who one the election we would all still be under the same responsibility to pray for all that be in authority.

Barak Obama is our President. He is not my Pastor, just perhaps a misguided, maybe carnal Christian, or perhaps he's smart enough to know that gays have a right to sin, and by them marrying it doesn't change the definition of marriage for a Believer, and perhaps he knows, that a woman does have a right to do with her body what she chooses and to enact laws that prohibit this right causes self-righteous men to play God again. Even God does not legislate righteousness. He's given you such free will that you have free will to sin, yet the best exercise of free will is to freely and willingly serve Him.

[steven]

If you are a New Testament Believer then you are admonished of God to pray for all that be in authority. That's it

OK

You might not like the leader that was elected but there something about him that evidently God chose to give this man such a responsibility.

O k then.

As a professed Christian and a New Testament Believer please explain to me if its Obama's support of abortion or gay marriage that has made god choose him. Are u now ready to support those same things?

[Bringthetruth]

Sorry, but yes it does... If you voted for Obama you are no man of God and should resign today!

That would be like saying if you voted for Bush in 2004 you are responsible for all the murders he sent our military out to commit in an illegal war against a country that did us no harm. Why do you think those kids were committing suicide...THEY HAVE A CONSCIOUS !!!!

[Bringthetruth]

OK



O k then.

As a professed Christian and a New Testament Believer please explain to me if its Obama's support of abortion or gay marriage that has made god choose him. Are u now ready to support those same things?

God never told me and my family to follow immoral practices, he told me to pray for those in authority. What you may not understand is the man who becomes president is the one who is used by God for the nation of people in the condition they are in. God never legislates morality he gives you a choice and says in his word " follow my statutes" even if others are doing their own thing. Understanding God and how he has positioned man in the earth will help you understand why he allows certain things to happen. Psalm 115:16 The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth he has given to man.

[Mindcrime]

Agree, but, then you have to question leadership on why there aren't good jobs.

I think people need to make up their minds on whether government creates jobs or not.

If it does, then they should start by giving Obama credit for creating over 5.3 million new jobs during his first term, with millions more on the way.

If it doesn't, then they should blame private businesses & the free market for not innovating, inventing, or producing their way to creating more jobs.

They don't get to do both.

[Bringthetruth]

Steven, President Obama is not my Pastor, just perhaps a misguided, maybe carnal Christian, or perhaps he's smart enough to know that gays have a right to sin, and by them marrying it doesn't change the definition of marriage for a Believer. Just perhaps he knows, that a woman does have a right to do with her body what she chooses and to enact laws that prohibit this right causes self-righteous men to play God again. Even God does not legislate righteousness. He's given you such free will that you have free will to sin, yet the best exercise of free will is to freely and willingly serve Him.

[Bringthetruth]

GOD IS NOT A PRODUCT OF AMERICA

The goals of the Puritans who established the Massachusetts Bay Colony was to establish a theocracy that would allow the state to force all people to live and worship in an orthodox way. The theory was based on the teachings of John Calvin.

Source(s):

American History - Ray Allen Billington
A People's History of the United States - Howard Zinn,

Notice....this would be a theocracy that would allow the state to FORCE ALL PEOPLE TO LIVE AND WORSHIP IN AN ORTHODOX WAY.

It is this mindset that is at the root of Christian Conservativism. When the Puritans were in the Netherlands the society there was too liberal for them. These Puritans wanted a place where they could worship God freely, out from under the rule of England.

They came to what would become America, and proceeded to establish a theocracy which was really no more than a religious cult whose main aim as a part of advancing their interpretation of the Bible was to FORCE all people to live and worship in an orthodox way.

Today the same false misconception of what a theocracy (God ruled government) really is, has dominated the landscape of Christiandom and politics. Even non-Christian conservatives wanted to get in on the prospect of controlling others and thereby also being able to control and foster the concentration of the wealth among themselves.

This quest was so desired by Christian Conservatives that it was easier to join with a Mormon to help accomplish their quest. No doubt some Conservative Republicans only wanted to protect their wealth and that of many corporations, but then there were indeed Christian Conservatives that believed that somehow they could legislate righteousness. Their aim, a Christian nation under the mistaken belief that a nation can be righteous without being born again. America had become a long time referred as One Nation Under God, because the Founders believed and said so. Yet the Word of God teaches us that the "individual" in the New Testament is either a "child" of God or a child of the Devil. There is no middle of the road.

Its' impossible to have a Christian nation without the nation being Christian, which can only come about by a nation becoming Born Again.

So what was the quest of Christian Conservatism today; to FORCE Christianity just as the Puritans aimed to do on an increasingly more liberal society. There were many Super PACs attempting to force the vote, even to the point of conspiring with those who would collectively spend more than $1 Billion to [buy] an election, and practice voter suppression techniques in certain minority and other ethnic communities.

No doubt the notion of a Christian nation, one nation under God is indeed eroding. But this is not because of Abortion and Same Sex Marriage. The notion of a Christian nation is eroding first because you cannot legislate righteousness, never could and it was never the plan of God, and because there is an erosion of the Kingdom concept of evangelism where every Believer is a soul winner charged with the responsibility of reconciling man back to God in the same way that Christ was in God reconciling man back to Himself.

In the place of a Kingdom evangelistic community, has been the development of a Christian narcissism where everything is about "me" the individual and little to no dying to oneself that others might be able to live through your personal sharing of the gospel of the Kingdom and Christ.

Challenge your thinking! Challenge your theology!

Have you been seduced to believe that America is a Christian nation without evangelism? Ask yourself what a Christian nation really is, and then ask yourself how does a Christian nation Biblically come about?

You will find that there is no nation that is Christian that has not been evangelized, where the people have been first reconciled, and made to be a nation of Kings and Priest by the blood of Jesus, as John the Revelator tells us, and a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation and peculiar people, who are called to show forth the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light according to the Apostle Peter.

Paul the Apostle told us that we were transferred out of the dominion (kingdom) of darkness, into the Kingdom of the Son of God's love. He (Paul) said that the Kingdom of God is not meat or drink (has nothing to do with dietary laws) but is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. These three elements (righteousness, peace and joy) of the Kingdom of God are irrespective of any nation and only take up residency in those who become the people of God no matter where you live.

So the next time someone tries to convince you that America is supposed to be a Christian nation, say no, a Kingdom nation of believers who have submitted themselves to the sovereignty of the King. But then also ask yourself, what is your contribution to evangelism, personal evangelism, so that others would have the opportunity to become a citizen of the Kingdom of God just as you have. Remember, you can't legislate righteousness. That is not how we advance the Kingdom and it is not how we become a Christian nation, no matter who tells you otherwise. Please, no longer attempt to blend the ideals of a Christian America with the Puritan politics that would seek to establish it.

[steven]

I can tell that I hit a nerve by your post. Thats good you need a little truth

That would be like saying if you voted for Bush in 2004 you are responsible for all the murders he sent our military out to commit in an illegal war against a country that did us no harm.

umm no it isnt since Bush didn't say he would do what he did there was no way for a voter to know that's what he was going to do.

Obama on the other hand has let you know before hand straight up, Gay marriage and abortion are what he stands for. How will you reconcile that with your god on judgement day that you would walk hand in hand with such a man and even make it possible for his ungodly agenda to spread? You encouraged it by supporting him.

For that matter how do you do that and go to church at the same time?

Not a Christian my self but you know...... if I was I would be worried about your soul.

[Over The Valley]

God never told me and my family to follow immoral practices, he told me to pray for those in authority. What you may not understand is the man who becomes president is the one who is used by God for the nation of people in the condition they are in. God never legislates morality he gives you a choice and says in his word " follow my statutes" even if others are doing their own thing. Understanding God and how he has positioned man in the earth will help you understand why he allows certain things to happen. Psalm 115:16 The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth he has given to man.

Of course you preached the same message while you were praying for GWB right?