You all know how much I love religion and politics (insert sarcasm), but I got sent info on this new website faith2008.org. It’s a database of religious rhetoric being compiled by Georgetown University centering around the presidential election. Now understand this isn’t the newest version of Christianity Today where candidates give lip service to tow the he Christian vote. The Faith 2008 Database tracks religious rhetoric in the campaign by candidate and theme, and features historical and international comparisons. It’s interesting to say the least.

Check out Faith2008.org

ABC’s Nightline recently ran a report about the the focus on religion in the upcoming 2008 elections for President. They said, “…in no modern-day election has the Lord played so prominent and consistent a role popping up on the trail..”

[ABC News]

God is popping up everywhere when it comes to the ‘08 race, but I think that the candidates approaching it all wrong. It’s all about pandering (so they think) to the voters. Though, I think that they’re about 4-8 years behind. What worked in the last election, isn’t playing in this one.

[youtube= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqtwLlrSssY]

McLaren, who’s no stranger to controversy, is here at a press conference for Media Matters and basically asserting that the “Religious Right” (politically) as we knew it was dead. He goes to say the topics that matter to Christians have changed, but the ideology of the Religious Right haven’t changed with them.

And I think you can already see it with Pat Robertson giving his endorsement of Rudy Giuliani. Robertson hasn’t been relevant since the 80’s (and some may argue he was never relevant). There’s this old political ideology that says if you get the endorsement of a certain religious leader it will make a difference in the race. But come on. Pat Robertson? How more out of touch can we be?

I’ll go out on a limb and say this: Jesus didn’t come to save America. Jesus is not an American. Jesus doesn’t give a rip about American politics (sorry, Dobson). This not his Kingdom and he could care less. What does Jesus care about? You. He cares about you. He cares about your heart. He cares about the meek, poor and suffering.

Can politics matter to you if you’re a Christian? Sure. It’s just not the topics they’re throwing out to Christians.

So what issues matter to you as a Christian?

Over the weekend, in a talk Jerry Falwell insinuated that Hillary Clinton was the devil (Lucifer). Now, I’m not putting any validity into Faldie - he’s a joke into himself. But he does bring up an interesting question: is Hillary evil? Christian conservatives have long demonized her (and some times for good reason). She’s liberal and morally left… and she’s a Clinton!

But comparing her to the devil, in my opinion, actually underscores the capacity of Satan and falsely establishes our opinion of what evil actually is. As Christians we engage daily in spiritual warfare against an the enemy of the cross and our Lord. There is a formidable enemy. Hillary is not that enemy. As Christian we know that victory is already won, Christ has come, died on the cross and conquered death. So we know that evil doesn’t win. That’s something to put our hope in, but that doesn’t get us off the hook or pull us out of the battle that we find ourselves in.

To see Hillary (an anyone else on this earth) as the ultimate enemy is foolish and wrong. All it means to do is take our eyes off the calling, our Lord, and the one who opposes it. It forces us to focus on the wrong thing. That’s one thing that makes me sick with conservative Christians. The focus on the wrong thing. I’m not saying that abortion and the plethora of other causes that liberals push are good. What I am saying is that you can choose to fight the symptoms or the source. Fighting the symptoms leads to an endless race of putting out fires. It’s kind of like playing whack-a-mole. You squish one and then another pops up.

Now, to fight the source that’s another story. Once we focus on this, then our perspectives change. Then we find our true selves and calling and see that we are set into a battle that’s been raging on for centuries. Then we truly realize that this story isn’t all about us. Sure we’re apart of it, but it’s about our Lord. Once we have this perspective our outlook on life changes.

If we were to spend our time focused on our Lord and what he has for our lives and less on poloticizing our faith our country would be transformed. But, we would rather follow enlist a program or picket a clinic than spend time with Jesus. We would rather do things in on our own power, in our own strength, as opposed leaning on the strength and power of our Father and walking in faith. Do we even know what that is anymore?

Your thoughts?