Pray for Rush and Bush

In my October 2nd post I wrote about the Christian duty to be compassionate, even towards those we dislike. I was making a larger statement in the case of the Rush Limbaughs of the world who have no compassion but instead condemn, judge and spread hatred. I can pray for Limbaugh to seek treatment and make a commitment to the Twelve Steps of recovery. The result would be a new, improved, kinder, gentler, and saner Rush Limbaugh.

Well others are not so nuanced. Today I discovered prayforrush.com. This site exhorts us all to "pray for the doctor of democracy." I had no idea there was a doctor of democracy and I would never have thought Limbaugh was the man for the job. The site doesn't tell us why we should schedule time to pray and/or fast for Rush. Are we praying to get him out of a legal jam? Are we praying for him to stop using? Are we praying for him to return to ESPN? But a closer look reveals the answer. We are supposed to pray for Rush because he is a conservative. It turns out that the same person created prayforbush.com.

"We believe George W. Bush is a man after God's own heart. He is a man who lives in Christ, and obeys God. Like King David, he is not perfect, but he is repentant, humble, and full of the mighty courage that results from trusting the Lord. We believe George W. Bush is a merciful gift from the Lord to an undeserving people."

Was Bush obeying God when he invaded Iraq? Is Bush repentant? I haven't heard any repentance for the lies that led to the deaths of thousands in Iraq. I can agree with the undeserving part. I didn't deserve having this guy in the White House.

I don't object to prayers for Bush or anyone else. However, I do object to nitwit Christians who seek to make the church an arm of government. Jesus said in Matthew 22:21, "Then He said to them, Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's." Jesus was referring to a lot more than Caesar's face on a coin. He was telling us not to make the church the arm of government. He definitely would have frowned on the Faith Based Initiative and Christians who claim that He favors one political group over another.

I wish bible thumpers would stop thumping and start reading. Nothing serious mind you. Just the highlights. They just might learn how to be Christians. It isn't easy. You have to think for yourself and be skeptical of those who claim to believe as you do, especially when they want to use you for political purposes.

Thanks to fellow blogger Scoobie Davis for the heads up.