Then we get to his comments yesterday on his support for gay marriage:
'This is something that, you know, we’ve talked about over the years and she, you know, she feels the same way, she feels the same way that I do. And that is that, in the end the values that I care most deeply about and she cares most deeply about is how we treat other people and, you know, I, you know, we are both practicing Christians and obviously this position may be considered to put us at odds with the views of others but, you know, when we think about our faith, the thing at root that we think about is, not only Christ sacrificing himself on our behalf, but it’s also the Golden Rule, you know, treat others the way you would want to be treated. And I think that’s what we try to impart to our kids and that’s what motivates me as president and I figure the most consistent I can be in being true to those precepts, the better I’ll be as a as a dad and a husband and, hopefully, the better I’ll be as president.'
There are two points to be made here about the bold part of the quote above. First, and the alarming most important to the country, we have a President who is preaching. Second, is the misinterpretation of the Golden Rule in the Bible.
With a preaching President comes many issues. First and foremost is the separation of church and state. Many people that remind us of this necessity often use it to keep religion out of the public sector. The text of the First Amendment in regards to this reads "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," and does not preclude religion from the public sector. The opposite is true in that government has no place in religion or keeping a person from practicing their religion. President Obama's preaching does not enact a law nor is he in Congress. However, he has stepped into dangerous water when he admitted that "obviously this position may be considered to put us at odds with the views of others" and citing a specific passage of the Bible for justifying his belief.
President Obama obviously knows that his position on gay marriage is at odds with other Christians and is becoming argumentative in stating his beliefs. If he wants to argue these points, then he should engage in such a debate with a qualified defender of the faith rather than letting his position as President allow him to preach. There are many people who may be lead astray if these comments go unchecked, especially with lack of media coverage on rebuttals of the President's comments.
Also, in regards to the issue of a preaching President, is that non-Christians are alienated. Not only is he at arms with Christians of other beliefs, but with atheists, Jews, Muslims, and other religions. Is the word of the President to be the Word of God? Atheists would certainly have an issue with this as they do not believe in God. Accepting the change of mind of the President is the easy way out of this discussion simply because it conveniently goes along with the majority viewpoint of atheists. If the President is going to preach on why he supports gay marriage, atheists should be afraid of whatever else he might do based on his changing interpretation of the Bible. People of other Christian beliefs will find themselves defending their beliefs against the public megaphone given to the President. People of other religions will be alienated along with atheists because his preaching comes from books that are not part of their sacred scripture.
The second issue is the misinterpretation of the Golden Rule. Elsewhere President Obama is cited as quoting the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew. Mt 7:12 is one place where we find the Golden Rule "Do to others whatever you would have them do to you." We also see this in the Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:20-49). Specifically, Lk 6:31 reads "Do to others as you would have them do to you." The passages of Lk 6:27-36 and Mt 5:43-48 have to do with the love of enemies. All Christians should abhor things that go against the teaching of God. As such, they would not want to have someone commit a sin against them. So if one does not want to have sin done against them, they should not sin against anyone either and that is the point of the Golden Rule. President Obama is mislead on the purpose of the Golden Rule in forming his conscience about gay marriage. This is about not sinning as opposed to being a basis for letting people do whatever they please. While there are some questionable interpretations of scripture that could lead someone into thinking that homosexual relations are not condemned by God, the Golden Rule is not one of them.
These are difficult times for people of faith as our President seeks to remove religion from the public sector while using his office as a means to preach religion. President Obama is trading in dangerous water. We must not be afraid. Just like the disciples in the boat were struggling,"the boat, already a few miles offshore, was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it" (Mt 14:24), we must remember that Jesus is with us and we should not lose faith.
"When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. 'It is a ghost,' they said, and they cried out in fear. At once [Jesus] spoke to them, 'Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.' Peter said to him in reply, 'Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.' He said, 'Come.' Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw how [strong] the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, 'Lord, save me!' Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, 'O you of little faith, why did you doubt?' After they got into the boat, the wind died down." (Mt 14:26-32)
