-By Warner Todd Huston
The weekend edition of Good Morning America found a fellow that decided to try and live for one year “like Jesus would” but what host Bill Weir found keenly interesting is that this guy voted for Barack Obama because he felt that living like Jesus compelled him to do so. Weir also wondered if the Jesus emulator had to “forgive” his Christian community for any reaction they might have had over the fact that he voted for Barack.
Former pastor Ed Dobson of Grand Rapids, Michigan appeared on the weekend edition of GMA to briefly discuss his year of living like Jesus in a segment called “What Would Jesus Do?” Dobson talked about how hard it was to walk in Christ’s path and was shaken by having to forgive and bless the terrorists in Iraq that took the life via a roadside bomb of a soldier friend of his son.
But, Dobson’s vote for Barack Obama was an issue that GMA host Bill Weir was very interested in.
Bill Weir: “And you voted for Barack Obama.”
Ed Dobson: “I did, indeed.”
Weir: “Why?”
Dobson: “I decided since I had read through the gospels at that point over 30 times, I wanted to know who best represented the fundamental teachings of Jesus, and I felt that he more than any other candidate represented the teachings of Jesus, so I voted for him, my first vote for a Democrat.”
Weir: “Which brought some scorn I imagine from your Christian community there? Which then led to you having to forgive them.” (Weir laughs)
Fortunately, Dobson said that he wasn’t necessarily saying that Jesus would vote for Obama. I would imagine a better case could be made that Jesus would not be voting at all for this earthly kingdom, though to be sure Jesus did not advocate that Christians should shun government entirely — after all, he beseeched us all to “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s” and to obey our earthly laws for the most part.
I am also quite dubious that Jesus would vote for Obama since Obama has the most extreme pro-abortion record of nearly any politician around. Supporting killing babies born alive after a botched abortion is not something I could see getting Jesus’ vote. But, who am I to presume what goes on in the mind of God?
The most interesting thing here is that host Bill Weir felt that Pastor Dobson would have to “forgive” a negative reaction to his vote by his “Christian community” as Weir put it. Does Weir imagine that Dobson’s Christian friends would attack him over a vote for Barack Obama?
Apparently he does. Naturally, only the worst is assumed about the “Christian community” at ABC.
It is sad that this guy and ABC GMA had to take what could have been an uplifting and interesting story and turned it into political partisanship.
(Photo credit: USA Today)
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Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as newsbusters.org, Human Events Magazine, townhall.com, New Media Journal, Men’s News Daily and the New Media Alliance among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events. He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of publiusforum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston
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