During his interview with Sarah Palin, James Dobson of Focus on the Family described a conference call he had with leading preachers. He said:
"It was just incredible thing...the spirit of the Lord was on that call and we were rather boldly asking for a miracle with regard to the election this year."
Palin expressed confidence that God's will would be done on election day:
"I have found myself over and over again in my life being put in these underdog positions and yet still when victory needed to be reached in order to meet this greater good, it's always worked out just perfectly fine... I'm going to know at the end of the day, putting this in God's hands, that the right thing for America will be done."
So what happened? What was God trying to tell religious conservatives or the rest of us? Tom Minnery of the FRC Action offered a theory, according to the Focus on the Family website:
Minnery pointed out that in the Bible, God worked through pagan rulers such as Nebuchadnezzar, Darius and Cyrus to accomplish his purposes, and that values voters ought to begin praying for President-elect Obama.
Read more about how God used Nebuchadnezzar, a.k.a. the "wicked one."
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1.i Yawn.
1.ii And the religiously ill project their images and do great harm in the name of their Thunder-God. They condemn and cast aspersions, and be hateful and proclaim their "good news".
1.iii The invaders came and carried with them a book. And before they came, the people had no book, but had the land. And after a time, the people had the book, but had no land. And the traditions of these people were made a great evil and suppressed, and much evil was done by the invaders.
...
We live in the 21st century, and superstition still holds such power in the hearts and minds of many. Why can the religions not lay aside their irrational beliefs? Embrace the states of awe and wonder that are the cornerstones upon which religious edifices have been built, but lay aside the foolishness of projection and ridiculous beliefs that must be sustained through leaving one's brain at the threshold of religion's door. Surely it is possible to experience Primary Religious states without the baggage of virginal births, physical resurrections, and the need to appease Yahweh's wrath with blood. It is time to grow up, to put away childish things, and face life and death with courage and compassion.
Fundamentalisms of whatever flavour are dangerous. They permit the justification of actions that could not possibly be otherwise sanctioned as moral goods. (Read your Old Testament for some glaringly horrific examples.) Someday, hopefully, the majority will awaken from this stupor, lay aside their talisman-beliefs and make the world better through direct engagement.
The topic of this article is so absurd as to not warrant a moment of consideration. So here's a more useful topic to ponder.
A truly thoughtful and rational evangelical would put the various issues which claim innocent lives into some kind of perspective - especially during an election. So it is surprising to see that in BeliefNet's survey of voters issues that McCain evangelicals ranked the environment (last at 17%), reducing poverty (second to last at 21%), and access to healthcare (fourth to last at 24%) as relatively UNIMPORTANT issues.
On a global basis, destruction of the environment, poverty and inadequate healthcare contributes directly to the deaths of MILLIONS of innocent people each year from starvation and disease. In a running estimate provided at www.starvation.net nearly 9.5 MILLION people have died of starvation thus far during 2008. Untold millions more are dying from the effects of untreated disease. Overpopulation of the planet, greed, and the brutal effects of wars and strife are also contributing factors to millions of deaths.
There is no point in fixating on a single issue (e.g. abortion) when the deaths of MILLIONS of innocent people each year are being caused by mankind (which may be a one word oxymoron?).
This is a generation damned by its arrogance.
Imagine James Dobson hearing voices on a telephone and assuming it was God's voice! What is that but the most primitive sort of idolatry... a narcissistic self worship at one's own voice, or the voices of those that agree with you?
Each member of this generation is Haman. Each preacher is Judas.
They shall be elevated.
1st of all nebuchadnezzar or cyrus were gentiles, assyria in original hebrew meant asshur, the son of shem( were we get the word semite) so get your facts straight!
no religon or culture has exclutivity on the ear of god . above all things the truth is free . It is a sad fact of humanity that culture of any type claims its rightious perseption over reality . nebuchnezzar was a tool of the creator as are we all . the term pagan is hatefull as the term nigger . hitler was a tool of god as jesus . This world is not utopia , but a place of learning . By which we may assend back home
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