Civil Disobedience - Follow Up

According to the news story in the Washington Post online today - it can be found at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/28/AR2008092802365.html?hpid=sec-religion, the protest went off as planned.

The Reverend Ron Johnson of Crown Point Indiana was quoted extensively in the Post story.

"In the modern red-brick Living Stones Church in Crown Point, a town of 28,000 residents 50 miles southeast of Chicago, Johnson explained why he thinks a minister should dispense political advice. He then laid out his view of the positions of Obama and McCain on abortion and same-sex marriage, which he called two issues 'that transcend all others.'

'We want people when you prick them, they bleed the word of God,' Johnson said.

Johnson said ministers have a responsibility to guide their flocks in worldly matters, including politics, calling the dichotomy between the secular and the sacred a myth: 'The issue is not 'Are we legislating morality?' This issue is 'Whose morality are we legislating?' '

Asked why he felt the need to discuss the candidates by name and to be explicit in rejecting Obama and his pro-choice views, Johnson said he must connect the dots because he is not sure that all members of his congregation can do so on their own."

I found that last comment particularly telling. Reverend Johnson does not believe the members of the congregation he serves are smart enough to be able to decide for whom to vote without his guidance. I guess I have just served congregations I have trusted to be mature enough to make their own decisions.

Should you desire to investigate the issue from the perspective of The Alliance Defense Fund, its website is www.alliancedefensefund.org.