It’s long past the election season and things have moved on from battling video days between the two warring campaigns. After I’d forwarded a get-out-the-vote/Obama video a friend sent the following video to me:

Beautiful video with a somewhat overly dramatic soundtrack, then I started paying attention to words floating up on the screen. Very moving words about very moving ideas, just one problem, did the producers of this video seriously think that the Democratic candidate was going to take away the rights and beliefs expressed in the video? Except for being Pro-Choice, which is more than enough for most conservative Christians, one would be hard pressed to reject Obama’s credentials as a Christian.

This is something that I never quite understood about the Republican Right somehow claiming conservative Christianity as their own territory. The “down home” kind of Faith of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton seemed much more genuine than the more “religion of political expediency” of Ronald Reagan and George Bush, Senior. G.W.’s faith was certainly “genuine” but I’m not sure whether that was an asset or problem for the Right. Really, once we gets past the rhetoric and to each man’s genuine Faith, who could one look at this video and not say that both candidates were committed to the American values we all hold sacred?

The video mentions several times about how divided America has become. Perhaps they should examine the notes from their own strategy meetings to find the source of this fear-mongering and divisiveness. And while they’re looking, let’s think about whether we really hold that every life from conception is precious while we continue to kill hundreds of people in foreign lands. Aren’t their lives precious too? It’s easy to float powerful, emotional words across a screen. What’s more important are the actions of a man with regards to his beliefs and the actions of the nation amongst the other nations. Everything else is bankrupt and meaningless noise.

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. James 2:14-18