What does unfounded fear cause? It causes you to think that a president who opts not to say "endowed by their Creator" in his quotation of the Declaration of Independence is a good reason to go ballistic. The fact is that "by their Creator" is a statement of faith, and evidently, our President either doesn't believe that statements of faith should be included in government documents or he doesn't believe that these rights are actually endowed by our Creator. Either way, he should probably not quote the document accurately. He would be hypocritical to do so. "Hypocrisy: the act of pretending to have beliefs, opinions, virtues, feelings, qualities, or standards that one does not actually have. Hypocrisy involves the deception of others and is thus a kind of lie."1
The prophets in the Old Testament would agree. They were constantly warning Israel that God could care less about outward demonstrations coming from unbelieving hearts. He accepts only those demonstrations that flow from a heart of love and commitment toward Him. We waste valuable time and emotional energy when we try to force people to say what they don't mean. When we insist on this, we create a nation of hypocrites(non-believers who go ahead and say it) and rebels(non-believers who refuse to say it). We do this based on the fear that we are losing something great. But when you think about it, we've already lost "it" if "it" must be forced. Yes, I think a President should have some buy-in on our foundational documents and fearlessly quote them accurately. More importantly, though, I want to know where the man stands, so, keep on being real, Mr. Obama.
Americans who love their Creator need not be afraid. Even in light of the wild, unrelenting changes overtaking American society, changes like re-worded foundational documents, we should never be afraid of letting people speak honestly from their heart. At least we know where we stand. Americans who love their Creator need to take a step back, relax a little, in light of our status as God's family. We already know the end of the story. America and our President are not the answer for humanity. Our purupose is to patiently bring Truth to every person we can. Not political or social truth. The Truth person, Jesus Christ, our Creator. Bringing another heart to Him will bring shalom (~peace) to another life and could potentially turn the tide for generations to come.
1 Wikipedia ;-)
