John Ortberg on evangelicals in politics

Just read a good post by John Ortberg titled, "The seven deadly sins of evangelicals in politics." Can't get Friedman off the brain and some of Ortberg's comments reminded me of his writings.

All of his "deadly sins" are good, but I especially liked:

• One Issue-ism. Justifying our intolerance of complexity and nuance by collapsing a decision into a simplistic and superficial framework.
• Messianism. The sin of believing that a merely human person or system can usher in the eschaton. This is often tipped off by phrases like: “The most important election of our lifetime” (which one wasn’t?); or “God’s man for the hour.”
• Alarmism. A friend of mine used to work for an organization that claimed both Christian identity and a particular political orientation. They actually liked it when a president was elected of the opposite persuasion, because it meant they could raise a lot more money. It is in their financial interests to convince their constituents that the president is less sane than Jack Nicholson in The Shining. Alarmists on both sides of the spectrum make it sound like we’re electing a Bogeyman-in-Chief every four years. I sometimes think we should move the election up a few days to October 31.

It's so easy to identify the anxiety-driven forces behind each of these. Also identifiable are sabotage (another topic of Friedman's that I didn't address in my summary) and the need for certainty.

What a lively mess of religion, politics, and immaturity...enjoy!