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Today, at a John McCain rally, a pastor prayed a prayer.
Unhelpful for establishing the tone McCain sought in Davenport was the Rev. Arnold Conrad, past pastor of the Grace Evangelical Free Church. His prayer before McCain arrived at the convention center blocks from the Mississippi River appeared to dismiss faiths other than Christianity and cast the election as a referendum on God himself.
“I would also pray, Lord, that your reputation is involved in all that happens between now and November, because there are millions of people around this world praying to their god – whether it’s Hindu, Buddha, Allah – that his opponent wins, for a variety of reasons,” Conrad said.
“And Lord, I pray that you would guard your own reputation, because they’re going to think that their god is bigger than you, if that happens. So I pray that you will step forward and honor your own name with all that happens between now and Election Day,” he said.
McCain strikes back at Obama ally
Whatever the prayer was intended to proclaim about the candidates, this prayer speaks volumes about what the pastor thinks of God. Who knew that God’s reputation hangs on the outcome of the United States Presidential election?
As an indication of the quality of theological thinking behind this prayer, it is worthwhile to notice that the pastor identifies three “gods”—”Hindu,” “Buddha,” and “Allah.” “Hindu” is not a god. It is an adjective describing the religion of Hinduism. Buddha is also not identified as a god within Buddhism, which is essentially a non-theistic philosophical and ethical system. The pastor did get it right with “Allah”—the God of Islam. However, adherents of both Christianity and Islam claim to be monotheists, recognizing only one God, who happens to be the same God.
As for the rest of the theology behind this prayer, it seems to be important for mere mortals to have a wee bit more humility than this pastor demonstrates. The tone of the prayer seems more appropriate for two five-year-olds on a playground, threatening each other with childish statements: “My dad is bigger than your dad.” “Oh yeah? Who says?”
Any “god” who needs to have a particular political candidate win an election to protect “his” reputation, is an imposter. The God proclaimed by Christian faith deserves better publicity than this.
Dr. Kalinda Rose Stevenson
For a grown-up Christian approach to money, be sure to see Going Broke With Jesus. How Heroic Stories Intended To Liberate The Poor Become Biblical Urban Legends About The Evils Of Money.
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