Liberal Democrats are notorious for their cafeteria-style system of religion, the rhetoric of which they use solely for political purposes. Nancy Pelosi, anyone?

Although neither political party has a monopoly on the adherence to and application of Biblical principles to politics and governance, the Left especially loves to pick and choose which parts of the Bible they will uphold while conveniently ignoring explicit doctrines in areas that disagree with their political self interests.

In fact, liberal Democrats have repeatedly proven themselves to be incapable of understanding absolute moral truths at all.

Consider both the congressional and presidential elections of 2004. The defense of marriage was a hot-button issue at the federal level and also in several states (the author’s being one of them—Kentucky) in which a marriage protection amendment was on the ballot. The overwhelming majority of state and congressional Republicans sided with the Biblical model of marriage as a matter of commonsense understanding. As a result, a pro-marriage president was elected, and each state marriage amendment was lopsidedly passed even in “liberal states.”

How did the Democrats respond to their trip to the woodshed? Discerning their need to appeal to evangelical “values voters” – whose galvanized forces helped steer numerous elections – did Dems change significant planks in the party platform to mirror those of the Republican Party? Encourage Democrat candidates to change positions on issues to those favored by voters? Line up their party’s stances with Biblical positions that voters soundly endorsed?

No, rejecting common sense (not unusual among liberals), they held a convention for themselves to determine what they needed to do capture a larger share of the evangelical vote!

Duh…!

Last Wednesday (Sept. 10), Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee – a Barack Obama supporter – compared the Democrat presidential nominee to Jesus Christ while likening Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor who delivered Jesus into the hands of His executioners.

According to a FOX News report (http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/09/10/tennessee-rep-compares-obama-to-jesus-suggests-palin-is-pilate/), Cohen stated, “If you want change, you want the Democratic Party. Barack Obama was a community organizer like Jesus… Pontius Pilate was a governor.”

There is certainly a great deal to unpack here.

In Matthew 16:13-17 (NKJV), Jesus asked His disciples two provoking questions: “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? …But who do you say that I am?”

The first question was an assessment of what prevailing public opinion said about Jesus, and the disciples’ report – that many thought of Him only as a past or resurrected human prophet – was inadequate, and therefore, incorrect.

But Peter cut to the heart of the matter in answering the second question, saying confidently, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Just as with the public opinion of Christ in His own day, the characterization of Jesus as merely “community organizer” – as opposed to world Reconciler – ridiculously misses the point of His work, reveals a complete lack of understanding of Christ and Christianity, and diminishes His purpose on earth. Each of these is a routine achievement of liberal Democrats.

Jesus Christ was – and continues to be – the Savior of the world. Jesus spent some 33 years out of His eternal existence encased in human flesh as a man, experiencing and suffering the painful and difficult elements of life tainted by human sin.

Jesus’ purpose was not to organize a community, but to save a world! (This is not to suggest the concept of universal salvation, an un-Biblical notion which holds that every person is automatically heaven bound. No, salvation and a heavenly destination are only obtained by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.)

Christ was the divine-human channel through which Jehovah God would redeem and reconcile a sinful human race to Himself. Jesus’ more intimate, local work with the nation of Israel and the surrounding environs could only by foolishness be characterized as “community organizing.” His work in Israel was to prepare a people and nation to be salt and light to the world such that all people and nations would have the opportunity to receive eternal security with God.

If liberal Democrats want to compare Barack Obama, their political messiah/savior, to Jesus Christ, perhaps they should go beyond political silliness, cease foolish Biblical misapplications and mischaracterizations, seriously examine the Person and work of Christ, and then compare – er, contrast – His words and works with Obama’s, whose “Christian” faith remains in serious doubt.

Such a serious scrutiny would doubtlessly reveal how woefully Obama fails to measure up to any similarity to Jesus Christ.

Jesus came into the world to facilitate an understanding of the nature of God. His initial purpose with Israel was to manifest the kingdom of God and return them – as God’s chosen people – to God’s ways and standards. Barack Obama and his liberal party stand for just the opposite: to separate a nation from its Judeo-Christian heritage through the politics of un-Biblical, anti-American liberalism.

How can that compare with Jesus?

Dr. Walter Jones is a trained physician, award-winning educator, Bible teacher, and former state and national pro-family public policy analyst. His Web site and blog can be found at www.thebibleandtheculture.com.