Why I voted for Barack Obama

The election is over for which I am extremely glad and I am happy with the presidential outcome. Yet, I appear to be in the minority of many Christians by voting for Mr. Obama. Here in the South, there has been a strong push from conservative Christians to vote for Romney. In fact most of the southern states including North Carolina where I live supported Romney. So, I have put together four reasons why I voted for Mr. Obama: 1. Pres. Obama eliminated sanctioned torture in our military as soon as he came into office four years ago. This is very important to me because I cannot imagine Jesus sanctioning torture for any reason. 2. Pres. Obama cares for and works for the poor in this country. American cultural Christians put great emphasis on being against abortion and same-sex marriage. They state that this is because of their strong Christian values. I have no argument with that, but Jesus spoke more about the poor then he did abortion (which he did not mention once) and he emphasized the need for caring for the poor more than same-sex marriage (which he did not mention once. In fact, the Bible does not address the committed, same-sex relationship.) Cultural Christians today twist God and the Bible to support their strongly held positions. Some of those positions are credible. Even though the Bible says very little about them, but one should not ignore what the Bible does clearly emphasize. 3. The Republicans have fought Pres. Obama from day one and have not given him a chance to move forward in several very good ways. Yet, even with that gridlock the economy is improving, albeit slowly. 4. Billy Graham and his organization have revised their theology to state that Mormonism is no longer a cult. Where I live in Charlotte, Billy Graham is a spiritual hero. As a pastor, I have always appreciated Billy Graham and feel that he is one of the few TV/world evangelists who are actually honest. I admire the lack of scandals in his long and successful career. In my way of thinking theology, the study of God, is more important than any political position. I had no problem with Romney's Mormonism and the presidency. But to set aside a long-held position simply to throw one’s support to a Mormon candidate reveals a weak theological foundation. I am surprised at that. I realize these reasons fall outside the purview of most conservative Christians today but I can see the character, the words, and the practice of Jesus agreeing with all of them. It is time for us to follow Jesus and the Gospel not just the popular, cultural, Christian position.