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August 26, 2008

Evangelical changed mind, wouldn't pray at DNC Convention

Cameron Strang backed out of giving prayer on opening night. Strang is the editor of Relevant which is characterized as a hip magazine about faith and culture.

Strang explains on his blog,

A few weeks ago, I was asked if I’d be interested in possibly praying at the Democratic National Convention. Taken aback, but intrigued at the opportunity, I accepted. What better way to continue positive dialogue, show support for an emphasis on faith issues and pray in a forum where faith isn’t typically thought to be emphasized? To quote someone close to me—and meaning no disrespect whatsoever to Christian Democrats—it was a chance to bring "light in the darkness." And hey, Jesus told us to pray, right?

So far so good...

So I brought that concern up to the DNC, and they graciously understood. They still desired to have someone participate who represented this new generation of Christian voters (which is awesome, by the way), and I thought, who better than Blue Like Jazz author Don Miller? I respect him immensely, and he’s a much better representative of our audience than I am. So, I gave him a ring and he was more than up for it. Likewise, the committee was thrilled to invite him to give the benediction in my place—a move I think will ultimately be much better for the DNC. Don Miller’s famous; I’m not.

He's famous and you're not? That's a legit reason for a Christian to back away from an opportunity to "bring a light into the darkness"???

How is that substantively different from the account of Peter denying Christ?

On a more positive note,

As an aside, in a “put your money where your mouth is” move, this week I changed my party affiliation from Republican to Independent. I want to vote because of my values and convictions, not party affiliations.

Welcome! I made that switch nearly 20 years ago and for very similar reasons. But given your reasons for backing out of the prayer I would suggest that you still have some work to do in deciding whether your faith is more important to you than your political goals.

Posted by Kevin at August 26, 2008 09:20 AM