OPINION: Remember teachings of Jesus when being criticial

Consider, for example, the continuous barrage of criticism from both groups of President Obama’s failure to join a church and take part in regular religious services. Jesus had very unkind things to say about those Hebrews who put on a big show about their religion. He was very critical of those who stood on the street and prayed loudly to show the community the degree of their fervor.

He instructed them thus: “But you, when you pray, enter into your closet, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father which is in secret; and your Father which sees in secret shall reward you openly.”

Clearly, those people who bad mouth the President for not displaying his faith in public are out of line with Jesus’ teaching.

Then here in Georgia, Candidate Roy Barnes and his supporters are constantly harassing Nathan Deal about his alleged ethics problems. I would remind you that no crimes have been alleged, and no formal accusations filed. So the Barnes group are violating both legal and spiritual rules.

Mr. Deal, as well as all Americans, is to be considered innocent until proven guilty. That is the law. And Jesus had much to say on that topic. “Take the beam out of your own eye before you attempt to remove the splinter from your brothers eye. Judge not, less you be judged.”

And most clear was his answer concerning the stoning of a prostitute. “So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” John 8:7

Now I am not a fan of President Obama or Nathan Deal. Nor am I an enemy of Roy Barnes. In fact, there are very few politicians or pundits that I find credible, nor do I think of any of them as being evil. But I am a fan of the teachings of Jesus and I devote quite a bit of time in studying his sayings and instructions.

And while I think the argument about separation of church and state is overstated, I agree that a person’s personal beliefs, or lack of them, should not be grounds for criticizing their political philosophy.

I wish our candidates would spend more time discussing their goals and plans for improving our nation, and less criticizing each other. Just knowing how much they dislike each other is not a solid basis for choosing between them.

Some of the minority parties believe that every election should have a “none of the above” option on the ballot. And if “none of the above” were to win, a new election would be called with a new slate of candidates. I approve of that idea.

Frank Gillispie is founder of The Madison County Journal. His e-mail address is frank@frankgillispie.com. His website can be accessed at http://www.frankgillispie.com/gillispieonline.