Truth and the Presidential Election

I received a forwarded e-mail with a subject line about Barack Obama's "Not Exactly's", claiming to have been penned by Bill Brown, a former Billy Graham associate. Here is my response:

Dear friends -

After some hesitation, I have decided to share my thoughts on this forwarded e-mail. Or perhaps just one principle thought: This e-mail purports to reveal inaccurate and misleading statements by Barack Obama. My expectation for such a serious group of charges is that they be carefully worded and thoroughly documented. In the Bible the standard for accepting an accusation is that there be two credible witnesses. If there are not two credible witnesses, or even one, the accusation does not stand. To this we may add the excellent American principle that a person is to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

In light of this, here are my problems with the e-mail:

1. It claims to have been written by a former associate of Billy Graham. But the Bill Brown who was a member of the BGEA, when contacted, expressly denies having written it. See http://www.brianmclaren.net/archives/blog/naivete-cynicism-and-wisdom.html
(I googled "Bill Brown BGEA".)

2. I checked the reference to accusation #7 in the e-mail, which was the point that I found most shocking, and found no evidence of any sort supporting the accusation.

3. The tone of the e-mail is thoroughly un-Christian, we who are to "Honor everyone" (I Peter 2:17).

So let us as Christians hold firm to the teaching of Psalm 15 and so be salt and light to the nation during this election process: Who does not slander with his tongue, ... nor take up a reproach against his neighbor.

One of our roles as Christians is to hold the world accountable to the truth. Regardless of what candidate we prefer, a Christian never wants to win at the cost of the truth.

Feel free to share these thoughts with others. And your reactions and comments are welcome.

Mark Farmer