Visiting the sins of the father or mother upon the children — NOT

The Bible has a lot to say about visiting the sins of the father upon the children.  When it comes to Jewish failure to hold to the First Commandment (“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.“), God is completely unforgiving:

And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, . . . (Exodus 2:1-26)

The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation. (Numbers 14:18)

You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.  (Deuteronomy 5:9)

When it comes to sins other than violating the First Commandment, though, the Bible is careful to say that sin is individual, not generational:

Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin. (Deuteronomy 24:16)

Yet you say, ‘Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?’ When the son has done what is just and right, and has been careful to observe all my statutes, he shall surely live. The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. (Ezekiel 18:19-20)

This notion of individual, rather than generational, sin is important now, because there’s a controversy brewing about a video being sent to voters in swing states purporting to show Obama’s mother, Ann Dunham, posing in fetish magazines.  Looking at the pictures, it’s certainly possible that Ann Dunham posed for them.  But what do I know?  It’s equally possible that it’s a doppelgänger.

The really important thing, though, is that Ann’s behavior immediately before or after Obama’s birth is completely irrelevant to Obama’s reelection campaign.  Obama is no more and no less worthy to be president if his mom was a “bad” girl, than if she was a “good” girl.  Smearing someone’s mother is low.

There are certainly things about Obama’s own youth that are relevant and that I do believe voters should know.  Since he’s being sold as a genius and a scholar, his grades matter to me.  Because his politics have a whiff of socialism about them, and because his actions hew to the Left of his scripted words, I believe his associations as a youth (Frank Marshall Davis) and as an ad, etc.) matter.  But that his Mom was a slut puppy?  None of our business.