"My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right"---Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States of America
"He who is satiated {with sensual pleasures} loathes and treads underfoot a honeycomb, but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet" Proverbs 27:7 (AMP)
Bob Dutko, Christian conservative talk-show host on WMUZ 103.5, stunned me with his 'news and politics' spot aired at 6:00 am Monday morning (to the best of my recollection). Senator Barack Obama's election as the 44th President of the United States of America is his to lose, Dutko said. Unfortunately, with the poor performance of John McCain in the Presidential debate, Dutko isn't a 'doom and gloom' prophet but an intelligent commentator on the logical and realistic assumption of Obama's ability to control the flow of his 'message' to the American people.
Obama is an astute student of the American people, regardless of his own personal motivations for power. He has spoken of change, tying in the historic with the impractical 'worldview' of a global nation. "The pursuit of instant gratification, the compulsion to accumulate, and the exaltation of celebrity that have become central to the American way of life" has allowed Senator Obama to deflect his liberal and alternative lifestyle stances as 'being a good global tolerant.'
American society has declared the stance of 'unchanging, ultimate truth' to be hostile in a relativistic culture and Obama has played well, projecting himself to be the 'darling boy' of 'relativistic citizenship.'
The liberal newspapers who fawn over Obama's 'Change' platform have become google-eyed children in the midst of this 'nationalistic' hero, glossing over his obvious use of subtle race as a political selling-point....the opportunity for all Americans to 'make history' and project further the 'historical moment' of his Democratically-scripted rise to celebrity.
Jack Cafferty of CNN is only one of several commentators who have ignored Obama's use of the race issue and implied an automatic race-hater out of anyone who opposes Obama's nomination as President.
"Race is arguably the biggest issue in this election, and it's one that nobody's talking about. The differences between Barack Obama and John McCain couldn't be more well-defined. Obama wants to change Washington. McCain is part of Washington and a part of the Bush legacy. Yet the polls remain close. Doesn't make sense unless its race." Cafferty said in his political commentary.
The millions of Americans who stand against Obama because of anti-capitalist, anti-military, and pro-European policies of 'globosity', who look at the world stage of terrorists, anti-American countries, and even a 'black liberation theologist' who support this young Senator from Illinois and wonder why they should vote for him must be racist in the eyes of Cafferty and his liberal friends in the media.
Of course, this ignores McCain's visible record of being 'anti-establishment' in Washington. And the fact that there was a Democratically control Congress who also implemented President Bush's policies and even supported them until it became politically uncomfortable to do so.
Such a statement ignores the approval rating of most Americans in regards to the Democratic Congress are the lowest in this nation's history.
If elected president, Obama would be the fifth youngest president in U.S. history, at age 47. The only younger presidents would be Teddy Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton, and Ulysses S. Grant, all of whom were much more accomplished than Obama. Grant, Roosevelt, and Kennedy were war heroes. Roosevelt and Clinton had served as state governors. Grant had been the general-in-chief of the Union Army during the Civil War.
The least experienced of the four, Kennedy, had served fourteen years in Congress, six in the House of Representatives and eight in the Senate, and had been a serious candidate for vice-president in 1956, prior to his presidential run.
Obama's supporters would downplay that inexperience and rather point to his life survivability in office....hardly an accomplishment that gives him the corporate experience in running the 'big business of government.'
The only written scholarship that Obama can lay claim to is his best-selling autobiographies Dreams from My Father: A story of Race and Inheritance (1995) and The Audacity of Hope (2006), rather than any legal scholarship during his time as Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Law Review, no legislative bills or opinions written during his short time as Senator.
Senator Obama has served in no important and leadership discipling position in government, business, or in the military despite having prestigious degrees from Columbia University and Harvard Law School; no businesses or organizations have been founded, no law partnerships, important cases tried, legal works of scholarship, no significant professional achievements. This is particularly unheard of in the elite ranks of the legal profession.
The only highlight of Obama's decision to serve the people of Chicago as a "community organizer" is that, by his own admission and omission on his website, the efforts of this 'community organizer' met with only "some success."
Obama served eight un-noteworthy years in the Illinois Senate before ascending to the US Senate in 2004, doing exactly what he claims McCain has done, voting along democratic party lines 97 percent of the time, eventually becoming the most liberal Senator in Congress for 2007 and 'darling boy' of the Democratic Party .
"His life story, while unique and interesting, bespeaks little more than an ambitious and opportunistic young man," Steven M. Warshawsky states in his article Why Barack Obama will not win, "still wet behind the ears, with an unhealthy fascination with his own ego - and potentially unreliable when the chips are down. "
Of course, Senator Obama has a different view. "That's silly talk! Talk to my wife. She'll tell me I need to learn to just put my socks on the hamper."
The only factor of race that has entered most evangelical Christian conservatives' minds has been Obama's own membership, now 'laid-aside', with the Trinity United Church of Christ and it's black liberation theology Pastor, Jeremiah Wright Jr, who was a personal mentor and friend, marrying Barack and Michelle Obama, and whom he sat under or, if the opportunity wasn't available, listened to Wright's tapes that always started with the introduction of "a congregation with a non-negotiable commitment to Africa, and remaining 'true to our native land,' the Mother continent."
Most American don't even know that the Black Liberation Theology calls for a god that is for the 'black race' and against the 'white race'. "Otherwise," as the theology states, "the blacks will kill him (god)."
"[I]t is Obama's history of race-based politics and his membership in a militant black church," Warshowsky states, "which places him in opposition to most white voters on such emotional issues as welfare, crime, and affirmative action, and casts doubt on his ability and commitment to represent the interests of the entire nation."
Some 82% of Americans say that they are Christians, yet the views of their faith is more of a humanistic, universal commonality of post-modernism and emergent philosophy that is opposed to a religious belief that Jesus Christ is the only way to Heaven even though it is Christ who said, "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. John 3:17-18"
Such absolutism is against the American concepts of freedom and self-expression and pursuit of self-happiness.
Obama has tailored his religion to meet the views of these Americans. "There's the belief, certainly in some quarters, that if people haven't embraced Jesus Christ as their personal savior, they are going to hell." Obama stated in 2004. "I believe that there are many paths to the same place, and that is a belief that there is a higher power, a belief that we are connected as a people, that there are values that transcend race or culture, that move us forward, and that there's an obligation for all of us individually as well as collectively to take responsibility to make those values lived."
The 'many paths', 'place', and 'higher power' that Obama has a "ongoing conversation with God' where he constantly asks "myself questions about what I am doing, why I am doing it" which were the 'expressions of my faith' back in 2004 has become more developed to answer the opinions of most non-bible believing, emergent, and service salvation Christians that dot the landscape of American religiosity.
In The Audacity of Hope, Obama states, "I was not raised in a religious household. For my mother, organized religion too often dressed up closed-mindedness in the garb of piety, cruelty and oppression in the cloak of righteousness. However, in her mind, a working knowledge of the world's great religions was a necessary part of any well-rounded education. In our household the Bible, the Koran, and the Bhagavad Gita sat on the shelf alongside books of Greek and Norse and African mythology. On Easter or Christmas Day my mother might drag me to church, just as she dragged me to the Buddhist temple, the Chinese New Year celebration, the Shinto shrine, and ancient Hawaiian burial sites. In sum, my mother viewed religion through the eyes of the anthropologist; it was a phenomenon to be treated with a suitable respect, but with a suitable detachment as well. This spirit of hers guided me on the path I would ultimately take. It was in search of confirmation of her values that I studied political philosophy."
In a January 2008 Christianity Today article, Obama declared his faith as;
"I am a Christian, and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful."
"Today, white evangelical Christians are the heart and soul of the Republican Party's grassroots base. It is their issues-abortion, gay marriage, prayer in schools, intelligent design, Terri Schiavo, the posting of the Ten Commandments in the courthouse, home schooling, voucher plans, and the makeup of the Supreme Court-that often dominate the headlines and serve as one of the major fault lines in American politics." Barack Obama writes in his book, The Audacity of Hope, concerning the Christian faith, which he claims identity with, "The single biggest gap in party affiliation is between those who attend church regularly and those who don't. Democrats, meanwhile, are scrambling to "get religion," even as a core segment of our constituency remains stubbornly secular, and fears that the agenda of an assertively Christian nation may not make room for them or their life choices."
A faith of deeds, rather than absolutes. One of work rather than undeserved grace. One that highlights a person's self-ability to do big image social issues; poverty in third world countries, environmental caretaking, and so on.
That is Obama's faith, and a lot of American's worldview centers around such self-work. This also resounds with a majority of Americans who don't want absolutes to govern their lives, but rather have the flexibility to 'go their own way' and 'do their own thing.'
Absolutes require responsibility for one's actions, thoughts, and sin. A predominately un-American view in the post 9-11 world where such a declaration can bring those violently opposed to it to your doorstep.
Obama opposed funding the "War on Terror", refusing funding unless a timetable was given to which the enemy would be privy, refused to allow the federal government the ability to effectively prevent another 9-11 attack by monitoring known terrorists communications that were placed to or from this country, and voted to give habeas corpus rights, the rights of American citizens, to those war detainees in Cuba who weren't citizens of the US.
He opposed restrictions on partial birth abortion, requiring medical care for fetuses that abortion was attempted on but was born, requiring school officials to install pornography-blocking software in their libraries, a $500 income tax credit for parents who send their children to private schools, and has consistently voted in favor of higher taxes.
Obama opposed the "Federal Marriage Amendment" and has vowed to repeal it, gaining him the nomination and support of 68% of the LGBT vote. "I opposed the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. It should be repealed and I will vote for its repeal on the Senate floor." Obama has stated, "I will also oppose any proposal to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban gays and lesbians from marrying."
Obama has consistently reached out to these voters in pro-supportive comments for LGBT issues that a majority of Americans have opposed. "For many practicing Christians, the inability to compromise may apply to gay marriage. I find such a position troublesome, particularly in a society in which Christian men and women have been known to engage in adultery or other violations of their faith without civil penalty." Obama writes in The Audacity of Hope, "I believe that American society can choose to carve out a special place for the union of a man and a woman as the unit of child rearing most common to every culture. I am not willing to have the state deny American citizens a civil union that confers equivalent rights no such basic matters as hospital visitation or health insurance coverage simply because the people they love are of the same sex-nor am I willing to accept a reading of the Bible that considers an obscure line in Romans to be more defining of Christianity than the Sermon on the Mount. The heightened focus on marriage is a distraction from other, attainable measures to prevent discrimination and gays and lesbians."
Obama wants "equal pay" laws, expansion of the Federal Leave Act, expansion of "hate crimes" laws to include religious beliefs, social services for convicted felons, and increased foreign aid spending to 'cut extreme poverty around the world by 2015 in half," an unattainable and unsustainable 25% 'renewable source" of all US electrical needs, increased federal economic programs, universal health care, and comprehensive immigration reform (i.e. amnesty).
Of course, because of his pandering to the extremist and liberal organization's agendas, many have given Obama their endorsements: Americans for Democratic Action, Planned Parenthood, the AFL-CIO, the American Federation of Government Workers, Citizens for Tax Justice, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, the National Education Association, and the National Organization for Women.
More traditionally conservative organizations have given him no support: the National Taxpayers Union, the National Rifle Association, U.S. English, Citizens Against Government Waste, the Club for Growth, the American Conservative Union, the Eagle Forum, the Family Research Council, the National Right to Life Committee, and Americans for Tax Reform.
There will be no settling of the cultural questions regarding social and domestic issues that range from capital punishment to homosexuality but a reframing of the old debates to create shifting consensuses to agree with the power holders and younger generation until the older generation that knows better has passed on. Obama has answered the eons old question that has confronted the religious of all faiths, even the evangelical Christians.......
When?
Obama preaches that the time has come to not bother with a conversation to heal and bring this nation together but move with a consensus of the powerful into a community of action.
"We are one nation," Obama says, "We are one people. And our time for change has come."
With Obama's views on universalistic religion, global citizenship, and abortion, it is a wonder if he truly would represent the American people.
Is he talking to all Americans, or simply those of the same "tribe"? Obama doesn't identify like Tiger Woods, as a multicultural ethnicity, rather he denies all but his 'black' heritage. In Dreams of My Father, Obama states that he had "seen weakness in other men. Gramps and his disappointments, Lolo and his compromise. But these men had become object lessons for me, men I might love but never emulate, white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa, that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself, the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela."
In his "Audacity of Hope" (a title inspired by Reverend Wright), he talks of his time as a college student and wrestling with his identity including as an African-American and what was he saw was required of his fellow 'tribe-mates': "There were enough of us on campus to constitute a tribe, and when it came to hanging out many of us chose to function like a tribe, staying close together, traveling in packs,.......t remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names."
In his article, Non-prophet Preaching, Pastor and author John Ortberg points to the ' high water mark in presidential theological reflection' of Abraham Lincoln, in his second inaugural address; "Both (the North and the South) read the same bible and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other."
Do the Democratic nominee Barack Obama and Republican nominee John McCain pray to the same God? Who can know the heart of either man?
We can only base our opinions off of the remarks, life, and voting record in the Senate to compare with biblical standards and vote for the one that will reflect our moral, ethical, and spiritual views in their term in Office.
As Ortberg reflects, having the perfect government is inherently already flawed, because it is a human institution ran by humans. Nothing we, as Christians, do in the political arena will change the fundamentals;
The Kingdom won't be ushered in.
Parents won't become better with their children.
Marriages won't be healed and reflect agape love.
Greed and pride won't suddenly be illegal.
Humanity won't suddenly be better servants to each other.
We won't become who we are supposed to be.
Sin won't be legislatively abolished.
But, Pastor Ortberg says, "We ought to vote, be educated, be involved. And we should do it in a way that is civil and respectful and redemptive."
How?
"[W]e read about the issues. We debate. We learn about policy. We pray. We speak respectively in the public square. We vote in elections.," Ortberg tells us, "We preach about God's concern for peace and justice and generosity and righteousness."
I feel that Senator Barack Obama isn't the right candidate for the office of President of the United States of America, far beyond any historical or racial highlight that proves humanity's 'overcoming'. I believe that his religious, moral, and political views are opposite of mine and millions of other Americans. A liberal America is one that has turned its back on its true Father, its true "President".
Don't just vote for historical 'value' or to prove that you aren't a racist. Don't desire change so much that you are willing for any kind of change, only the change that will bring a candidate to office that will reflect your values, your moral stance, and your faith in action.
Vote your values. Vote the issues that should matter to a follower of Christ.
And hold the candidates against the most perfect candidate, Jesus Christ, who was born for His office that of Messiah.
If Barack Obama wins the nomination for the Office of President of the United States, I will continue to pray that he leads the country in a manner that honors God, brings glory to Him, and brings humanity closer to the salvation we all need.
Until then, I will pray that the right candidate suddenly appears upon the political landscape and takes command of a government, a people, and a nation that has become morally corruptible and spiritually shallow.
If it is God's will to intervene, He will.
Resources:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2008/003/21.28.html
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/08/why_barack_obama_will_not_win.html
http://www.timeswatch.org/articles/2008/20080108112859.aspx
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071224135912AASqwim
