I'm happy that America has progressed to the pont that a black man can be a serious contender for the presidential nomination of a major party. For that reason alone I find the candidacy of Barack Obama mildly heartwarming. But the warm fuzzy feelings end there.
I recognize him as a man full of platitudes, full of nice soundbites, but short on the depth and experience that should make a good president. To me its absurd that a man so lacking in gravitas could be so close to becoming the "leader of the free world", as they say.
But what really irks me with this guy is his calculated fakeness on the "faith" issue. If this ultra- liberal, pro-homosexual, pro-abortion guy is true man of faith, then I'm Moses.
Obama has taken more than a few shots so far (at times subtly, at times harshly), at the so called Christian Right; his use of the faith issue is the most prominent so far among the leading presidential candidates. He positions himself as someone with a kinder, gentler approach to "faith" than those cyncial hardliners on the Christian right. To Barack ""We" (him and people who are on his side) put their faith in action to truly make a difference in society, while "They" (read: Conservative Christians") just talk about faith and use it for divisive political purposes.
From his website:
"Barack Obama is a committed Christian and his faith informs his values. Barack believes that people of all faiths should come together to put their faith into action to change this country for the better. "
and
"When we ignore the debate about what it means to be a good Christian or Muslim or Jew; when we discuss religion only in the negative sense of where or how it should not be practiced, rather than in the positive sense of what it tells us about our obligations towards one another…others will fill the vacuum, those with the most insular views of faith, or those who cynically use religion to justify partisan ends."
– Barack Obama, Call to Renewal Keynote Address, June 2006
I recognize him as a man full of platitudes, full of nice soundbites, but short on the depth and experience that should make a good president. To me its absurd that a man so lacking in gravitas could be so close to becoming the "leader of the free world", as they say.
But what really irks me with this guy is his calculated fakeness on the "faith" issue. If this ultra- liberal, pro-homosexual, pro-abortion guy is true man of faith, then I'm Moses.
Obama has taken more than a few shots so far (at times subtly, at times harshly), at the so called Christian Right; his use of the faith issue is the most prominent so far among the leading presidential candidates. He positions himself as someone with a kinder, gentler approach to "faith" than those cyncial hardliners on the Christian right. To Barack ""We" (him and people who are on his side) put their faith in action to truly make a difference in society, while "They" (read: Conservative Christians") just talk about faith and use it for divisive political purposes.
From his website:
"Barack Obama is a committed Christian and his faith informs his values. Barack believes that people of all faiths should come together to put their faith into action to change this country for the better. "
and
"When we ignore the debate about what it means to be a good Christian or Muslim or Jew; when we discuss religion only in the negative sense of where or how it should not be practiced, rather than in the positive sense of what it tells us about our obligations towards one another…others will fill the vacuum, those with the most insular views of faith, or those who cynically use religion to justify partisan ends."
– Barack Obama, Call to Renewal Keynote Address, June 2006
Also from Obama:
Addressing the 50th anniversary convention of his own denomination, the United Church of Christ, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois said Saturday that the religious right had “hijacked” faith and divided the country by exploiting issues like abortion, same-sex marriage and school prayer.—“But somehow, somewhere along the way, faith stopped being used to bring us together,” Mr. Obama said. “Faith started being used to drive us apart. Faith got hijacked.”…
Hmm. Watch for a lot more of this kind of rhetoric from him between now and election day, as well as stories of his "journey of faith". To me, this guy's fakesness is so striking to me, that its beginning to carry an odor to it. Perhaps it's been well said that this man is "the Paris Hilton" of the 2008 campaign.
Posts
1 comment:
watch out what stories you quote from, that leftist Dionne makes Obama seem reasonable with his speeches. I like it how Obama speaks of his experience with church and faith, but his church isn't even a real church. It teaches most of the bible, but its stances on womens rights, homosexuality and etc show it as something completely different. It makes me mad when the liberals try to use their church connections in elections. So what if you were going to church for the last 20 years? For some reason you only felt like telling everyone else once you were running for office. Helping people only counts once your belief set is correct.
Post a Comment