1. This election proves how our society values looks over substance. Obama would have lost to Abe Lincoln in 1860, back when what a candidate said and believed was pretty much what got him elected. McCain's looks, voice, and age didn't connect with the younger voters.
2. The only real conservative voice in this election was Sarah Palin. I believe that had she been the presidential candidate and McCain the V-P candidate, the Republicans would have had a better chance of winning. Also, in retrospect, Mike Huckabee might have been the best option for the GOP. With Huckabee's ability to think on his feet and his overall courage, I think he would have destroyed Obama in the debates. McCain was reluctant to nail his opponent on his associations with Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright. Obama was vulnerable on abortion and tax policies, but McCain couldn't pull the trigger.
3. Way too many religious blacks voted for Obama simply because he was black. That was the over-riding factor - not his positions on the issues. He could have said some really outrageous stuff and they would have voted for him regardless...in fact, he did and they did.
4. And finally (and I'm struggling with this), I just don't get the Christians who voted for a gay-marriage supporting, pro-abortion candidate. Did his glibness, his attractiveness, and his political party trump these enormous liabilities? How can a Christian respond and say, "Yeah, but I felt the country needed a change, a fresh voice"? How will that person feel if Obama gets to replace two Supreme Court justices with two pro-choice jurists? And how about this sticky question: With such a stark contrast between the two candidates and their stances on abortion and marriage, should our churches have gotten "political", urging their members to examine more closely these critical issues? I don't know. Personally, I feel that if I voted for Obama, I would be complicit in the murders of untold numbers of precious lives. No way would I do that.
3 comments:
I am excited to see how Obama will excite the young black men in America. Instead of feeling like they are doomed to serve a sentence in jail, like so many have said, they can look much higher. Obama didn't have much starting off. What happened in his life puts a lot of power on educatoin...which our country's young people need to respect more. AND, if it were not for the large number of black citizens in California showing up to vote for Obama AND voting against gay marriage, gay marriage would still be legal in that state. I would much rather look at the postives than focus on the negatives. I see a chance of healing between the melting pot of races that make up this great country.
I would have preferred Huckabee too. But you can't always get what you want. Also, remember, this must have been God's will.
Tim,
First of all, I'm a regular reader of your blog, and I enjoy it. Second, before now, I didn't have a google account, so I never responded. But I felt the need to respond to this post because I am a Christian, and I voted for Obama.
Obama is neither pro-gay marriage or pro-abortion. If you refer to the forum with Rick Warren, Obama stated flat-out that he is against gay marraige. Second, I don't know of anyone who is "pro-abortion." That's saying that Obama is for abortions and thinks they're a good thing. He has said numerous times that the focus of this country needs to be drastically reducing the number of abortions. He even advocated for, and was successful, in getting that point inserted into the Democratic Party Platform. He is for a woman's right to choose. That makes him pro-choice, not pro-abortion.
I am also struggling (as you are, but from the other end of the spectrum) with Christians voting for McCain. Any issue, like gay marriage and abortion, can be turned into a moral debate. So from that standpoint, I don't see the morality in voting for someone who wants to continue fighting an unjust war in Iraq. I don't see the morality in voting for someone who has constantly voted against funding for alternative fuels, which helps protect our environment. I don't see the morality in continuing to give tax breaks to the richest two percent of this country while many people struggle everyday just to eat. I don't see the morality in someone who supports the death penalty.
There are so many other issues besides gay marriage and abortion, and I have such a hard time figuring our why many Christians focus on only those two issues.
Finally, the minute my church starts getting political is the day I leave that church. You seem to support the notion that churches should be political. Would you still feel that way if you preacher urged you to vote for Obama?
Please understand that this is not personal, but I felt the need to respond to give the other side of the story.
Obama is an inspiration to many and we should all hope and pray for this nation's leaders, as I'm sure you did in the Bush years.
Again, I enjoy your blog, and I look forward to may more posts
JS
Thanks, Jeff, for eloquently stating the opposition's position. It's great to hear from you.
On abortion, by supporting the woman's right to choose, Obama is saying to our society that that choice outweighs the life of a child, a child who can't speak for himself. I know that by trumpeting the "right to choose" that it makes one sound liberated and enabled, but the harsh reality is that by giving women that "right", thousands upon thousands of precious lives are aborted in the cruelest of manners. I trust you know how heinous the procedure is. Isn't it interesting that in Texas, killing a pregnant woman and her fetus is now capital murder since more than one life is lost? Who speaks for the unborn? Pro-choice is pro-abortion!!
I'll only pick one other of your "morality" points to address because I don't want to type all night nor do I want my blog to be a forum for two guys who'll never agree on politics. About the war: I've wrestled a lot with it. For the longest time, I didn't see the connection with America's security and our presence in Iraq. Certainly, the threat isn't as overt as the bombing of Pearl Harbor. But I've come to believe that the Islamic extremists have to be fought wherever they are. Turning our back on Iraq constitutes an Al-Queda victory and frees up a huge breeding ground for those anti-American extremists.
Let's do this...let's agree to talk four years from now. I predict Obama's first and only term will be disastrous. The economy will continue to free-fall and Obama's startling lack of experience will be exposed time and again. But more ominously, I predict our enemies will be emboldened by a president who weakens the military and retreats from conflict.
If I'm wrong (and it happens a lot), I give you the floor to shout, "I told you so!!"
Again, thanks for responding.
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