posted July 2, 2008
Is Barak Obama serious?
Now Barak is trying to pull in the Christian community with pretty lures and “God” talk. He is going to have a series of Christian concerts around the country. He will expand the Faith Initiative. He is talking about God.
Does he really believe that the Christian community will throw its values out the window for a concert? Does he believe that all we need to hear are Jesus words and we will vote for him? His whole platform is anti-Christian. He is pro abortion. He is pro partial birth abortion and would allow a Democratic Congress to overturn the ban. He is pro gay marriage. All of things are contrary to the Scripture that he says he upholds. He is about as Christian as my dandelions. I am not impressed by talk, Mr. Obama, I look for substantive issues not daily dole outs of bread to appease the masses.
Talk is cheap and Barak has more experience in just talk than he does real resume qualifications. Is this the best the Democrats have to offer? In the political world this man is a child and not in the league of Truman, Lincoln, Jefferson, Adams, Wilson, Reagan, or for heaven’s sake Grant. He is a good talker. He is qualified for a talk show not the Oval Office.
Cliff Sarbel
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Mr. Sarbel asks the question, “Is Barak Obama serious?”
Well, I guess that the short answer to that question is, “Yes”, I think he is serious, and you might want to start spelling his name correctly since he is probably going to be our next President. It’s spelled B-a-r-a-c-k.
It really takes a lot of chutzpa for Mr. Sarbel to interpret Holy Scripture for the rest of us, and to judge when someone is sincere about their religious beliefs. Or is Mr. Sarbel able to look into a person’s soul and know when one is not sincere?
Honestly, I don’t read my Bible as often as I should, but as I understand Scripture, I don’t think Christ would approve of bringing about the deaths of thousands of innocent victims, as our little adventure in Iraq has done. I don’t think He would approve of torture of prisoners, torture that we now know was learned from the Communist Chinese as afflicted upon our POWs during the Korean War. I think He would disapprove of lying in order to convince the American people that Iraq had WMDs. I don’t think He would approve of the way innocent people who lost their homes and all of their belongings as a result of Katrina were treated by our government. I don’t think He would approve of the greed, graft, and corruption that has permeated practically every department in the current administration.
And John McCain wants to stay the course. Incredible.
Frankly, I’m inspired by Sen. Obama’s approach, including his involvement of faith-based service delivery. The past eight years have proved to all of us that the religious talk from the right is just that…talk.
Charlie Neff
Los Angeles
charlie.neff@verizon.net
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Charlie, donʼt speak about what Christ would like or not like when you donʼt read His Word. That is fake. I donʼt think Mr. Sarbel was speaking for the Almighty either, just the cheap religious talk that Barack is talking now that he needs Christians. Talk is cheap and Barack is full of it. So read more and speak less.
And please stop bringing up the current administration. News flash, George Bush is not running this time around.
Johnny Franks
* * *
Mr. Charlie Neff,
Thank you for voicing your views and taking interest in our great American experiment in government. I would rather have 50% of the American people involved in the political process opposed to conservative principles, than have 50% of the American people indifferent and apathetic towards the entire political process. I’m glad you are at least engaged.
To the point:
You said, ". . .but as I understand Scripture, I don’t think Christ would approve of bringing about the deaths of thousands of innocent victims as our little adventure in Iraq has done. . ."
Sir, as I understand Scripture, Christ would not approve of bringing about the deaths of thousands of innocent victims as our acceptance of abortion as done.
No, Christ does not approve of the taking of innocent life, and Barack Obama's political views are quite contrary to "what Christ approves." In fact, Sen. Obama's repeated opposition to the Born Alive Infant Protection Act as a state senator raises serious questions as to whether or not Sen. Obama believes a child that survives an abortion- living, breathing, and heart beating- should be provided protection under the law. Congress passed this measure easily. Obama opposed it in Illinois; therefore, I believe this places him on the extreme fringe of liberalism, and further left than Sen. Kennedy, Boxer, or Kerry.
I also firmly believe every life has equal value. Sen. Obama clearly does not.
Jeremiah Cook
Tennessee Temple University
Chattanooga
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Mr. Sarbel and Mr. Franks, you do not speak for all Bible-believing Christians. Do you both believe that abortion is the only issue Christians are supposed to care about? No, maybe you'd add gay marriage. So those two things and that's it? That's all I hear from politically active Christians. But I've read the Bible cover to cover, and I graduated from one of the nation's most conservative Christian colleges and in the Bible I read, Jesus never said that the world will know we are Christians by our firm anti-abortion stance. He said they will know we are Christians by our love. He further explains that the most important two commands are loving God and loving people. If you think those should be revised to stamping out abortion and stamping out gay marriage, take it up with Him.
Yes, standing against abortion is extremely important. But do you really believe that McCain is firmly against abortion, or do you think he's saying that to get your vote? He's made clear his feelings on Christians and they're not good. Obama may not mirror my anti-abortion stance, but I cannot see into his heart, so if he says he loves God and follows Jesus, I have to take a deeper look. To me, he certainly seems a lot more loving, as God commands, than McCain. And out of the two of them, Obama is the one talking about faith. Yes, his church may be a bit more liberal than mine, but it's still within Christ's earthly family and that's much closer to where I stand than no church.
I agree with Mr. Neff. My pro-life stance does not end at birth. The current administration has caused the deaths of 4,100 American soldiers and up to 100,000 innocent civilian deaths in Iraq for a lie at worst, or a mistake at best. Why this does not bother more of my fellow Christians mystifies me. Dead fetuses are bad, but dead Iraqis are okay? In my theology, the unborn are received in Heaven, while the same is not the case with the unsaved, Americans or Iraqis. So why do we say nothing and leave the war protests to others?
I won't be quiet about this war, and I know others like me. It's time for us to take Jesus' words seriously: blessed are the peacemakers and love your enemies. I believe he meant them. It's also time for Christianity to part ways with the Republican Party, to be independent and non-partisan, and talk about all issues we care about.
One last note. Mr. Franks asks us to stop mentioning the current administration, as I just did above. Yes, we are well aware that George Bush is not running for President this year. But one candidate is just like him and another is his opposite. Until McCain clearly promises that he will take our foreign policy in a new direction, talking about the current administration is highly relevant.
John Stegall
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