More reason to be impressed with Obama August 7, 2007
Posted by Evil Bender in News and politics.trackback
I’ve grown increasingly keen on Obama, who is challenging the White House in no uncertain terms, and who came off well–for anyone who was paying attention–in his standoff with Clinton over whether it was (gasp) appropriate to have dialog with the leaders of other countries.*
Now Obama has stepped up to challenge evangelicals to support religious freedom:
For my friends on the right, I think it would be helpful to remember the critical role that the separation of church and state has played in preserving not only our democracy but also our religious practice. Folks tend to forget that during our founding, it wasn’t the atheists or the civil libertarians who were the most effective champions of the First Amendment…. It was the forbearers of Evangelicals who were the most adamant about not mingling government with religious, because they didn’t want state-sponsored religion hindering their ability to practice their faith as they understood it.
Whatever we once were, we’re no longer just a Christian nation; we are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, a Hindu nation, and a nation of non-believers. We should acknowledge this and realize that when we’re formulating policies from the state house to the Senate floor to the White House, we’ve got to work to translate our reasoning into values that are accessible to every one of our citizens, not just members of our own faith community.
I would be wary of this if it looked like Obama was caving in to the radical right, but instead he seems willing to use the rhetoric of faith against them, something the Democrats desperately need to do. They’ll never win the most militaristic fundies over, but there are a lot of regular church goers who have spent three decades hearing about how it’s their moral duty to vote republican, and we need to turn that tide.
Obama’s rhetoric has been scoring a lot of points with me recently. When he called Bush to the carpet on not fighting the real war against terrorists, for example, he demonstrated a command of framing that other Dems have been very slow to catch on to. I think the Edwards campaign is going nowhere, and Hillary continues to underwhelm. Unless another contender steps forward or one of the other big names really impresses, it looks like I’ll be supporting Obama.
Unless, of course, Al Gore decides to run.
*Apparently our culture now thinks discussing things with foreign leaders is a sign of weakness. I shudder to think of what would have happened if the current mindset prevailed during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
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“Apparently our culture now thinks discussing things with foreign leaders is a sign of weakness”
Not talking makes no sense to me. It just exemplifies the bully mentality your recent leaders have: we won’t grace you with our presence unless you do what we say. No wonder most of us don’t like America anymore; your leaders are jerks.
I *HEART* Obama.
I honestly believe that the MSM wants Hilliary to be the front runner because she is good fodder for the right. Most of what obama has said in the last few months have been taken out of context and circulated around the wingnutosphere and the MSM, painting him to be less intelligent then he really is.
if you haven’t already, read his books. They are very good and paint a picture of a person who is human, subject to failing and learning about himself, his culture and what needs to be done for the good of the people.
I’m completely with Obama on this one. Of all the groups that should be fighting for separation of church and state, the Baptists should be among the most vociferous — people like Witherspoon and Backus were on the forefront of freedom of religion during the formative years of the nation! I suspect that Spartacus would agree with us on this one, too. :-)
Too true. I’m really impressed with how succinctly Obama described the religious situation at the founding of the nation. Historically, no one has more reason to support the separation of church and state than evangelical Christians. It will be interesting to see how he plans to inact policies that support “values that are accessible to every one of our citizens.” Easier said than done. At least someone is finally SAYING the right things. If he can DO them, I’ll be a happy man. I’ve got hope in Obama.