Did anyone hear Obama's speech last night? I listened to most of it. My plan was to try to listen to it with the question, "What would a Christian evaluation of this speech be?"
For those of you who heard all or part of it, how would you answer this question? Since most of us tend to get irrational when it comes to politics, please respond logically to the question rather than simply with irrational emotion. Unfortunately, I won't be able to police the responses until late this afternoon.
The only place where I thought evangelical values were potentially in tension with his speech was in his implied position on abortion. However, I was struck by the fact that he did not trumpet his position, as Gore did or other Democratic candidates in the past. In fact, I was really impressed with the maturity of his approach given his position. It was something like, "We may not agree on abortion, but we can all agree with the goal of decreasing the number of unwanted pregnancies."
This of course was not a prominent theme--a very, very small sentence in 42 minutes worth of talking. But it was the only line that I can think of that an evangelical could take serious issue with from a Christian standpoint, and even here the point of contention was implied rather than stated.
What did you think? And again, show that you have a brain and not just a gun for a mouth.
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4 comments:
I felt that the moral question of abortions was critical but also question where he will get the resources to pay for all the programs he wants to institute. We have a horrendous budget deficit and it would likely increase under either McCain or Obama. I also feel as if we must help solve the problem of stability in Iraq since we don't want another holocause in case we were to leave too precipitously. I also believe that he will emphasize homosexual issues since that is stressed in the platform. But, we will need to raise taxes and trim spending to balance the budget. I am an Abraham Lincoln Republican and do favor educational spending at both the state and national levels. I believe that we have not sacrificed for either the wars i in Afghanistan or Iraq(we have fought the wars with borrowed funds). These are prudential statements and not necessarily Christian unless one is also a pacifist.
John Gardner
Onalaska WI
Kay and I watched the entire speech on PBS last night. It was brilliantly delivered and the setting was quite "awesome". However, the fireworks were a bit weak compared to the Olympics.
Christian ideas expressed by Obama last night:
1. Hope - Obama has a vision for what American can become. It is forward-thinking and perhaps a bit idealistic, but he is hopeful.
2. Equality - His candidacy alone offers a sense of equality. I was particularly struck by the older folk in the audience. I wondered - how many of the African Americans applauding were sitting next to former racists who were also applauding. Maybe that's #3
3. Redemption or Repentance or both.
4. I am my brother's keeper. I think this is a significant and strongly Christian theme. The ideal of communities that are supportive and caring was offered repeatedly last night.
5. The importance of family - He repeatedly referred to his wife and daughters, the importance of fathers in the home, and the responsibility of parents.
6. Creation care - making alternative energy a national priority is something we should have done in Carter's administration. No matter what you think about climate change getting away from dependence on oil is a time that has come. And, caring for the creation was one of our first charges as humans.
7. Hard work - maybe this is more puritanical than Christian, but Obama talked quite a bit about the hard work of making a country great.
8. Fair wages, health care, and getting out of war are also Christian themes that he emphasized last night. Republicans and Democrats will argue about how to get there, but I think most can agree that these things are important.
The thing that concerns me as a Christian:
1. Abortion - while I resonate with the "decreasing the number of unwanted pregnancies" comment and the lack of a strong "choice comment" I still worry about this one. I wish the democrats had as much room on their platform for a pro-life stance as the republicans do for a pro-abortion stance.
First, I believe his statements about making affordable health care available to every child in America is definitely something to consider. His statements about lifting the burdens of lower & middle class citizens I think speaks to God's call for mercy, and love to the least among us. I believe he actually even used that phrase.
I agree with you Ken that his statements on abortion were interesting. I actually think it might have been the most honest statement on the issue I have heard in a while. We've heard several pro-life candidates in the last decade championing the cause but then no policies were made (as it really is an issue left to the supreme court). Obama actually changed the democratic platform to include this call to reduce abortions and unwanted pregnancies. Something that can be done outside of the courts.
I think his call to civility & ethics in politics is something we should consider as well. Especially if we seek to place Christians in places of influence, they should not have to 'play dirty' politics to get there.
Finally I believe the issue of homosexual rights is an issue that Christians should be standing up for. Barack included his position on this in his series of statements aimed at more conservative middle class Americans, which I and many Christians are a part of.
History will remember not what we believed to be right or wrong about homosexuality, but how Christians treated the gay community in this time period. I think this was Barack's unifying idea; that we might disagree morally on the issue but we can all agree that all people deserve respect and equality under our constitution.
Those are just my thoughts on the night. As you would say Ken, feel free to disagree.
I agree with annonymous on a number of issues....our budget deficit and meeting all the goals that Obama has...but that also goes for whatever goals McCain envisions, as well. Limited resources are allocated by Congress. And Congress is always influenced by lobbyists, who represent Big Business. And even when it is illegal to accept the "perks" of these lobbyists, there is always a way around the law. Self-interest does rule the day with politicians, no matter how much they initially desire to represent "the people".
The Democrats are sanctomonious about being "above the frey" when it comes to politics and Big Business, but they are just as prone to that type of subversion of our deomcratic representative Republic...
It was reported by Jim West that a photgrapher, wanting to take pictures of some businessmen coming out from a meeting in Colorodo, was stopped from taking the picture by the police. Freedom of the press? Freedom of speech? A Representative Republic?
No, all groups are political in nature. "Order" is useful for the goals of the politicians and the interests of those they represent.
In regards to Burt's comment, I agree that the "ideals" of Obama's speech are all Christian (and Burt was thorough in percieving them), but "ideals" are not what politics is about, as mentioned above. The "real world" is about the political order and structure and the leaders who move that structure or "order" of government.
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