Three reasons I could vote for Obama…and 3 reasons why I won’t: First, I could vote for Obama because I would like the United States to take that huge step of electing a black president. Obama is clearly a good guy, thoughtful, intelligent, and I like the fact that family is important to him.
Second, I could vote for Obama because unlike John McCain, he was very direct about his faith in Jesus Christ. Hopefully, the Rick Warren forum will put to rest any thoughts that Obama is a Muslim.
Third, I could vote for Obama because of his statement that he had to live his life out to serve “the least of these”. This is a critical Christian ethic directly from the words of Jesus which states that we will be judged based on how we treat the least among us. Way to go Obama! See Matthew 25:31-46.
My kids like his foreign policy….and I’m sure they are other good reasons to vote for Obama.
But there are at LEAST 3 reasons why I probably won’t vote for Obama.
First, though Obama appears to be thoughtful, evenhanded on issues, willing to reach across the aisle (something on which he has no or little record of doing in the Senate, Hillary was the one with the record of doing this)---It won’t matter on many issues because I fear Obama will be beholden to the far left leadership of Pelosi and Harry Reid. I don’t believe that Obama can stand up to Pelosi and Reid and reach across the aisle. Presidents have so little power and Obama will be no exception.
Second, I probably won’t vote for Obama because he doesn’t really practice “the least of these” when it comes to protecting those that are certainly the least of these---the unborn. Obama can talk about the complexity of theological and scientific issues surrounding abortion…and they are not so simple….but I decided 20 some years ago that if I err in my views, I will err on the side of life.
Third, I probably won’t vote for Obama because his view of how to carry out the mission of “the least of these” is different than mine. This is one of the big differences between Liberals and Conservatives. Obama sees government as fulfilling this mandate. I strongly disagree. I see this “least of these” mandate fulfilled in the role of the individual, the church, the Red Cross and its cousins, and faith based organizations. Now government can help provide a climate to enable these groups to function…but these organizations will always be better than the government. Katrina and its aftermath illustrate my position. Churches, faith based organizations, etc., were much more effective than the government. (the evil George Bush should be blamed for this, right?)
I have other reasons….sitting in the church with Rev. Wright….I’ll stop here.
Feel free to disagree or agree with comments or read and think about Matthew 25!
3 comments:
Am I right or wrong? Was it Obama who took his oath of office on a Koran? I guess thats better than "Jet" or "Ebony". I feel he leaves the "least of these" in worse shape.
thanx casey, i have seen the error of my ways
During a trip to Vancouver, Canada last week I was struck by the degree of admiration for Obama. Obamania is rampant! At least in that area, the vast majority of people are hoping and cheering for Obama because they see him as likely to heal the rifts between America and the rest of the world. The people see him as (as cast by the Canadian media) an egocentric (almost mean spirited) and unpopular character. Canadians, at least, would not like to see McCain win.
The degree of passion for Obama up there reminds me much of Canada’s era with Trudeaumania. This was a time many decades ago when Canada’s then popular Prime Minister could do practically no wrong and he exerted massive power in building a separate Canadian identity distinct from a country that was literally no more than a suburb of the USA.
Canadian interest in this election has been surprising to me. Canadians REALLY want to like America, but find it very hard to think kindly of Americans in the days of a Bush administration. No question, Canadians have difficulty understanding America’s penchant for debate and freedom (i.e. the right to bear arms). They puzzle about why we take so long to pick our elected leadership. But, at they same time, they seem to want to look up to Americans much like kids look up to an older brother. They really want to LIKE our next President, and they clearly think they will like Obama better than McCain. This was an eye opening trip for me!
For me, I think an Obama administration would actually prove to be dangerous. A three way Democratic Party administration (President, House and Senate) would likely throw this country on a path we cannot afford. The handouts would increase exponentially and way too many people would become defacto wards of the state through their dependence on the government handouts. The weight of socialism would then be on us for decades … and America, as creative as we are, will decline economically. I fear that our standard of living would fall far below current levels.
America's system is based on check and balances, but we are at close risk of throwing them away with this election.
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