Friday, April 11, 2008

The Word in Focus

One of my bible college profs is extremely supportive of Barack Obama. Dr. Taylor is a white, baby-boomer, conservative Christian that has been outspoken on his blog about why he thinks Obama should be the nxt president. Below is his latest rant. Forgive the funky run-on paragraph, but I'm just cuttin' and pastin' around here. And I promise this will be the last post about Obama...

Chew on this:

Thoughts by Dr. Larry Taylor:

Because racism is an evil in our society that must be opposed by righteousness. Senator Obama not only has a strong record of standing up for social justice causes, as an African American, he knows first hand the sting of prejudice and racism, yet is committed to bringing together an interracial coalition to promote social justice. Barack Obama was raised in a mixed racial family in racially blended Hawaii and Indonesia. His family tree is Technicolor. Because Barack Obama is a dedicated follower of Jesus, who combines the evangelical belief in the necessity of personal commitment to Christ with the social gospel of Martin Luther King, Jr. Mr. Obama is dedicated to the eradication of poverty and injustice, not through government handouts, but through education and social networking. Because Washington politics has too long been run by special interests with lots of money. Senator Obama takes no money from special interests, and has led a clean, honest, upright life in the public eye. He is beholding to no one other than his constituents. Because party politics in America has long been controlled by powerful political machines, as, for example, the Clinton machine that has controlled the Democratic Party for 20 years, complete with the Clintons faux marriage and carefully orchestrated poll-driven policies. Senator Obama has consistently spoken out for and maintained positions that were not necessarily what his audience wanted to hear. He is driven by his assessment of the issues, not by polls, and his marriage is real. Because the Bush administration has buried us in a war with no apparent end. Senator Obama was one of the few senators who opposed the war in Iraq from the beginning, but who also strongly supports the war on terror, the incursion into Afghanistan, and our troops. Because U.S. Economic interests, particularly those of big oil, have driven foreign policy in recent memory. Barack Obama has used (and promises to continue to use) a new brand of diplomacy that involves talking to friend and foe alike to seek peaceful solutions to complex problems. Because we Americans have not always had our brightest people in the White House. Barack and Michelle Obama are both brilliant. Barack has a BA from Columbia, his law degree is from Harvard, and he was a constitutional scholar at the University of Chicago. His deep rich understanding of history and world governments complements his Ivy League education. Michelle was educated at Princeton and Harvard. Because global warming is a real undeniable threat to the planet, as are a host of other environmental issues. As a Christian, environmental stewardship is essential to my obedience to my Master, and Senator Obama strongly supports protections for the environment. Because many of our children, most especially those of color in inner cities, are receiving a substandard education that condemns them to a life of ignorance, poverty, and crime. Barack Obama uniquely combines a Bill Cosby-like conservative message of personal responsibility, hard work, and self determination with government proposals to fund new schools, pay teachers closer to what they are worth, and supply children with the environment and the tools they need to learn. Because 40 million Americans lack health insurance coverage and many more have inadequate coverage, which is unconscionable in a nation as wealthy as this one. Unlike the back room deal Hillary Clinton put together when Bill was president, Senator Obama proposes bringing representatives of every side of the health care issue together around a table to devise a plan that will provide health insurance for every American. Because giving homosexual couples the right to visit each other in the hospital, inherit property, and share benefits does not in any way threaten traditional marriage. If traditional marriage is under attack in America today, it is under attack more from the serial polygamy of evangelicals whose divorce rate is higher than the national average than from gays. Mr. Obama supports the carving out of some sort of legal niche short of marriage to protect same sex couples, and I see nothing wrong with that. Because the President of the United States has nothing to do with abortion other than the very remote possibility of being able to appoint enough judges (not to mention get Congress to approve the appointments) to force an antiabortion agenda on the nation. There have been just as many abortions under pro-life Reagan, pro-life Bush I, and pro-life Bush II than there were under pro-choice Bill Clinton. Moreover, Hillary and McCain are also pro-choice, so the issue is mute. The solution to abortion is in winning the hearts of people, not judicial or legislative coercion. Because hysteria about Mr. Obama being a liberal or about comments his former pastor made, is nonsense that has nothing to do with his potential presidency. Because internet reports that Mr. Obama is a closet Moslem opposed to the Jewish State of Israel are flat out lies. Barack Obama is a devout Christian who fully supports Israel and the finding of a peaceful solution to the displacement of Arab Palestinians so that Jews and Arabs can live side by side harmoniously. Those who point out Mr. Obamas middle name, or the fact that his last name rhymes with Osama advertise their gross ignorance. And, finally, this Caucasian, Bible-believing, Jesus-following, Pro-life baby-boomer is voting for Barack Obama because, regardless of policy, he inspires me. He is authentic, real, hopeful, and eloquent. When I listen to Obama, I feel the same sense of inspiration and hope I feel when I read a speech by Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, or John F. Kennedy.

© 2008 by Lawrence Russell Taylor, PhD. All rights reserved worldwide.

The Word in Focus

8 comments:

Mike West said...

What does your “professor “ say about Obama sitting in a church pew for 20 years and supporting a racist “pastor” and church who regularly spew out hate speech regarding whites and America?
The question is why didn't he leave that church? Why doesn't he leave even today -- a pastor who thundered not once but three times from the pulpit (on a DVD the church proudly sells) "God damn America"? Charles Krauthammer says “Obama's 5,000-word speech, fawned over as a great meditation on race, is little more than an elegantly crafted, brilliantly sophistic justification of that scandalous dereliction.”
What does your “professor” say about his wife’s comment “for the first time in her adult life, she is proud of America” because her husband is running for President?
What does your “professor” say about him having no experience in foreign policy and no experience with military operations during a time when it’s needed the most?
What does your “professor” say about his close relationship with a convicted criminal in Chicago?
What does your “professor” say about how he plans on paying for all of the new feel-good social programs it will require to take care of this new dependent generation already created from previous government programs?
What does your “professor” say about us paying higher taxes although we’re already grossly over-taxed?
What does your professor say about the fact he has never led anything larger than a campaign staff?
What does your “professor” really think about abortion?
I believe your “professor” is guided by emotion and puts way too much faith in having the letters “PhD” after someone’s name.

Mike West said...

And another thing. He bowled a 31!! A 31! Are you kidding me?

Kat said...

I see things about all three viable candidates that I like and that I dislike. At this point, I could vote for any of the three. I've never been in this place before. Obama is an extremely engaging, inspiring man. Regarding his pastor, I can forgive the man given that this country was built on the backs of slaves. Our beloved 'forefathers' owned people!
That said, I'm trying to separate emotion and inspiration from fact/reality. That's why I currently have no clue who I'm ultimately going to vote for. I'm approaching this as if MY vote controls the entire election! (silly, I know)
That said, I'm not ruling out Barack Obama.......or John McCain....or Hillary Clinton.

Kat said...

LOL! I bowled a 39, so I'm not going to cast stones at the golden tongued one! ;o)

Bryonm said...

wow, Mike. I never thought I'd see the day when you campaigned for Hillary :)

Anonymous said...

wow, it is amazing to see how people view things. what about pro life and marriage between man and woman and each person responsible to carry their own load and not have the country support us that is so spoken in God's word for our instruction it just goes to show us how self centered the world is all i can say is those who truly call Jesus Lord lets please not just be hearers of the word but do and speak what it says. we are to take care of the poor but not make the poor help them to fish not give them always the fish.

Anonymous said...

That's powerful, Bryon, thanks for passing it along. I'm finding that people who are most opposed to Obama are doing so out of gross ignorance rather than solid reason.

Anonymous said...

Oh, and the comment about Evangelical Christians threatening the institution of marriage more than gays is right on the money. As a guy who's been divorced and remarried, I'm doing my part to perpetuate that problem. It's interesting that all of the gay/lesbian couples I know who have families seem to stick together. Maybe I need to learn something from them.