OBAMIANITY

Why is Sen. Clinton Talking about Rev. Wright?

Josh Marshall writes about the latest Rev. Jeremiah Wright controversy:

But in the debate about Wright, which Sen. Clinton has just reignited, it seems to be spoken of now as an unquestioned assumption that Wright traffics in racist rhetoric or hate speech. But is that really true? I've seen some stuff that strikes me as whacky. I've heard soundbites that critics would not have much trouble spinning as anti-American. But are there really quotes that justify the charge of racism?

It seems to me that Senator Clinton is deliberately stirring up trouble so she can more easily win the votes of anxious whites who are uncomfortable with what they hear from Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

This looks like a shamefully self-interested shortsighted tactic. What about the future health of the Democratic Party? What about the historic loyalty that African-Americans have to the Democratic Party? What about even her own strategy of winning the general election if she by some miracle gets nominated?

Is she just playing for the semi-racist-not-so-educated white vote in Pennsylvania, Indiana and North Carolina? Why else would she talk about Rev. Wright the way she is doing? Why isn't she helping defend Senator Obama from all the Rev. Wright-related racist and ignorant attacks? What are African-Americans going to think about Senator Clinton now?

Baptist Press Criticizes Obama's Speech on Race

Last week the Baptist Press of the Southern Baptist Convention published an article about Obama's speech on race relations. Most of the article was a straightforward account of the speech, but at the end of the article, there was this:

Ken Blackwell, a senior fellow for family empowerment with Family Research Council Action, said Obama's speech did not address the underlying nature of his beliefs, which are characterized by "a 21st century form of big government socialism."

"Those are the beliefs of liberation theology," Blackwell, an African American himself, said in a statement. "Those are the offensive root beliefs underlying many of Rev. Wright's sermons. And though Barack Obama does not embrace Mr. Wright's offensive language, he does embrace this government-solves-everything-through-socialism worldview.

"His speech was magnificent in its elegance and rhetoric, but today Mr. Obama reminded me yet again of his worldview that embraces, among other things, partial-birth abortion, military weakness and economic socialism," Blackwell said.

Is this the best the Southern Baptist Convention can do? As far as I know, Blackwell is not even a Southern Baptist. But was it really that difficult to find someone who had at least a few positive words to say about Obama's speech? Southern Baptists often lament that they are viewed critically and unfairly by many outside their denomination, but with an article like this, maybe they deserve sometimes the bad press that they receive.

This is somewhat personal to me because I have a Southern Baptist background and I am well aware of the racist history of the Southern Baptist Convention. The whole reason to create the convention in the first place in 1845 was to allow slave owners to become missionaries. So you would think that the current Southern Baptist leadership would be more sensitive to issues of race and more appreciative of a speech that is being universally praised as a creative and daring breakthrough in race relations.

The Real Barack Obama

Dr. Dobson's Focus on the Family begins an e-mail sent out today with:

What does it take to be the most liberal member of the United States Senate – farther left than Ted Kennedy, John Kerry or even Hillary Clinton? For the answer, take a look at a man who could be the next president of the United States: Barack Obama.

Sen. Obama was recently named the most liberal U.S. Senator, based on the annual voting analysis by the non-partisan and highly respected National Journal. If he emerges as the Democratic nominee, one of the critical jobs of Focus Action will be to uncover the real Barack Obama—not the feel-good orator who speaks of “change” and “hope,” but the man who would be the most left-wing president in our nation’s history.

The e-mail ends with this:

Throughout our history, great Americans have stood up to grave challenges of all sorts. As this latest wave of secular liberalism threatens us, I look forward to standing shoulder to shoulder with you in prayer and action – in defense of the family.

Thanks to Focus on the Family, we are finally able to see that the real Barack Obama is not a Christian interested in Jesus' message of social justice, but a godless far leftist liberal secular humanist who wants to destroy the family.

It seems to me that Obamianity is closer to Christianity than Dobsonianity.