Avoid Mixing Religion and Politics
Several years ago I was scolded for making comments on a blog just for saying that Obama is not a Muslim. Even if Obama happened to be a Muslim, I would not care because religion is not supposed to be a publicly imposed institution, and some people just cannot mind their own business. Why do you care about a politician's, an actor's, or even your friend's religion anyway? How are their beliefs going to take away from yours exactly? The fact that people want to lie about something that is a non-issue, such as someone's religion, is pretty mean spirited too! This may not be popular for some people to read, but I realized the bottom line is a few are projecting their insecurities onto others with these declarations.
Still, I have to wonder why I was told to go kiss Obama's Muslim ring. What an absurd thing for anyone to say about anyone, really! What is it about people that consider themselves to be such "perfect Christians" to judge others. Jesus told his followers not to judge others, but so many Christians defend their right to judge. They definitely do not practice the works of Christ, and trying to get through to these people is like trying to talk to someone on their ipod. They see your lips moving, but they cannot hear you, or they use the device to tune others out.
Guess what my fellow Americans, there is something called separation of church and state. If Obama did not make a big deal out of National Prayer Day it may be because he understands the separation of church, and he is not willing to impose his religious views in every arena. The president is not your pastor or priest, so he is not the guy who you should be looking to for spiritual guidance. He was elected to lead the country, not preach from his pulpit.
The people who praised Bush during his eight years in office obviously did not realize we were siphoning large amounts of money into our presence in Iraq, but now these same people declare that health care reform will bankrupt the country. Guess what? It was the mismanagement of the economy under Bush that got us to this point, but they turned a blind eye to this. I am an intelligent woman that reads history books, and I know for a fact the New Deal under Roosevelt in the 1930s helped to alleviate job loss, but did not help the economy fully recover. It was not until World War II that things actually improved because of the need for manpower with the war effort, so there are times in history when the economy lags, but in our have it now culture we often forget this concept.
Of course many never wanted to give Obama a chance, and the moment he did not wave his magic wand they were willing to declare the stimulus package as responsible for all of this economic chaos. Thanks goodness I know humans are humans, and I do not live under the fallacy that certain economic and political schools of thought could cure the economy. It is a man made and imperfect thing, and it may take years for us to bounce back. Unlike some of the negative people I am a positive and intelligent attitude girl, and I do not let naysayers pull me down. I have looked at history, and I know in my grandpa's day people got behind a president and supported him, as we should do with Obama.
However, some were very against him taking office in the first place, and some of that has to do with his politics and background. Some people just cannot handle diversity, and they try to make these individuals out to be boogey monsters. These are the same tactics really scary preachers use, so see where mixing politics and religion can get you into all kinds of trouble? It is not healthy either!
The media lately also seems to be catering more and more to the conservative types that watch Fox news, and I have been seeing even more of this reporting on CNN of this nature. Today I even read a Yahoo news article about how Bush supporters roll their eyes at Obama's use of the word "unprecedented". This article was biased so in favor of Obama detractors, and not very objective in my opinion.
The Bush supporters were so in favor of what he stood for as a "good Christian," and now they are opposed to Obama because he does not mix religion and politics. He is weighing our presence in Afghanistan, and takes his time to think things out. Good for him! From the minute that Obama was elected his detractors have been looking for ways to discredit him, and all I can say is Mr. Obama has weathered their attacks admirably. So maybe I am an Obama cheerleader, but for the first time since Bill Clinton this is a president that I have faith in. Also, I do not base my faith on a spiritual Sunday school thing, but on his aptitude and attitude towards achieving stronger diplomatic relations overseas, reforming health care, and weighing his decisions carefully.
I find it humorous that conservatives love to launch attacks, but the minute anyone more moderate or liberal critiques Bush they put up a big argument about how biased that is. Palin supporters jump up and down about how Americans who criticize her must be sexist for not supporting a strong woman in office, but the truth is some of us just do not like her agenda. On the other hand when people do make truly racist remarks about Obama these are so easily dismissed. A couple of months ago when Carter astutely pointed out that a lot of this imagery and language is racially motivated, quite a few people vilified him for it. However, many of these same people will swear up and down it is sexist to be against Sarah Palin.
The bottom line is American politics has always been dirty and sordid, but there is a seedier side that is coming to the forefront. It is a very brimstone and fire mentality where the "good Christians" declare that others are just not Christian enough for them, and thus not good politicians. Remember how the US Constitution adopted the principle that there should be no religious test for office, and that my fellow Americans still stands. Some of our greatest presidents such as Jefferson were not even Christian, and he was more of a deist. He studied many different religions, and he certainly did not rely on the Bible being the cornerstone of every decision.
The bottom line is there are many religious and non-religious people in America, and the gung ho religiosity of some really is discriminatory towards those who did not have a "always better than you mentality". The truth is real Christians do not need to be judging people up and down, but many of the insecure types use their outspoken faith as a defense mechanism. Honestly the comments that were so disrespectful towards myself are just such a joke. Well I have lots of work to go do because I need to go work on being a better Christian, and judging everyone up and down. Not! I just find the comments on some hubs very hilarious, and the fact people believe this nonsense even more so.
