A few days ago, Barack Obama came to a poltical rally here in nearby Coral Springs, Florida. In listening to the coverage later that day on NPR, I was stunned the hear that Obama had been heckled by a group of 20 black people. They held up signs of protest, tried to shout Obama down, and were quickly shouted down by Obama loyalist and forcibly escorted out of the venue.
Talk about being confused. Why would black people be protesting the first black presidential candidate in U.S. history?
- Were they demanding more welfare programs?
- Were they demanding more focus on their issues?
- Was he not being black enough?
- What?
I couldn't begin to think why this might be the case, and more important, what was their real options for a presidential contender. Just consider the alternative? Could they be active McCain supporters? Considering that of the 2,380 Republican delegates at the recent Republican National Convention, only 36 were black, a 78 percent drop from the GOP's 2004 convention and the lowest number in 40 years, according to the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. Thirty Six. That was it. This didn't seem like the obvious choice.
As I continued to listen intently to the NPR coverage on the topic, the reporter was able to locate and talk to one of those removed from the hall. With anger in this young man's voice, he chanted, "How could anyone support a presidential candidate who is in any way for abortion - regardless of why? How can you support a man who is for gay marriage? THESE ARE NOT THE TEACHINGS OF MOHAMED."
Ding, ding, ding, ding !!!! Suddenly, things became very clear.
This group of black men were heckling Obama were ultra conservative Muslims.
These men sounded and acted exactly like the Evangelical Christians - except they pray to a different god. They to want to DENY a woman's right to choice, i.e. take away her "freedom of choice". These same people want to deny a gay couple the legal right to visit one another in the emergency room at a hospital. Be they ultra conservative Evangelicals, or Muslims, it all seems about controlling others to follower their views and ways. This is the same kind of control that the Taliban wanted to exert over the entire population of Afghanistan prior to our invading that country.
But wait !! Don't the Evangelical Christians want to take away our freedoms? Don't they want to impose their religious views on this nation? What about my religious freedom? My rights? My views? My belief system?
Take a minute before you vote and thank about this for a minute. VOTE for what is right.
Phil
1 comment:
I agree with your basic concern about those of religious conviction that allow their lives to be guided by faith. Faith and belief are paths that have locked onto a position and refuse to consider any other explanation. The natural world is filled with wonder and as yet unexplained mystery. How unfortunate for us all if we froze our understanding of the world and clung to faith alone to engage the the yet unknown.
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