Saturday, December 20, 2008

What Obama could say to young Christians and/or homosexuals: We live in the real world

There seems to be a loss of reality on the part of many Americans, no matter what their religious, political or sexual beliefs are. There seems to be no intellectual understandng of the connection between the passage of Proposition 8 in the bluest state in the nation and the hollering about a preacher who is going to give a prayer at the Inauguration of Obama.

There needs to be a reminder of the words used against Obama during the election. Specifically these words are STILL hurting his attempt to change America. The evidence can be found, among other places in the real world, on the front page of The (Shreveport LA) Times of yesterday, reporting on the conflict in Claiborne Parish over not only the mistreatment of a black student who was overly eager after Obama's election, but more important, the fact that during the election a teacher circulated literature claiming Obama was the anti-Christ.

Now think about how to combat this continuing attack on Obama from the radical nutty-usually "religious"-right that will undercut his ability to make any good changes, and then add an attack on his coming administration from those on the left and some homosexuals over his invitation of a preacher (Warren) to lead a prayer at the inauguration.

Hopefully the youth of America will know enough history to understand how much better America is today for all minorities than it was even a decade ago, much less how life for blacks and homosexuals was in the civil rights days of the 1950s and 60s when their parents were marching for the right to even vote, and get an education in schols not divided by race.

That is what Obama needs to remind us, and ask for a little help from all of us, no matter who we voted for or how much hope we have for his administration.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Billy,
Did you see the interview with Warren last night on Dateline? I am surprised at the fuss gays are making over Our Savior's selection of Warren to give the invocation. First, why the hell should there be any appeal to a deity at a presidential inauguration? Why don't people complain about this spread of theocracy and instead pick on the sky pilot?

Second, it is clear that Obama has a conservative agenda, and that he picked Warren as an outreach to evangelicals. That is smart, from his point of view. People who disagree should not have bothered to vote for him.

Third, Warren is no Jerry Falwell, if he can be believed, and he seemed sincere in voicing his views. Yes, he's against abortion. But so are many people who are not antigay. I myself support a woman's right to choose, and was perhaps the first gay man to march in a pro-abortion march in New York City with a sign I made saying "Gays Support a Woman's Right to Choose." But I do not consider abortion a wonderful thing. Better to practice birth control and avoid the need for abortion.

Sure, Warren opposes gay marriage. But that does not make him antigay. I and many other same-sexers also oppose gay marriage, and in my case I oppose all marriage. It's a lousy institution and the gay movement is wrongheaded to be pushing for it, just as it is for trying to get into the imperialist military and the pass hate crimes laws. Moreover, Warren has given millions of dollars to fight AIDS, and even gay groups consider this a good deed. He has engaged in efforts against poverty. These things make him a far better and less evil fundamentalist than many others. I think the liberal homosexuals who are gaga over His Hopefulness are demonstrating intolerance and stupidity.
Obama is going to be just another president in the pocket of Wall Street, big business, and the criminals who run our society. So far, his picks for advisers and top positions show that he is barely different from McCain.