Obama's Uphill Struggle

I have a friend who lives in what can fairly be described as "bible belt America". The World is shaped by the Bible's Word in this area and voting Republican is automatic.

My friend freely admits she knows very little about politics so I was suprised when this email, sent to numerous people mostly sharing a devout Christian background, landed in my inbox:

I would just like to ask you all to pray for the US Presidential elections. :) If you are in the US please go vote for anyone but Obama. :) And when you pray, please pray that either he won't get in, or that if he does everyone will realize their mistake pretty quick.

(That could be painful, but it would still be nice to see.)

Of course, fresh from the delight of Obama's victory, I couldn't resist a tongue-in-cheek response and I decided to reply to all:

In response to my dear friend's email, and now the contest is over, I would like to ask that everyone gets behind Barack Obama and supports him as President. I strongly believe he can effect great change and achieve positive results not just for America but for the planet as a whole.

(PS It could have been worse, you could have ended up with Hillary!)

And there, I thought, was the end of the matter. But I underestimated the strength of feeling within some others on the email list. I received the following email:

Obama is an antichrist and NEVER will I support a man who is not of God.

This was followed a by a list of bible passages which are utterly irrelevant to the topic of discussion.

Startled, I decided to leave well alone and wondered if I shouldn't have stirred up a hornet's nest on the matter but thankfully the following email made up for it. A thoroughly intelligent and fair assessment of Obama's victory from a Republican. It's a long piece but I think well worth the read:



Jeffry,I generally don't respond to the masses in such a manner but I thought you might like to hear a mildly moderate conservative address the state of the union over here and around the world.

I'm behind my country with 100%; he's the president; I follow the laws. I don't want a lot of social laws and principles changed in one term of office. I will follow him when he's right and question him when he's in the wrong... that's what a democracy must be. Remember this old adage:"Read all the books upon your shelf but do all you thinking for yourself." Our nation is not made up of one party, nor of one man, nor of one event. The past President's failures polarized a great many people to one purpose; elect no one like Bush. Well that's what happened and now we will see how able our nation is to live with it's choice. Many who chose Obama were voting for the "any one else" box on the ballot; not considering any more than the smooth, studied and eloquent speeches formed after the style of the classic southern baptist preacher. Wonderful to listen to in its meter and flow, its emotion and cadence. Lots of meter, little meat, emoting cadence but carrying little credence.The U.S. truly is a blend and because of that it should move with care and moderation, resolute in its cause and virtue. No one party should wield control and take advantage of the emotions stirred by failure and frustration. Consider that this economic crisis has been pending since the last upturn in the 80s; that free trade acts don't help as much as they hurt; that greed is the cause world wide and man's inability to contain his desire to have more, more, more leads to the oppression of people at every level of society throughout the world.

The fear of being mistreated increases as one sees someone else mistreated. This fear can lead to prejudice. There are as many bigots of color in the U.S. as there are white bigots. It's wrong no mater what color you are. Reacting to this election as some kind of freeing step for the world is over reacting. This changes little for others. What is the current condition in South Africa? Look at its recent history. Who is in power now? Isn't the present government just as corrupt as it was before Mandela? Look at Russia; still up to the old tricks. A country can only live through the hearts of its people, remembering right and wrong, following the rule that describes others as being as valuable as ones self. Treating others as you would want to be treated. The heart of man is selfish. Selfishness spawns greed. Greed leads to abuse (of others, of power, of position etc). Abuse brings mistrust,fear and hatred. Maybe this will turn out okay... maybe it will bring the end of the U.S. as a world player. I know one thing because I have seen it before: One party in power is not often good!We shall see...