tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14237465.post2763955542738113221..comments2024-03-22T19:12:22.089+11:00Comments on One Salient Oversight: The anti-Obama Christian bloggersNeil Cameron (One Salient Oversight)http://www.blogger.com/profile/03143948543305522865noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14237465.post-12074463271170496932008-11-07T13:30:00.000+11:002008-11-07T13:30:00.000+11:00Gosh... I hope I'm not one of those Christian blog...Gosh... I hope I'm not one of those Christian bloggers that you found fault with!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14237465.post-41427650323955376512008-11-03T09:37:00.000+11:002008-11-03T09:37:00.000+11:00Give that pastor a hug for me, Christine! (Love y...Give that pastor a hug for me, Christine! (Love your button!)<BR/><BR/>Our minister preached five or six sermons just about elections and politics, never giving any hint as to which person or party he favored, but impressing upon us the need to take the election seriously, study, think and vote.<BR/><BR/>NoniNoni Mausahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11198589990083966806noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14237465.post-18761880541035673132008-11-03T09:26:00.000+11:002008-11-03T09:26:00.000+11:00As my husband stood before our congregation this m...As my husband stood before our congregation this morning and said, "I encourage you all to make an educated vote ..." the Southern Baptist heads were a nodding. Then he followed up with, "Yet, I also want to say that I think it goes against the teachings of Christ for us to live in fear or to spread rumors that instill fear in others."<BR/><BR/>Boy, howdy, did those heads stop a noddin'! When he insinuated that God doesn't belong to one political party, I'm pretty sure some of them just fell over.<BR/><BR/>Some of them assume that their behavior is scriptural. It's painful to change your default thinking.Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07276000726366302069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14237465.post-40032819834538289102008-11-02T05:26:00.000+11:002008-11-02T05:26:00.000+11:00Noni, that was not at all the meaning I got from y...Noni, that was not at all the meaning I got from your original comments.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the clarification.BLBeamerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00953399820620982720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14237465.post-64453033384443116612008-11-02T05:25:00.000+11:002008-11-02T05:25:00.000+11:00Has anyone asked Obama where he stands on such mat...<I>Has anyone asked Obama where he stands on such matters?</I><BR/><BR/>Great question, Ron. My biggest problem with this campaign is that the press has displayed what I referred to elsewhere as a "curious lack of curiosity" regarding Obama's background, credentials and beliefs.<BR/><BR/>Not that his religious beliefs would ordinarily have any bearing, but he attended for 20 years the church of an ugly, race-baiting, foul-mouthed preacher and the press doesn't seem to care. Obama's obvious lying about his attendance was accepted at face value.<BR/><BR/>Yet, Sarah Palin is getting criticized heavily for a church she only attended for a short while and has not attended for years.<BR/><BR/>I'm not saying let up on Sarah Palin, I'm saying the press is not doing its job in accurately informing the public on all the candidates. It's vaunted skepticism is one-sided.BLBeamerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00953399820620982720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14237465.post-46989596254423576322008-11-02T02:37:00.000+11:002008-11-02T02:37:00.000+11:00You seemed to be saying there is justification for...<I>You seemed to be saying there is justification for people to put their hope for the divine in a presidential candidate.</I><BR/><BR/>Bil, I see I did not make myself clear.<BR/><BR/>A national leader has two jobs. One is to run the nation, and that's hard enough. The other is to understand that, whatever they may be in themselves, they are also willy nilly the representative, the "self" of the nation. This doesn't require them to be any more sacred or mystical than you or I, but it does require that the person recognize this part of the job.<BR/><BR/>Bush giving an impromptu shoulder-rub to Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, is a jawdropping example of a person completely unaware of this element of his position. This would be the sort of thing one would expect of an untutored child or a mentally disabled adult, not the leader of a world nation.<BR/><BR/>Obama, along with several hundred thousand or probably millions of Americans, understands this. McCain probably does. Bush did not.<BR/><BR/>NoniNoni Mausahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11198589990083966806noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14237465.post-14981517080225225732008-11-02T02:15:00.000+11:002008-11-02T02:15:00.000+11:00Noni - Who's getting carried away? You seemed to ...Noni - Who's getting carried away? You seemed to be saying there is justification for people to put their hope for the divine in a presidential candidate. You also implied there is something spiritually distinctive or marvelous to Obama.<BR/><BR/>I disagreed. How am I getting carried away?<BR/><BR/>Selecting a president is not that difficult. Have you ever done it? This is my ninth presidential election. It's not mystical, or spiritual nor does it have any elements of the divine to it.BLBeamerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00953399820620982720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14237465.post-10167500776349327622008-11-02T00:35:00.000+11:002008-11-02T00:35:00.000+11:00bil said: I believe for anyone to stake their hop...bil said: <I>I believe for anyone to stake their hope on either one of those two, one must make a conscious decision to move away from the Divine...</I><BR/><BR/>Now you're getting a little carried away, and mixing up your worlds.<BR/><BR/>Electing a president is complicated because you are actually making two choices -- first, you are hiring a guy to do a job, and you have every damn reason and responsibility to pick a competent person whose aims are consistent with the overall good of the nation and then, that achieved, also more-or-less consistent with your own preferences. This isn't rocket science. It's just a job, though an important one, you are not winnowing the populace to find a messiah.<BR/><BR/>Secondly, the elected person does become a figurehead of the nation, in the best sense of that word. "The land and the king are one," as it is said. The new leader ought to realize this, and be able to act in accord with this status, be obedient to it.<BR/><BR/>Currently our group is reading "A Preface to Paradise Lost" by C.S. Lewis, with a pertinent quote: "this quality will be understood by anyone who really understands the meaning of the Middle English word solempne. this means something different... from modern English solemn.<BR/><BR/>Like solemn, it implies the opposite of what is familiar, free and easy, or ordinary. But unlike solemn it does not suggest gloom, oppression, or austerity.... above all, you must be rid of that hideous idea, fruit of a widespread in inferiority complex, that pomp, on the proper occasions, has any connection with a vanity or self conceit.<BR/><BR/>A celebrant approaching the altar, a princess led out by the king to dance a minuet, a general officer on a ceremonial parade... all of these wear unusual clothes and move with calculated dignity. This does not mean that they are vain, but that they are obedient... <BR/><BR/>...the modern habit of doing ceremonial things unceremoniously is no proof of humility; rather it proves the offender's inability to forget himself in the rite, and his readiness to spoil for everyone else the proper pleasure of ritual."<BR/><BR/>Obama manifestly understands this -- Bush patently did not.<BR/><BR/>NoniNoni Mausahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11198589990083966806noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14237465.post-74349914330931149892008-11-01T20:03:00.000+11:002008-11-01T20:03:00.000+11:00That's precisely why I stopped writing about it.That's precisely why I stopped writing about it.Sam Charles Nortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04088870675715850624noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14237465.post-77526193356413468002008-11-01T19:39:00.000+11:002008-11-01T19:39:00.000+11:00Your prayer is very sound OSO. As you know I unsub...Your prayer is very sound OSO. As you know I unsubscribed from a Christian newsletter here because they demanded we pray for McCain/Palin victory. <BR/><BR/>I said we should be praying for Obama's safety with the hatred that is being generated with the kind of statements and the blogs I have seen. <BR/><BR/>For these blogs to have any truth then Obama must be the biggest liar around.<BR/><BR/>Then Today NSW newspaper SMH was mocking Palin as an early earth creationist and a believer in the second coming in her lifetime. <BR/>Why couldn't she have said she believes in Creation and that the Lord will come again sometime. <BR/>Has anyone asked Obama where he stands on such matters?Ronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01898855599160925012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14237465.post-75307690512886337882008-11-01T17:46:00.000+11:002008-11-01T17:46:00.000+11:00No man Republican or Democrat will ever make this ...No man Republican or Democrat will ever make this world OK. <BR/>Only Jesus has The Power and Authority To bring about that change.<BR/><BR/>KJV1WoRDFaithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05810722719407161106noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14237465.post-32683391891104219012008-11-01T15:16:00.000+11:002008-11-01T15:16:00.000+11:00Noni - I don't hold out a lot of hope for either M...Noni - I don't hold out a lot of hope for either McCain or Obama. I believe for anyone to stake their hope on either one of those two, one must make a conscious decision to move away from the Divine. They are in for a deep and disturbing disappointment - in this world.<BR/><BR/>Obama and McCain are politicians, after all. As someone who has been the "beneficiary" of the policies of both Republicans and Democrats, this idea that the Democrats are something new and good and the Republicans are all evil is absurd.BLBeamerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00953399820620982720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14237465.post-41990697127798929652008-11-01T13:34:00.000+11:002008-11-01T13:34:00.000+11:00The very first things that angels say when they co...The very first things that angels say when they come to men is, "Fear not." The only thing we are told to fear is God, and frankly I have my ideas of what that fear actually is. Physical hate and dread are not it, I am pretty sure.<BR/><BR/>The worst thing about the religious wing of the Republicans, whatever you might call it, is that its dependence on fear inevitably moves the people further away from the divine.<BR/><BR/>I hold out a lot of hope for Obama because he appears to understand the need and have the ability to sooth and to not awaken fear. To speak quietly, to move slow and surely, like quieting a terrified child.<BR/><BR/>The "Publicans have a lot to answer for, in all the worlds.<BR/><BR/>NoniNoni Mausahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11198589990083966806noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14237465.post-161090386992996942008-11-01T12:06:00.000+11:002008-11-01T12:06:00.000+11:00You're right but you've only covered half of it. ...You're right but you've only covered half of it. If Obama loses there have been hints of prospective violence, too, from some of his more rabid followers. Violence with a racial aspect to it. If I weren't a Christian I might be frightened, particularly if I lived in a part of the country with a history of urban violence (Detroit, Philly, Newark, certain parts of LA, etc.). Scary times.BLBeamerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00953399820620982720noreply@blogger.com