Obama Says Some Have ‘hijacked’ Faith
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Sen. Barack Obama told a church convention Saturday that some right- wing evangelical leaders have exploited and politicized religious beliefs in an effort to sow division…. “Somehow, somewhere along the way, faith stopped being used to bring us together and started being used to drive us apart. It got hijacked,” the Democratic presidential candidate said in remarks prepared for delivery before the national meeting of the United Church of Christ…. “Part of it’s because of the so-called leaders of the Christian Right, who’ve been all too eager to exploit what divides us,” the Illinois senator said…. “At every opportunity, they’ve told evangelical Christians that Democrats disrespect their values and dislike their church, while suggesting to the rest of the country that religious Americans care only about issues like abortion and gay marriage, school prayer and intelligent design,” according to an advance copy of his speech…. “There was even a time when the Christian Coalition determined that its number one legislative priority was tax cuts for the rich,” Obama said. “I don’t know what Bible they’re reading, but it doesn’t jibe with my version.”
I am shocked- SHOCKED!!- that relgious zealots would hijack government for their own selfish, greedy, power-mad ends. That mullahs throughout the Islamic world would use God- or at least their monomaniacal, intolerant, bloodthirsty version- and manipulate religious doctrine to achieve and exercise political power is as sad as it is unthinkable and yet frequent.
Wait….we’re not talking about Islam and the Muslim world, are we? How sad and disturbing is it that you could substitue “Fundamentalist Christian” for “Islamic” without missing a beat? Same song, different verse, eh? Someone’s managing to pervert the word of their God as a means of justifying their naked attempts to grab and exercise political power. I’m not at all certain what God’s voter registration card says, but I’ll bet any amount of money it doesn’t say “Republican”. In fact, I’m fairly certain that God (not that I believe in Him) doesn’t vote.
The Religious Right is to the teachings of Jesus Christ what Adolf Hitler was to tolerance and racial harmony. This collection of holier-than-thou troglodytes are perfectly willing to use their narrow, fear- and ignorance-based belief system to subjugate an entire nation and it’s political system to their will…and too many churches and religious organizations are willing to go along with it. Ultimately, this is no more about Christianity and God’s Will than the war in Iraq is about terrorism. No, in the final analysis, this is about a loud, ignorant minority bent of doing away with the Constitution and foisting a dominionist theocracy down the throats of the vast majority of Americans not enlightened to think and believe as they do.
Hey, if you believe in God…more power to you. You have the right to believe and worship as you see fit. What you do NOT have the right to do is to attempt to hijack our government and use it to force your narrow, intolerant agenda on Americans who happen by and large not to believe as you do.
Knock it off, willya??
