On today’s Albert Mohler program, Dr. Russell Moore turns the Obama run on its head by asking “how can the church lead the way [on racial reconciliation] in a country swept with Obamamania?” The question is legitimate when white voters in Nebraska and Kansas voted overwhelmingly for Obama, even forcing Clinton to fire her campaign manager.
One year ago the Washington Post examined the mum approach of Obama and Clinton on the issues of same-sex marriage and the morality of homosexuality. Obama has taken heat from the gay and lesbian community for having Donnie McClurkin on his campaign tour.
Why have the candidates been somewhat silent on their views about homosexuality? Why does it seem that we are giving them a pass on these questions? Even McCain sidesteps the questions on homosexuality. But if you consider that the very definition of marriage is at stake, as well as the appointment of Federal judges and SCOTUS justices, and the military’s policy on homosexuality, these are not questions that we should allow candidates to avoid. I was hoping CT would have given the question to Obama. To me, this issue is more important than any question on gender, race, or racial reconciliation.
I have great pride in seeing an African American be in a position to be a viable (and probable?) candidate for nomination as a Presidential candidate. I wish my views on the issues and his views were closer. I am warning up to his health-care / insurance-for-all proposal as the best among the main candidates. I am hoping each of the candidates will think about our future role in the Middle East before taking the Vietnam approach to the war in Iraq—an approach that benefits no one but terrorists. Yet, as Andrew Sullivan proposes, it may be true that our relationship to the Middle East and the Two-thirds world will change the morning we all wake up and see a person of color leading the world’s superpower. (But Thabiti’s words (and more words) are informative here.)
So what lever do I pull in the morning? Well, I think if I pull the lever for Obama, I will keep things interesting, although it is certain Obama will win in my state. But I could make it interesting by pulling the lever for Huckabee (if only a few thousand other voters in my state would do the same). But then again, we do not pull levers in my state. Regardless, when Sunday comes, we will still be as segregated as ever.