Yesterday was kind of a hard day. You know, inauguration day. There were some amazing things about it – there are about any presidential inauguration. Very few countries in the world exchange power so seamlessly and peacefully as the United States. I am proud of that. I am also proud of the classy, gracious way that George and Laura Bush left the White House. I certainly did not agree with every decision he made or every position he took, but I think we can all look back and see that God had that particular man in office to handle – the cool and gutsy way that he did – what happened on September 11, 2001. I also appreciate that he stood by his beliefs and principles even when they were not popular – according to the polls. 🙂 I am pretty sure that the people of Iraq – on the whole – have a pretty good opinion of what President Bush did for them.
What is hard about yesterday is the unrealistic and completely unfounded expectations that have been placed on a man who has not even established a record for himself in the public arena. When I tried to find President Obama’s voting record in the Senate I found that too many “NV” or not voting was listed more often than should be.
According to the National Journal, 1/31/08: “Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., was the most liberal senator in 2007, according to National Journal‘s 27th annual vote ratings.” On the website, “Project Vote Smart” you just have to read the list of endorsements to see what side of the issues he is on.
This man’s fervor to make any kind of abortion legal at any time and for any reason and never again to be challenged legally is scary to me. (Freedom of Choice Act) How selfish have we become that we think we can decide who will live and who will die depending on our “choice” or what is convenient for us?
I have mixed emotions about the election of our first “black” president. Honestly, just saying that makes me think that we are more racist than we ever have been. Why is he labeled as such if we are so “color blind” we don’t take into consideration the race of the person we elect as president? Then, there is fact that many African-Americans (why do we need these labels!) voted for him JUST because he is the same color they are. I know that they see it as this historic chance, but did they really care WHO they were voting for. Would just any black guy work? I bet they wouldn’t have voted for Alan Keyes. (A very conservative Christian.)
I don’t wish anything bad for President Obama. I would like for him to succeed as our president. I will diligently pray for him as he takes on some pretty huge issues. I will also be praying for God’s people to be willing to stand up and speak out against the things that are clearly spoken against in the Bible. We can say that we believe homosexuality is a sin and a choice and that people need to turn from it and repent and still show them kindness and respect. We need to stand up and say that it is wrong to abort babies because it happens to be inconvenient or the baby is “imperfect” in our estimation. We can stand together in support of strengthening our families. We can stand up for a families right to choose how to educate their children. We can devote part of our income and time to those who are less fortunate than ourselves – because, after all – isn’t that why government thinks they need to do that for us? We aren’t being the “neighbor” that God commands us to be.
I am trying to put my perception of who I think Barack Obama is aside and watch what happens. I am glad if his election gives the black community a feeling of pride in themselves. I hope that pride will lead to action and change for the better. I would love it if there were no color issues in this world. I guess what I most long for is that new heaven and new earth when sin will be in the past and the people of God will be who He made us to be.
Goodbye Ordinary 