Round One with God
Yesterday, Democratic presumptive candidate Barack Obama came out in favor a big bunch of money for faith based organizations, sort of the same thought as President George W Bush’s “faith based initiatives”. Like all programs the devil will be in the details but already it looks to me like the cart is before the horse. The Government should NEVER support any faith or religious organization for any reason. Instead it might consider using these organizations to distribute Government aid targeted for specific purposes like feeding the poor, housing the homeless, and caring for the sick. For nondenominational purposes, faith based organizations may represent the most cost effective way to accomplish the Government’s goal.
My heart burn occurred when Obama used the occasion to inform eveyone that his strong faith in God has given him direction and strength. You would initially think this is a meaningless statement since there is no world unanimity of opinion on which is the real God, and a growing number of people do not agree that there is one in the first place. We must also remember that President George W Bush reads the Bible each day and talked to God before deciding to invade and occupy Iraq. I certainly hope Obama is not talking to the same God or the war on poverty could turn ugly.
The interesting aspect of Obama’s announcement is that it also seemed like a “tit for tat” with Republican presumptive nominee John McCain. McCain went to church on Sunday. I must stop and emphasize that from now on when McCain feels the need to go to church it is no longer a private event but must have proper press coverage. Remember Bill Clinton coming out of church each Sunday with the largest Bible you ever say while at the same time giving extra instructions to White House interns each evening. There is nothing wrong with McCain or Obama going to church or having a faith or belief, or drawing direction and strength from it. They both need, however, to remember to keep separate their religious feelings from their governance responsibilities.
So for round one with God, I would call it a tie. Both candidates flashed the God sign to those who might be swayed but did little other damage. It is hard to see how God will get us out of Iraq or balance our national budget or restore (or even stabilize) our currency. The current Administration got us into these problems and has left them for Obama or McCain to figure out how to get out.
This entry was posted on July 2, 2008 at 8:32 am and is filed under 2008 Election, Barack Obama, Democratic Party, George Bush, Iraq War, John McCain, Politics, Republican Party. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.
Tags: faith based groups, Religion
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