What Would Jesus Do?
Well, I don't really know, because, well, I KILLED JESUS. I know this because all these really nice Christian kids screamed that at me when I was six. But, Alan Keyes feels pretty sure Jesus would give Obama the big (stigmata-handed) thumbs down.
According to a list of quotes put out by the Democratic candidate, Keyes said in a radio interview at the Republican National Convention that Jesus would not vote for Obama. The quote was part of a list Obama sent reporters of Keyes' accusations and epithets about him since Keyes became a candidate, NBC5 political editor Dick Kay said.Kay also reported that Keyes called Obama a "socialist and a liar" on a cable access news show on Monday. Obama said he wants to win big to give Keyes a spanking because Keyes wages a scorched earth campaign. Keyes then went into a very long analysis of the word "spanking" and suggested it might be related to slavery and insulting to African- Americans. He would not answer when asked directly if he was insulted.
Reporters also pointed out that Obama had said Bobby Rush had spanked Obama in the Congressional race when Obama ran against Rush in 2000. Obama said Tuesday night it was tongue-in-cheek and that everyone knows he wants to win the race for working people. He also said no one has run a more positive campaign than he.
Keyes, who has focused his campaign on abortion, said that his statement about whom Jesus would vote for was based on Obama's pro-choice votes in the Illinois Senate.
What's scary is how the world, in 2004, has suddenly started foaming with fundamentalism. We're back in the middle ages, with people running their lives, and this country, on belief in god. Oh, are we a secular country? Oh, please. With faith-based initiatives, prayer circles in the White House, Bush and company governing based on WWJD and being vocal about it, the fight to use stem cells without impediment from the fundamentalist fruitcakes (including the one in the Oval Office), and more?
If you don't think Bush will take this country even further away from separation of church and state than he already has -- like, by appointing Dr. David Hager to a reproductive health policy team (a doctor! who wrongly thinks the pill is an abortifacient) -- you're deluding yourself.
Quite frankly, I'm not a Kerry fan, nor am I a Democrat, but I'm for anybody but Bush, or any other religious fanatics. It's simply too dangerous to vote for them, no matter what your pocketbook-based argument might be, or how you rationalize responding to an attack by Osama by going after Saddam.
This race is not one between Republicans and Democrats, it's literally a fight for modernism against primitivism. What do you wanna bet Osama wants Bush in the White House -- with lots more of that crusade and god rhetoric to stir up the "infidels"?
(link via David "Tell Me Everything" Rensin)
Jimmy Carter was at least as practicing a Christian as GW, and HIlary Clinton is more so, believe it or not.
The faith-based stuff works, and the rest is by and large window dressing for the tiny minority of the Far Right. Don't get your lacy pnaties in a twist over trifles.
What if Liberman had been elected--he's far more orthodox than GW is Christian.
Rachel at September 8, 2004 11:52 AM
The faith-based stuff keeps people from getting care. I know, because my best friend is an expert on the topic, and I've read his peer-reviewed, covariate-analysis-crammed, published studies on the topic. I'm opposed to electing anybody whose agenda is anything other than a rational, what's best for America agenda -- untrammeled by belief in god, Santa, the tooth fairy, or the Easter bunny.
As Sam Harris put it: belief in god takes a combination of "ignorance and hope." Scary that people can compartmentalize their rationality that way. Especially those in power.
Amy Alkon at September 8, 2004 11:58 AM
What if Lieberman had been elected?
He will never be elected president. He's too much of a sanctimonious prick.
Sure, Al Gore nearly became president, and Joe might have gotten in if Al died or resigned, but that's the only way it would happen. And I bet Amy would go after him too.
Tit-for-tat partisan arguments only work if you're arguing with someone who affiliates with one of the two major parties (and even then they don't work very well). Amy doesn't, and nor do I. Not everyone with liberal tendencies is a Hillary-lovin' Democrat.
For my part, I don't oppose Christianity, just simplistic literal interpretations of it. I doubt Carter believes, as W once claimed to, that Jews don't go to heaven.
LYT at September 8, 2004 3:11 PM
Luke is quite right, and like me, Matt Welch, and Tony Pierce, is one of the rare common-sense moderates out there. Believe me, if there were Democrats running the show now, I'd be lambasting them, too. What surprises me is the horde of commentators, writers, and TV talkers who bow down and worship at everything their particular side of choice does. I've lost respect for a whole lot of people I used to read and listen to.
Amy Alkon at September 8, 2004 3:20 PM
I believe a GIANT FINGER designed us and it absolutely HATES THE SHIT out of George W. Bush and that if he were smart, George W. Bush would gather all his supporters around him, get down on his knees and BEG THE GIANT FINGER to forgive him and stop pointing.
Curtis at September 8, 2004 5:43 PM
But Bush is sitting on the GIANT FINGER. Why do you think he has that stupid grin on his face?
Lena at September 8, 2004 8:25 PM