...folks are hungry for change - they're hungry for something new. They're ready to turn the page on the old politics and the old policies... But I also get the sense that there's a hunger that's deeper than that - a hunger that goes beyond any single cause or issue. It seems to me that each day, thousands of Americans are going about their lives - dropping the kids off at school, driving to work, shopping at the mall, trying to stay on their diets, trying to kick a cigarette habit - and they're coming to the realization that something is missing. They're deciding that their work, their possessions, their diversions, their sheer busyness, is not enough.
They want a sense of purpose, a narrative arc to their lives. They're looking to relieve a chronic loneliness. And so they need an assurance that somebody out there cares about them, is listening to them - that they are not just destined to travel down that long road toward nothingness.
He continues by outlining his Faith and friendship:
It wasn't until after college, when I went to Chicago to work as a community organizer for a group of Christian churches, that I confronted my own spiritual dilemma. ... And slowly, I came to realize that something was missing as well - that without an anchor for my beliefs, without a commitment to a particular community of faith, at some level I would always remain apart, and alone. ... I learned that my sins could be redeemed. I learned that those things I was too weak to accomplish myself, He would accomplish with me if I placed my trust in Him. And in time, I came to see faith as more than just a comfort to the weary or a hedge against death, but rather as an active, palpable agent in the world and in my own life. It was because of these newfound understandings that I was finally able to walk down the aisle of Trinity one day and affirm my Christian faith.
He then connects to this his policy plans of which I only copy the meat:
Our conscience can't rest so long as 37 million Americans are poor and forgotten by their leaders in Washington and by the media elites. ... That's why I've been fighting to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit and the minimum wage. ...
Our conscience cannot rest so long as nearly 45 million Americans don't have health insurance and the millions more who do are going bankrupt trying to pay for it. I have made a solemn pledge that I will sign a universal health care bill into law by the end of my first term as president that will cover every American and cut the cost of a typical family's premiums by up to $2500 a year. That's not simply a matter of policy or ideology - it's a moral commitment.
And until we stop the genocide that's being carried out in Darfur as I speak, our conscience cannot rest.
And we should close Guantanamo Bay and stop tolerating the torture of our enemies.
But we also know our conscience cannot rest so long as the war goes on in Iraq. ...Because the Iraq war is not just a security problem, it's a moral problem.
Today there are 12 million undocumented immigrants in America, most of them working in our communities, attending our churches, and contributing to our country. ... We cannot ignore that we have a right and a duty to protect our borders. ... Our conscience cannot rest until we not only secure our borders, but give the 12 million undocumented immigrants in this country a chance to earn their citizenship by paying a fine and waiting in line behind all those who came here legally.
Thus, it is now a profound sense of Christian morality, not neo-Marxism, that drives left-wing, wealth re-distribution schemes. Incorporating or increasing the welfare (oops... workfare) distributions within the income tax code, providing Universal (read nationalized) health insurance, and intervening in Darfur are moral duties driven by He who blessed us. Now we see that socialism is a moral duty arising out of deep sense of Christian Faith.
The Junior Senator from Illinois then ties the package with a bow.
I'm hearing from evangelicals who may not agree with progressives on every issue but agree that poverty has no place in a world of plenty; that hate has no place in the hearts of believers; and that we all have to be good stewards of God's creations. From Willow Creek to the 'emerging church,' from the Southern Baptist Convention to the National Association of Evangelicals, folks are realizing that the four walls of the church are too small for a big God. God is still speaking.
I'm hearing from progressives who understand that if we want to communicate our hopes and values to Americans, we can't abandon the field of religious discourse. That's why organizations are rising up across the country to reclaim the language of faith to bring about change. God is still speaking.
Well, I told you it was an amazing speech. It seems utterly misguided however. It seems that the Senator, like most liberals, doesn't appreciate the common sense of principles that underlay conservatism. The sense that our rights come from the Creator, and that the federal government functions best when it is limited in scope. This is exactly the vision laid out by the founders. The sense that every individual needs to be responsible for themselves not dependent on the largess of a kind, Christian, and Neo-Marxist government.
Senator, I understand that you want the world to acknowledge that many Democrats are Christians. This is a truth, and a good one. But Christianity is inherently incompatible with Marxism. This is why every communist leader in history has abolished Faith within their realm.
Good Luck in the Primaries Senator.
2 comments:
Obama's Christianity and that of the so-called "Religious Left" replaces the all-powerful personal God of traditional Christianity with Marxism.
After all, Herbert Marcuse, a father of Neo-Marxism, was keenly interested in what was referred to as Radical Christianity in the late '60s.
Obama is a washed up Communist.
Anonymous' observation of the individual vs. state religiosity is important.
However, it inaccurate to call Obama a "washed up Communist."
Communists believe in establishing Marxist socialism through an armed, violent revolution by the proletariat. There is no evidence that Obama desires this. Obama is better described as a Socialist. In particular, as a Social Democrat. One who espouses the goals of Marxism through electoral means. Obama self-describes as a Progressive. The excellent article at wikipedia.com points out that progressives and socialists disagree only on time-frame.
Obama is certainly not washed up. His future is in front of him until the electorate realizes the bill of goods that he is selling. Unless anonymous meant that he is "prettied up."
Post a Comment