Simple Man Politics

Hello all my loyal readers, its time for Wednesdays installment of Simple Man Politics. Today’s subject is religion and politics, and I’m sure it will be very touchy for some people. Please understand that I do not wish to make anyone uncomfortable, but the subject must be addressed. I will try not to be to abrasive.

Like race in politics (see Mondays post), religion in politics has also been around just as long and has been used for everything from the control of governments and people, to waging wars and erasing rival faiths and religious beliefs counter to those of others who which to be viewed as the righteous ones, and who want power. However, it has also been used by governments and different faiths for good as well. We’ve seen evidence of these things throughout recorded history right up till today.

Currently our faith, or should I say the Christian faith, in particular is being challenged everywhere especially in this country. From banning a monument to the Ten Commandment’s in Alabama to removing the pledge of allegiance from our schools because of the phrase one nation under God. It is continually being challenged in the pro life vs. pro choice fights, between the political parties and other groups with interests in that subject, as well as by gay rights advocates, the ACLU, and people of other faiths from around the world who have decided to come here for a better life.

One of this countries greatest beliefs is the in the freedom to practice your own religion with out being persecuted. As a result people have the freedom to worship Allah, Buddha, Krishna, and a whole host of other entities to obscure to mention as well as Satan. But when someone of the Christian faith attempts to worship, or display some sort of symbol glorifying their faith, or voice an opinion about something that states a Christian point of view, they are told they can’t do that because it’s politically incorrect and that it may offend people of a different culture or religious belief.

This country was founded by people who supported, and wanted to live life by Christian principles. However, because we are a nation of immigrants and due to our immigration policies, we have had to accept other people and their beliefs into our country. I personally don’t have anything against different people coming here to better their lives, or to be safe from religious or political persecution. If you are going to come here though, I think you should have to accept us and our Christian beliefs, since we have been forced to accept you and yours - after all, we were here first. By the way, you should have to learn English too, because it is the language most spoken here, and is recognized as the official language of the United States of America. If you don’t want to do these things then I kindly ask you to leave, since it is abundantly clear you have no wish to be an American.

As far as our Presidential candidates are concerned John McCain claims to be Protestant, and attends a North Phoenix Baptist church. Barack Obama, until recently was a member of the Trinity United Church of Christ, until he withdrew his membership there because of inflammatory remarks made by his former pastor Jeremiah Wright. However, both of these candidates are not very well received by Evangelicals, and other Christian groups for their views on abortion, and gay rights.

Well folks that is all I have for you today on the subject of politics and religion. I hope I didn’t offend any of you by inserting some of my own views on this subject into the content of this post. Since this is my blog though, I do reserve the right to put in my own two cents worth on any subject I write about. If you were looking for a more statistical analysis I’m sorry I didn’t include any figures this time. I believe this subject should have been discussed more from the heart than from the calculator. I hope you all have a great day, and I’ll see you all on Friday for the last post of the week, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Hello everyone, I hope everybody had a nice weekend, and is ready for the first Monday of the week. Its time for another installment of Simple Man Politics, and I’ve had a couple of people ask me when I’m going to address race in politics this political season, so that is what I’m doing today. I will try not to be to longwinded, so, let’s get started.

Race and politics have had a long history together all the way back to the beginning of civilization. They have been used together to control societies, start wars, to promote one religion over another, and to control governments, and used together can be a potent and devastating combination.

In the current election cycle the threat of race in politics has been in the back of everyone’s mind for quite some time, but until recently had only been a thought. Now it's become a reality, and from the most unlikely source Barack Obama. You may ask how Obama could play the race card - he’s not a racist because he's black. It’s simple; he played the race card as weapon against McCain and the Republicans and as a scare tactic against his own supporters. Now you want to know how he did this and I will tell you. With statements such as, “oh and by the way he’s black” and “he doesn’t look like all those other presidents on those dollar bills”. As far as accusing John McCain and his campaign of playing the race card against him, I can find no evidence of that any where, and I’ve done a whole bunch of research too.

Some people seem to be worried that Obama’s remarks are racist and while I wouldn’t call Obama a racist, I most certainly would not accuse McCain of being a racist either, since he has gone out of his way to keep "race" out of the presidential race. McCain has even gone out of his way to chastise those who have attempted to play the race card against Obama and has denied he supports their positions to do so. Now I said earlier that I wouldn’t call Obama a racist, but he definitely had a very close association with a racist for more than twenty years - his pastor Jeremiah Wright. He has even gone so far as to say that this man was his mentor. Of course now he says he never heard any of the things that it has been proven Wright has said, even from the pulpit. I find that hard to believe. By the way the reverend Wright and his congregation gave Louis Farrakhan an award and Wright himself accompanied Farrakhan to Libya, and Farrakhan is certainly a racist and an anti-Semite.

Well boys and girls I can honestly say I’ve addressed the politics of race in this political season. Now all I can do is go out and get the facts and report them to you. It is still up to you to look at both of these candidates and decide for yourself who will best represent you in the next four years. Until I see you all again Wednesday, have a great day.