An effort to educate, part 1

As of last Tuesday, a majority of the Electoral College and American voters chose Barack Obama as the President-Elect of the United States with Joe Biden as his Vice President-Elect. Since then, a site has been posted with the Obama-Biden philosophies of governing the country. When I entitle my blog "An effort to educate," I will try to take a vignette of the policies and ideas posted, give the direct quote, and share some of my feelings. I encourage you to share yours by commenting as well. The only censorship I will do with my comments are profane ones, as judged by me. This is about talking politics, not shoving views down people's throats. If you would rather not read about this, as our President-Elect says, you have a choice. Read or don't read.

My need for this comes from what I believe was the biggest uninformed electorate in United States history. This has nothing to do with race. This has everything to do with ideology. Read on if you wish.

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Agenda Item #1: Faith

Quote from http://change.gov/agenda/faith/

Reconciling Faith and Politics

“(Obama's speech on faith) may be the most important pronouncement by a Democrat on faith and politics since John F. Kennedy's Houston speech in 1960 declaring his independence from the Vatican...Obama offers the first faith testimony I have heard from any politician that speaks honestly about the uncertainties of belief.”
— E.J. Dionne, Op-Ed., Washington Post, June 30, 2006

In June of 2006, Senator Obama delivered what was called the most important speech on religion and politics in 40 years. Speaking before an evangelical audience, Senator Obama candidly discussed his own religious conversion and doubts, and the need for a deeper, more substantive discussion about the role of faith in American life.

Senator Obama also laid down principles for how to discuss faith in a pluralistic society, including the need for religious people to translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values during public debate. In December, 2006, Senator Obama discussed the importance of faith in the global battle against AIDS.

JoLynn's take: What does it mean to be a "pluralistic society?" I view it as the same as "moral relativism," a term which I consider to be a glaring oxymoron. A pluralistic society is where no train of thought is valued above another and every train of thought is considered equal.

I find it interesting that Senator Obanma has laid down principles about how we should discuss our faith. To my knowledge that is directly against my freedoms of both speech and religion, guaranteed to me by the First Amendment. I am permitted to have my views. I am also permitted to think some views are right and others are wrong. For example, I find that there is no middle ground on abortion. It is wrong to kill our youngest and most vulnerable citizens. I believe that there is a soul joined with each new baby from the moment of conception. I get to believe that. I get to believe I am right and others who believe otherwise are wrong. That is what this nation is about. Not making everyone feel good.

Under Senator Obama's position, we should allow people to spread lies. Will we be giving Ahmadinejad the benefit of Obama's pluralism? Is he right that he wants to obliterate the country of Israel? Is he right that he spreads this idea that the Holocaust did not happen? Do we get to say he is wrong or must we accept his views with the equality of a pacifist's view?

If you think I am being extreme, consider this quote from the Associated Press: Hard-line Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad congratulated Obama on his win — the first time an Iranian leader has offered such wishes to a U.S. president-elect since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. I think we will be hearing and seeing a lot more from this Iranian leader than any of us might wish to.

Bottom line: Mr. Obama does not get to dictate to anyone how public debate in this country should be held. Considering the company he has kept before, during, and after this election, he should think long and hard about stating "principles" to anyone.