No Racism in the Booth

Yesterday I posted a here an email from someone who had read this blog and asked if race was more important than God in this election. If you recall what I posted here, I invited the email writer to comment with anything he thought should be share with my readers. So far no reply. It does not surprise me.

But to his question: does race take a front seat to God in this election...actually it could be any election. They can not be separated. They are of equal importance. If our faith in Christ is true than any candidate's race would be unimportant. Watch the video's of the crowds at the Republican rallies, watch and listen to the candidates raise the passions of the crowd, and you know that race is far more important that Christ. It is not that we should vote for Obama because he is black. It is that these rallies are racists. They may not beleive they are. But they are. their actions are those of racists. That is not Christianity. and those who call themselves Christians should examine their hearts to find the error of their ways. The only thing missing from some are the white hoods.

I would not vote for someoen because he is black, green or any other color. But I should not vote for comeoen because the other candidate is different than we.

Today there attacks almost every day in India against Christians. The passion feld mobs of Hindus in India are no different than those we see at Republican rallies...crying for death.

the following article looks at some of these issues. Remember there is a comment botton at the end of each article. you should make your comments either pro or con.

No Racism in the Booth

The ugly turn to racism in the presidential campaign presents a bold opportunity for American religious leaders--a way to promote core religious beliefs and make themselves relevant at the same time. It's time for a unified spiritual message: no racism in the booth.

This is more of an emergency that we may realize. Just last week, ugly crowd responses were reported at some McCain-Palin events. The Washington Post reported that one person at a rally shouted, "Kill him" about Obama while an African American member of a TV crew had to be escorted from the building after being taunted with racial slurs.

But the stakes are higher still. If the so-called "Bradley effect" were to take place in this election and the Obama-Biden ticket were to lose because of racism, the country would be devastated. The uproar following the 2000 Supreme Court decision that awarded the election to George W. Bush would look mild by comparison. Our values? Mocked. Our leadership on issues of reconciliation and tolerance? A joke. Our capacity to come together as a nation? Deferred, like other dreams for another generation.

The legacy of this campaign would be national shame.

A highly placed adviser to the Obama campaign caught me off guard this week when he told me how far he thought it had gone: "If anything happens to Barack, the other campaign will have to bear some responsibility."

How did we get to the end of this election and find ourselves speaking about the unspeakable? On the whole, this has been a campaign of unprecedented enthusiasm and hope with new energy from all sides of the political spectrum. After an amazing year of debate and discussion, how have we found ourselves in the gutter of racism?

Shame on people of faith if we don't confront it with a united voice.

Can people of varying faiths agree? Not on everything. But on this, yes. I can't think of anything that is more antithetical to a spiritual world view than the idea that one person would scorn another because of a God-given human characteristic. I don't think there's anything more central to people of faith than the idea that God loves each of us equally and without restriction. I don't care about political differences; from a spiritual point of view, there isn't any excuse for racial hatred. I don't know who God wants us to vote for but I'm confident that we're not on God's side if we vote against someone because of the way God made that person.

Religious leaders have united to push political efforts in the past: to fight killer diseases plaguing the poorest of the poor, to advocate for a compassionate immigration policy. Notwithstanding the importance of all these issues to people of faith, there's no disease more unholy than hate and no religious belief more fundamental than the exhortation to love God and love neighbor. People of various faiths may differ on many issues in this political season but in my view, one can't claim to believe in a good and loving God if one can't stand against racism.

So why not a nationwide emergency challenge issued from every church, synagogue, mosque, and spiritual meeting place in America? Why not ask every religious and spiritual leader to stand before their fellow people of faith on the Sunday before election day and preach an end to racism?

It's time. We can no longer overlook what we've lived with for centuries: racism is a blot on our nation and an offense to our ideals. We've known that for a long time, but we're way beyond the time when we can be patient with it.

Let the pulpits ring in harmony: vote for whomever you think can make our country more just, more holy, and more peaceful. But don't vote on race.

If anything happens, it will be on us all.

source: http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/religionfromtheheart/2008/10/no_racism_in_the_booth.html