Barack Obama

President Obama on Easter and his "Risen Savior"

Christian Buckley — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 19:39:32 -0700

One of the things I HATE...YES HATE...is when we think we know something that we really have no idea about.

I HATE that conservatives love to HATE Obama and consider him the end of America.

I HATE that liberals HATED Bush and considered him the end of America.

On those notes, a friend of a friend attended President Obama's Easter Prayer Breakfast on April 6th and sent his speach along for me (and others) to read. You can read it if you want at the White House Press Page, but I thought I would post some very interesting chunks.

I don't know that I like Obama and I don't know that I don't. But I do know that much of what he said is down right true and frankly not even being said (let alone) preached by many of the people who should know better...

...today, I’m particularly blessed to welcome you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, for this Easter breakfast.
...I wanted to join you for a brief moment today to continue the Easter celebration of our risen Savior, and to reflect on the work to which His promise calls all of us.
...For even after the passage of 2,000 years, we can still picture the moment in our mind’s eye. The young man from Nazareth marched through Jerusalem; object of scorn and derision and abuse and torture by an empire. The agony of crucifixion amid the cries of thieves. The discovery, just three days later, that would forever alter our world -- that the Son of Man was not to be found in His tomb and that Jesus Christ had risen.

We are awed by the grace He showed even to those who would have killed Him. We are thankful for the sacrifice He gave for the sins of humanity. And we glory in the promise of redemption in the resurrection. And such a promise is one of life’s great blessings, because, as I am continually learning, we are, each of us, imperfect. Each of us errs -- by accident or by design. Each of us falls short of how we ought to live. And selfishness and pride are vices that afflict us all. It’s not easy to purge these afflictions, to achieve redemption. But as Christians, we believe that redemption can be delivered -- by faith in Jesus Christ. And the possibility of redemption can make straight the crookedness of a character; make whole the incompleteness of a soul. Redemption makes life, however fleeting here on Earth, resound with eternal hope.

Of all the stories passed down through the gospels, this one in particular speaks to me during this season. And I think of hanging -- watching Christ hang from the cross, enduring the final seconds of His passion. He summoned what remained of His strength to utter a few last words before He breathed His last breath. “Father,” He said, “into your hands I commit my spirit.” Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. These words were spoken by our Lord and Savior, but they can just as truly be spoken by every one of us here today. Their meaning can just as truly be lived out by all of God’s children.

So, on this day, let us commit our spirit to the pursuit of a life that is true, to act justly and to love mercy and walk humbly with the Lord. And when we falter, as we will, let redemption -- through commitment and through perseverance and through faith -- be our abiding hope and fervent prayer.

OBAMA: "I'm praying alot these days."

Craig Detweiler — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 09:28:40 -0800

While some may question whether a national prayer breakfast blurs the line between church and state, it is one of the rare non-partisan events that has attracted presidents from both parties. It dates back to the days of Dwight Eisenhower. While the organizers might be specific in their religious convictions, the event itself celebrates America’s civil religion. How appropriate that President Obama would call for a renewed civility. He suggested we can challenging each others’ policies without questioning people’s motives. “Surely you can question my policies without questioning my faith or for that matter, my citizenship.”

The cynic may consider that a political ploy designed to rescue plunging poll numbers. Yet, the depth of our national problems requires some setting aside of partisanship. We can agree on the need to alter our political discourse, to move forward in economic recovery, to get out of the nightmarish wars abroad. While we debate the methods, we can still practice civility. Here is Obama’s complete 17 minute address. Best lines: ‘In this Tower of Babel, we lose the sound of God’s voice” and “I’m praying a lot these days.”

OBAMA and 7-11 runs....

Invisible Children — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 10:50:14 -0700

Something happened the other day. Something ironic.

There are days when the only thing that will suffice a serious appetite is a 2 AM 7-11 run. Who's with me? But on this particular night, I witnessed something not unfamiliar to the 7-11 franchise. Theft. But not any kind of theft.

This 15 year old still pre-pubescent punk walks into the store.... goes to the "beer cave".... and walks right out the front door while maintaining eye-contact with the man behind the register - as if to say, "just try to stop me." I'm there at the counter, paying for my moon pies, as any good participating citizen would. The man at the register just shook his head, defeated. I looked at him - then to the kid - back to the man, and thought "I need to run after him and stop him." I walked out. The acne laced thief just kept walking. And nothing. What was I going to do? The 7-11 dude told me not to go after him - that the last gentleman that did was, and I quote, "knifed".

I was so upset to witness such a ridiculously obvious form of injustice. There is a point. Hold tight.

When in the face of something as seemingly minor as a beer theft from a 7-11 I found myself wracked with anger. So I have to ask the even larger questions. If we have the opportunity to take matters into our own hands and stand up to something that is wrong, it's obvious that we must.

The reason I mentioned the irony of this 7-11 experience? For this fall, we have instated a CITIZENS ARREST of JOSEPH KONY - Leader of the LRA. So we CAN take matters into our own hands. The goal? To get at least 250,000 signatures that we can hand deliver to one of these four major political figures.

1- President Obama himself.

2- Michelle Obama.

3- Vice President Biden.

4- Sec. of State Clinton.

Go here to sign it. And tell all your friends.

Now, I only wish I could've arrested the 7-11 fugitive, as a citizen....

Tools for the Conversation

Paul Hebblethwaite — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:06:44 -0700

The news and commentary swirling around the confrontation between Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates and a Cambridge police officer is a reminder that the election of Barack Obama is not a period at the end of America’s race conversation. Though the confrontation itself may not be a case of racial profiling, the ongoing reaction to the event demonstrates the need for continued discussion.

The discussion should continue and adapt overtime to the changing dynamics of our society. For example, in Los Angeles the discussion has to adapt to the new dynamic of Hispanics becoming the majority population in historically African-American neighborhoods like South Los Angeles, Watts, and Compton. In the same way that discussion around gender continues, our conversation about race doesn’t end just because glass ceilings are being shattered. I would also point out that the last place the conversation should end is within the Church, were segregation is still a chronic problem within every denomination.

To help this conversation we need creative tools for exposing and understanding prejudice.

An incredible source for conversational reference points and discussion catalysts is the creative arts. A good example of a visual artist whose work places the discussion of prejudice front and center is Kara Walker. Utilizing the stark visual impact of black and white cut out drawings, Kara Walker subverts the racist subtexts of American history in a direct confrontation of stereotypes. Her work is jarring and even offensive in its explicit amplification of racial and sexual stereotypes, but its direct style leaves the audience responsible to condemn the historical roots manifest in each image.

Sadly, the Church has done so little to cultivate the arts that there are very few practitioners within the Church that can offer tools to help congregations talk about race, sexism, and other forms of human prejudice. We just don’t have that many storytellers (visual, oral, written, and physical) to help us confront our fear and dislike of the “other”.

The Contradictions of our President

Sean McDowell — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:41:03 -0700

While my first passion (and formal training) is in theology and philosophy, I do love following politics. For balance, I regularly read the HuffingtonPost.com (liberal) Townhall.com (conservative) and watch CNN and Fox News to try and get multiple sides of every issue. For the past couple weeks, I’ve decided to pay even closer attention to the words of President Obama. In doing so, I’m amazed at how many times he directly contradicts himself. Yet what’s more amazing is that the mainstream media doesn’t pick up on these. Consider a few…

President Obama: Can we emphasize your Muslim roots or not? During the presidential campaign you strongly downplayed your Islamic background (strong criticism was leveled at those who included your middle name “Hussein.”) Yet in your recent speech in Cairo you emphasized your background and sympathy for Islam. In fact, you boasted of having “known Islam on three continents.” Which is it? And how far does your sympathy for Islam go? Why did you speak out immediately against the killing of Dr. Tiller, but were very slow in response to the murder at the recruiting office by an American Muslim?

President Obama: Are you a Christian, or not? You have claimed to be a Christian, and I give you the benefit of the doubt (as I would anyone else). Something you said recently, however, raised some concern. In your Cairo speech you said you look forward to the day, “…when Jerusalem is a secure and lasting home for Jews and Christians and Muslims, and a place for all of the children of Abraham to mingle peacefully together as in the story of Isra, when Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed (peace be upon them) joined in prayer." The term “peace be upon them” is used by Muslims to bless deceased holy men. According to Islam, Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed are dead prophets. Yet, of course, to Christians Jesus is the living and immortal Son of God. You may think I am making too big of a deal about this, but remember, you have recently claimed to be deeply versed in Islam.

President Obama: Will you step down from your presidency, since your race is being used as a recruiting tool for white supremacist groups? Last night CNN had a program about the recent barrage of “hate” crimes (the death of Dr. Tiller, the murder at the Holocaust museum, and the killing of the military recruiter by an American Muslim). A CNN expert pointed out that Barack Obama’s presidency, since he is an African-American, is being used as a recruiting tool for white supremacist groups and that there will likely be a significant increase in such attacks. Given that your primary justification for shutting down Guantanamo is that it is being used as a recruiting tool for terrorists, will you step down as president for the sake of consistency? You seem like a team player, so why not take one for the team? I actually don’t think you should step down. You won fairly and deserve the right to serve your term(s). But is consistency too much to ask?

President Obama: Are you against nations working unilaterally or not? In a recent speech to international leaders you said that no individual nation should work alone—it must work in partnership with other nations. However, you also recently told Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu that Israel needs to stop building settlements in the West Bank, as the U.S. would not tolerate such actions. Your Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, chimed in, calling for a “stop to settlements—not some settlements, not outposts, not natural growth exceptions” from Israel in the West Bank (The Week, June 12, 2009, p. 21). In other words, Clinton is making unique demands that apply solely to Israel. Please clarify, for there seems to be a contradiction. If you are against nations making individual demands, then how can you level unilateral criticism at Israel? Are you reserving special condemnation for Israel that you won’t extend to Muslim nations? Sure, many Islamic nations would support your criticism of Israel, but that was not your justification.

It’s amazing to me that the mainstream media doesn’t pick up on these contradictions (except Sean Hannity picked up on the first one). Why not? The only explanation I can think of is its liberal bias. Check out this link for some recent stats that clearly show the media’s bias towards Obama. If anyone has another explanation, I would love to hear it.

David Letterman recently said that he doesn’t make jokes of Obama because he doesn’t provide any good material. Is he serious? This is hard to believe, especially since Obama claimed there are 57 states and also made derogatory comments about the Special Olympics. The media love for Obama is absolutely astonishing. It was best summed up by Newsweek editor Evan Thomas in an interview on MSNBC: "I mean in a way Obama’s standing above the country, above – above the world, he’s sort of God."

25 Films to Represent America

Brett McCracken — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 08:34:21 -0700

When U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown recently visited with President Barack Obama at the White House, the two dignitaries customarily exchanged gifts. Brown gave Obama a pen holder made from wood from the anti-slave ship HMS Gannet. Neat. Obama gave Brown a custom box set of 25 DVDs that best represent American cinema. Nice idea. But lest you think Obama picked the films out himself, you should know that he had the American Film Institute pick the films for him. And unsurprisingly, the 25 they came up with conspicuously mirrored the AFI’s top 25 films from their 2007 “best American films” list. Borrrring.

If I were to compile a box set of 25 films that say the most about America, my list would be very different (though not totally different). Actually, I think it’s an interesting project: to think of what 25 films are the most interesting and profound “American” films. That is: films made by American directors, about American things, ideas, mythologies, dreams, paradoxes, etc. Thus, I present my list. A great gift idea for anyone…

The Crowd (King Vidor, 1928)
The Grapes of Wrath (John Ford, 1940)
Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)
Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944)
Shane (George Stevens, 1953)
The Searchers (John Ford, 1956)
Shadows (John Cassavetes, 1959)
Easy Rider (Dennis Hopper, 1969)
The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1971)
Badlands (Terrence Malick, 1972)
Days of Heaven (Terrence Malick, 1978)
Down By Law (Jim Jarmusch, 1986)
Slacker (Richard Linklater, 1991)
A River Runs Through It (Robert Redford, 1992)
Unforgiven (Clint Eastwood, 1992)
Bottle Rocket (Wes Anderson, 1996)
The Big Lebowski (Joel and Ethan Coen, 1998)
Saving Private Ryan (Steven Spielberg, 1998)
The Thin Red Line (Terrence Malick, 1998)
American Beauty (Sam Mendes, 1999)
George Washington (David Gordon Green, 2000)
Gangs of New York (Martin Scorsese, 2002)
The New World (Terrence Malick, 2006)
I’m Not There (Todd Haynes, 2007)
There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)

Obama Amazing: Discovers Morally Neutral Science!

John Mark Reynolds — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:31:29 -0700

I have underestimated President Obama.

Today he announced that we can experiment on human beings and even create new humans for our experimentation.

The good news is that he made this decision based only on science. Politics, vile nasty politics, had nothing to do with his decision.

Evidently President Obama has discovered a way to derive ethics from science! This is amazing and only confirms the main stream media sense that President Obama is a Special Person.

Most thinkers have believed that from “is” or “can” (”It is the case that people want to do x” or “It is the case that we can do x”) it was hard or impossible to get “ought,” but Obama has done it!

We can experiment on humans so we should! We want to experiment on humans so we should!

How simple! How convenient! How non-political! There are NO philosophical assumptions at play here what so ever. Praise be we have entered a non-ideological age.

Praise Moloch we have entered a new age where scientists will no longer have to think about ethics before they do experiments. They will get to do whatever science tells them to do and science (without any politics or ethics!) will magically speak to them about what should be done.

Over the petri dish the experiment will say, “We are good and noble, please continue this experiment!” and the scientist will know vox science, vox dei.

I see no possible problems with this! Do you?

If so then you are divisive, political, and a wing-nut.

On Pitying the Fool: Holocaust Deniers

John Mark Reynolds — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 11:16:14 -0800

President Obama and Pope Benedict XVI’s respective jobs require them to deal with fools on a regular basis. There is no safe way to handle fools, as their folly tends to redound on the person who tries to help them.

Who is a fool? The fool is not simply wrong, but believes a falsehood with obstinate fury that is destructive to himself and to his neighbor. It is not that he thinks he is right, but that he never considers that he might be wrong and has no hesitations in imposing his folly on others. The fool is wrong, arrogant, and malevolent.

Jesus is right that we should not label any man a fool quickly or in anger. It is a serious charge that does verbal violence to another human being and so puts us in danger. It is easy to dismiss alternative points of view by hastily labeling it as foolishness. Calling unpleasant ideas foolish hastily is itself the act of a fool!

No wise man wishes to call another man a fool, just as no wise man wishes to judge another, but eventually it becomes necessary. Some people glory in their wickedness and are intent on announcing their folly and must be confronted.

Those men that deny the Holocaust proclaim themselves wicked fools and we have no choice but to accept their self-assessment. They make themselves not merely loathsome, but dangerous.

The difficulty in deciding whether to even talk with such a fool is that the fool is so unpredictable. The Bible illustrates this beautifully in Proverbs 26 when it says:

Answer not a fool according to his folly, / lest you be like him yourself. / Answer a fool according to his folly, / lest he be wise in his own eyes.

There is no “right” way to decide whether or not to talk to a fool. If you talk to him, you run the risk of becoming like him. If you do not talk to him, he will assume it is because you are afraid of his intellectual power. Some things are always right or wrong, but this is not one of them. Talking to a fool must be a matter of prudent judgment.

Before talking to a fool one must ask (at least!) three questions: Is it necessary? Will it do more harm than good? Will it ennoble their folly or expose it?

Is it necessary?

The safest course in dealing with fools is avoiding them, but if you are the President or Pope that is impossible. The Pope in charity and the President in prudence will have to confront fools on a daily basis. The Pope by the very nature of his job must deal with any fool who appears to repent of his folly, but the President has more latitude. He should avoid dealing with fools whenever he can.

The wisdom of a modest foreign policy for the United States is apparent. We should avoid dealing with the leadership of Iran if we can. Sadly, we have friends in the area who cannot even dream of that option. The leaders of our ally Israel are in a neighborhood where a man who persists in proclaiming himself a malevolent fool has the power to do them grave harm.

President Obama cannot let one of our best friends be annihilated and so he will be forced to deal with the leadership of Iran.

Will it do more harm than good?

An aging bishop with foolish ideas is one thing, but the leader of a powerful nation seeking nuclear weapons is another. If President Obama talks too much to the leadership of Iran, he risks giving them time to produce nuclear weapons. A fool with a podium is annoying, but a fool
with the Bomb is deadly.

You cannot talk about the weather to a person who longs to see your best friend dead. President Obama cannot negotiate with the leader of Iran until he concedes that Israel has a right to exist.

Will it ennoble their folly or expose it?

Pope Benedict is trying to restore Christian fellowship with certain bishops, an effort commendable to all believers. Sadly, it was discovered that one of the bishops also held wicked and foolish views about the Holocaust. The Pope was badly served by the vetting process and did not realize that he was talking to a fool. Even though the proposed reconciliation was on another topic, the stench of the folly tainted the entire discussion.

By talking to the fool and offering to restore communion to him, the Pope appeared to make light of the wickedness and folly. The Vatican had to quickly acknowledge this danger and clarify that no bishop could be in full communion who wickedly denied the reality and horror of the Holocaust.

President Obama should learn from this incident. Talking to the present leadership of Iran, widely known to be foolish, without preconditions will not expose the folly to the people of Iran or the world. President Obama has enormous public goodwill and must use it to expose the folly and not dignify the fools.

Eventually, the Bible points out, the persistent fool will need the rod applied to his back in order to protect the rest of us. Unless the leadership of Iran wishes to discuss an abandonment of their folly, President Obama would do well to find a rod that can be used prudently, whether that is economic sanctions or military action. Only a strong man can safely “pity the fool.” The rest of should pity presidents and popes who face the burden of dealing with fools. We pray daily that God would give all leaders the wisdom to do so prudently.

The First Great Song of the Obama Era

Brett McCracken — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 20:50:18 -0800

Warning: Hyperbole and annoyingly effusive praise ahead.

It’s not everyday that you hear a song that just blows your mind. It’s not everyday that an album lives up to the hype. But that is the case with Animal Collective and their new album Merriweather Post Pavilion (released today), specifically the song “My Girls.”

The New York band, building on last year’s wonderful Panda Bear side project, increasingly seems to know how to gracefully weave a tapestry of postmodern musical mish-mash sounds—everything from screams to techno beeps to industrial crashes and subtle piano. Merriweather refines their sound and focuses their experimental tendencies like never before, resulting in an album that is an instant 21st century classic.

But what I really want to talk about is track #2, “My Girls” (which you can listen to here). It’s everything a song should be and more. It’s a song that builds: starts out quiet, starry, a wisp of electronic stardust in an ethereal blur. Then the harmonious, tag-team voice echoes come in:

“Is it much to admit I need
A solid soul and the blood I bleed
With a little girl, and by my spouse
I only want a proper house.”

Then, around the 2:12 mark, the beat starts in earnest, and all sorts of sounds and layers begin to express themselves, flowing together in mesmerizing concert until the 3:00 mark when the chorus comes in:

“I don’t mean to seem like I care about material things like a social status
I just want four walls and adobe slabs for my girls…”

At this point the song really takes off, and it’s hard to contain yourself. It’s a foot-stamping, head banging, body moving romp for the remaining 3 minutes, with whoops and hollers and bangs and beeps and an overwhelming sense of energy, joy and love.

It’s a song that captures the zeitgeist. It embodies the optimism and earnestness of this Obama moment – of an America in shambles and economic depression that nevertheless still strives for happiness and peace, with renewed vision and enlivened creativity. At a time when we’re paying the price for extravagance and careless home-buying, loan-lending and credit craziness, “My Girls” pares everything down and looks forward to a nostalgic but wholly modern vision of domestic life: “I just want four walls and adobe slabs for my girls”…

Buy this song. Buy the whole album. Hear the future of music, and be encouraged.

1.20.09

Daniel Hodge — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 10:49:13 -0800

This day is a big day. It means more than just a president being sworn into office. Today marks a grand step in the right direction. It marks the day that people who look like me, take a closer step towards being accepted as citizens who are no different from other citizens. It marks the day that the nation said, loudly, that we want and embrace a new “change.” Today means that people of darker skin descent, can take a step closer in being seen as humans rather than the list of stereotypes that has held many of us back. This day is special to me, because I, as a Black man, can be taken just a little more serious among many of my White counterparts.

Now, for many who have never been called a derogatory racial slur, been denied seating because of the color of your skin, been presumed guilty simple because you are “dark,” been seen as “less than” because some scientist has labeled your ethnic group that way, been told you “cannot” because your ancestors never have, or have been degraded through subtle racism’s which deteriorates the very fabric in which your ethnicity sits on, this day might not mean as much. However, for “us”— meaning African American people, Puerto Rican people, Mexican people, Korean people, Euro-American people, African people, and any one else who identifies with their ethnic background and culture—this day means that we take a closer step towards “all men created equal…” and realize that people of darker persuasion can be “all they can be.”

Obama represents that not only African American’s can now take a positive step forward, but all people of color and minorities can take that step too.

This day, for me, means that I take a step towards being called just an “American.” For me, this day means that the nation begins to heal and my vision of building bridges between the ethnicities/ races is better realized. Today, this means that I, a Black man racially, an African American and Mexican American ethnically, can be seen as a little more than just my skin color, bald head, walking swagger, and slang in my speech. This day means that we as a nation further embrace the power of The Emancipation Proclamation, The Civil Rights Movement, and all the achievements, sacrifices, dedication, blood, sweat, and tears that people who have fought for justice and peace have made. This day is a BIG day!

I have a mixed set of emotions today. Yes, it is true. On one hand, I am filled with joy, hope, happiness, and vigor for what is to come in our nation as a whole. I am filled with a sense of potential unity that can take place, which has never really materialized. I feel that I can finally say “My president.” In addition, I am filled with multiple visions of what our nation could be; possibly the idealistic country we all talk about and hope it could be.

On the other hand, I am conscious that we, as a country, have serious issues to deal with regarding race, class, and ethnicity. We have much work to be done on the destructive nature of stereotypes and ethnocentrisms. As a country, we have not had a very good record of accomplishment when it comes to race, class, and ethnicity. And I am never forgetful of changing events like Emmitt Till, the Watts Riots, the L.A. Riots, Katrina, and more recently the Jena 6. The list could keep going unfortunately. I am mindful of the fact that racism goes further than a David Duke, the KKK, Neo- Nazis, & Hitler wannabe’s. It is engrained into the historical fabric of our nation and Obama is not going to just “end” that by being sworn in. Moreover, I am fearful when I hear conversations that begin with, “See, now everyone can make it…all you have to do is work hard…” because that is simply not the truth for many U.S. citizens—especially those of color. I realize that Obama has his work cut out for him and I in no way envy him. Moreover, I do not feel that Obama is going to be the “savior” of race, class, and ethnicity issues—it is just too big for one person to deal with.

Yet, even with all the problems we face, I feel a sense of hope that I have only seen or read about in books or seen through others who do not represent me nor “look” like me. I am excited and optimistic for the first time in over a decade. I feel as though I can begin to “trust” our government and believe in the power of change. It really is a trip!

I feel as though America has resoundingly said, “We’re tired of the same old crap!” It is good to see the amount of urban young people out and potentially believing in the power of democracy. I have seen urban youth, who would have never even thought about voting much less participating in a political event, get out and “rock the vote.” It has been amazing to see the solidarity expand to people who would rather stay at home than vote. It is amazing to see this new generation of African American youth come together, move beyond the “victim” worldview, and realize that this nation is moving forward — slowly, but nonetheless forward. I am taken by that.

Therefore, it is with great happiness, joy, angst, fear, and hope that I embrace the day and realize Dr. Martin Luther King’s words in the now infamous “I have a dream” speech more as a reality rather than just “a dream.”