The Curious Case of Racial Discourse

President Obama has his hands full. On one end, if he presses too hard for equality and justice, he will be crucified for “playing the race card.” On the other side of it, if he sits still and says very little, at the end of his presidency not only will Blacks remonstrate but many other ethnic minorities will bawl for justice and equality against the beast of racism. In the recent weeks, we have seen the struggle President Obama has had; Shirley Sherrod is case in point. Moreover, now you have Charlie Rangel and Maxine Waters being probed by the ethics committee; both are African American. Does race play a role in all this? Of course.

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Interview with Jonathan Merritt

Jonathan is a faith and culture writer who has published over 100 articles in respected outlets such as USA Today, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Washington Post's “On Faith," BeliefNet, The Huffington Post, and Relevant magazine. He is author of Green Like God: Unlocking the Divine Plan for Our Planet (2010). As a respected Christian voice, Jonathan has been interviewed by ABC World News, NPR, PBS' Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, Fox News, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.

Jonathan, you are very gifted writer. Briefly tell ConversantLife, why you wrote this book?

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Trending Topic: Health Care Reform

The debate has been raging for more than a year now, but until Sunday night when the Senate’s health care bill finally passed, the discourse had largely been the domain of political junkies, Fox News Tea Partiers, and otherwise outspoken partisans. The rest of us were minding our own business, unsure exactly what was in the legislation and certainly ill-suited to comment on the whole enterprise in any sort of intelligent way.

But not anymore! The minute–literally, the minute–the House of Representatives passed the bill–which will cost an estimated $940 billion over 10 years and expand health care to 32 million more Americans–people who had been largely silent on the matter began to get very loud about it on Facebook, Twitter, and whatever other social media (Google Buzz?) they might have had at their disposal.

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Obama and Peace Prize: Meet Isaiah and Jesus

"God has placed eternity in the hearts of men..." is one of those mysterious verses in the Bible that is best explained through illustration, by pointing at something and saying, "that's what it means". Now that Obama's been awarded a the Nobel Peace Prize before actually doing much of anything substantive to contribute to world peace, I think we have an example of Ecclesiastes 3:11.

Don't get all "Rush" on me, and scream about liberal conspiracies. Your tirade will cause you to miss something valuable.

Don't preach, either, about how Obama deserves this award, and how his presence at the table as someone who tries negotiating before bombs is enough of a cause for him to triumph over these candidates. He doesn't (deserve this award, not even by his own admission), and it isn't.

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West and Wilson Deserve Each Other

I’m pretty sure that Kanye West and Joe Wilson have nothing in common. Kanye is a swaggerific hip-hop fashionista who wears Alexander McQueen suits and Yohji Yamamoto gloves, and whose vanity is only eclipsed by his ego. Joe Wilson is an extremely white, Southern Republican congressman who has never heard a Wu-Tang Clan song and who once voted against the removal of the confederate flag at South Carolina’s capital.

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Obama's Conservative Speech

On Tuesday, President Obama—following the precedent of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush—delivered a “Back to School” speech to American students, beamed live via the Internet and C-SPAN into thousands of classrooms across the country.

It was a fantastic speech. Read it here.

I always love a good Obama speech. He’s a great, inspiring orator, and in recent years he’s delivered some of the best American speeches of the 21st century (such as this race speech from the campaign trail).

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Will the real healthcare please stand up

There’s no perfect plan – there I said it. At least some people though are trying to find a plan. I’m sick to death of politics and even more tired of one sentence Facebook comments that start debates where people say things they would never say face to face or don’t understand.

Congress and Facebook have a lot in common.  There is a lot of time spent on things that should not occupy that much of our attention and not enough time spent on issues that need our utmost commitment, awareness, and dedication. We have all but forgotten to work together.

One politician took to his blog this week rallying the Republicans to bring Obama down with his healthcare plan: “Go for the kill,” he said.  Enough already. Why not invest your energy into a bipartisan plan instead of spewing venomous words that further cut into an already deeply divided nation? Why don’t we write letters to our representatives asking them to put down their paper and electronic swords and start working together – aren’t we on the same team? Maybe then our nation could stand firm on something again that is meaningful because right now all of the pundit and bobblehead chatter are cracking the foundation.   

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too late to apologize?

I woke up this morning craving toast.  I’m not sure what it was about, but I started ransacking my kitchen looking for the loaf of sourdough I just purchased from the bakery.  The bread is usually right next to the toaster, but it had taken a walk today.  I have been known to misplace various items, so I went about tearing into cupboards and looking on every countertop in our house.  Finally, as I stared at the lonely apricot jam sitting on the counter, I picked up the phone and called my husband.  “Do you know where the bread went? I swear we had a ½ of a loaf left.”  He started laughing and explained that he was feeling lazy so he stuffed the rest of the bread into his work bag and the huge tub of chicken salad and thought that he would just make sandwiches at work.  I cracked up, “Are you making 12 sandwiches?”

Maybe it was one of those you-had-to-be there moments, but I was reminded that sometimes in our laziness and insecurity we take a lot for granted.  (Thanks honey).  It’s our assumption that we are doing the right thing and our unintentional actions become just that – lacking intentionality.  I recently returned from a trip where we visited one of the Japanese Internment Camps in California from WWII.  In stark contrast to the concentration camps I saw in Germany, the US has dismantled the entire thing, only leaving a couple of buildings.  As President Obama toured the Cape Coast Castle this week in Ghana, I too wondered in California, what the walls and ground would say if they could talk.

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The Contradictions of our President

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?
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Debussy, Debauchery & Dieu (A Weekend in Paris)

The weather was very temperamental in Paris today. It was beautiful, sunny and about 70 one minute, then dark clouds, cold winds and rain the next. I guess that’s June in Paris. It’s a study in contrasts.

My whole weekend in Paris has been that way. It’s been really beautiful and great one minute and really dark and ugly the next. Actually, this is an overstatement. It’s been mostly very good. I’ve seen a lot of beautiful museums, ate tons of good food (Macarons! Chocolates! Crepes!), and happened to be where the Obama family was on three separate occasions (Notre Dame Cathedral, a shop in the Latin Quarter where Michelle and the girls were, and on a bridge over the Seine when the Obama motorcade drove past).

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