I wonder ... am I being politically incorrect by nature -- or because I read what Barack Obama had to say?

As I look at my previous posting, and note that I not only included reference to and a picture of Jesus Christ, but even closed with a Psalm from the Bible, I have to ask myself, "was I subconsciously induced to do so because I had read the great speech given Barack Obama at the Call to Renewal Conference that ended early today?" ... Or was I genuinely calling on my Savior for His intervention in the events in the Middle East, if intervention be in His Holy Will?

Fact is, it was from the heart, but I was also very, very pleased to read Obama's excellent advice to his fellow Democrats -- pay attention to the Evangelicals, but have faith in Jesus from the heart, not just as a political necessity.

He's 100% correct in just about everything he said in that important speech. We all have different views on a number of issues that are considered "religious," but I think we agree that each of us, no matter how fundamental a Christian he or she might be -- or not be, has a right to his or her opinion and a responsibility to let others know how he or she feels about the specific points at issue.

Many Democrats are truly "born again" Christians, in my opinion, but have views that differ with Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson (as examples of Evangelicals who almost see Democrats in the same way Muslims see Americans or Israelis as infidels) on issues about which they don't believe are addressed directly by the Bible. For example, how many of us really know what a stem-cell is, whether embryonic or not?

My own views on abortion, for example, are considerably more (fundamentally) strict than most Democrats in that I believe that an embryo is a human being even if it was created by rape or incest ... or in any other manner. I personally only see abortion as being called for if it's a matter of the life of the mother or the embryo. But at the same time, I view the War/Occupation in Iraq as even more reprehensible than abortion under those circumstances (rape or incest) and have voted Democrat three straight times (sadly, I did vote for Ross Perot back in 1992).

Jerry Falwell made a comment on the radio today that said it all when he cited abortion and gay marriage as the sum total of what is/was wrong with the Democrat's platform in 2000 and 2004. Exit polling suggests that he was right in that those were indeed the wedge issues that gave GWB the key states needed to win the required electoral votes to take and hold the presidency.

For goodness sake! Isn't Global Warming a moral issue? What about medical care for the poor and elderly -- like myself? And if a precipitous invasion of a country that hadn't killed a single American for the previous ten years isn't an immoral action, what the hell (excuse me!) is? What about the torture and abuse of prisoners at places like Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo? And what about the refusal of Congress to (again) not raise the minimum hourly wage for the poorest among us, yet they give themselves yet another pay raise? Aren't all of these genuine moral issues that cry out for meaningful debate.

That was what Barack Obama was trying to say earlier this week -- and what Al Gore was saying vis-a-vis Global Warming in An Inconvenient Truth.

A few quotes from Obama's speech are worth repeating:

* "Not every mention of God in public is a breach to the wall of separation."
* "It is doubtful that children reciting the Pledge of Allegiance feel oppressed or brainwashed as a consequence of muttering the phrase 'under God,'"
* "Nothing is more transparent than inauthentic expressions of faith: the politician who shows up at a black church around election time and claps off rhythm to the gospel choir."
* "Secularists are wrong when they ask believers to leave their religion at the door before entering the public square."
* "I think we make a mistake when we fail to acknowledge the power of faith in the lives of the American people and join a serious debate about how to reconcile faith with our modern, pluralistic democracy."

Applause, applause, applause to you Senator Obama!

But please, read the entire speech!

Hmmm, I wonder how a Gore-Obama ticket or, for that matter, a Clinton-Obama ticket would fare in 2008 ...

Just musing ...