Vessel

It seems like such dumb thing to do. To blatantly be anti-constitutional, to blame billions of innocent Muslims for a radical sect’s act, to be against a mosque near ground zero when there are several even closer to it.

However, politically, it is a smart thing to do. The rise of the republicans after their loss in 2008 has been rather ugly. With no clear leader, weirdos like Sarah Palin who hold no political office can make ridiculous claims that need no evidence to support.

To her tea-party base, they already suspect or outright think that President Obama is Muslim and not a citizen of this country. These dumb claims made the president speak for religious freedom. But to them, he spoke out for Islam, and for a mosque. Those comments come in handy for out of context ‘evidence’. It is easier to get people to vote out of fear and hate than love and acceptance, and these pundits are adept at fear-mongering.

Then there are people on the left, myself included, who wonder why he doesn’t risk the same fire from the religious right for people who are GLBT. Why doesn’t he defend us?

This is the mentality that will make him lose the majority in the 2010 elections. Same scenario for Clinton - first 18 months major healthcare reform, and then a loss against the president’s party at the congressional elections.

I really hope it doesn’t turn out this way for Obama. I know his policies aren’t perfect, but we still have to unite, or it certainly won’t get any better.

This isn’t a red vs blue thing. I come from a red state, and the red politicians aren’t doing the right thing anymore. My representatives here embarrass me daily. Lee Terry (R) voted against 9/11 benefits for service personnel who responded. Ben Nelson (D) introduced the senate version of the Stupak amendment in the healthcare bill, much to my ire.

I wish there were conservatives like Nixon, who almost passed a national daycare support for women and Goldwater who advocated for human rights. When conservative was a political label, not a social label. I like John McCain’s daughter, who rightfully said that the conservative party ought to be for less government especially when it comes to people’s private lives - who they marry.

These people are lunatics, who target immigrant families and pious Muslims and call it anything but racism and elitism. I’ll never forgive Bush for spending more money on Cheney’s Blackwater companies than taking care of his own deployed soldiers. They are so unethical that I must work for Obama.

I know it’s taboo for ministers to express political preferences, but religious intolerance is the last straw. Enough is enough. We have to mobilize as a people of faith against this injustice. Do not let side inflammatory issues sway you. I know it sucks that he didn’t stand up for GLBT issues. But if he doesn’t win, if the democrats do not get a majority because we are too busy infighting, if we allow slurs and the right to make heinous claims instead of holding them accountable because we’re too disgusted, then we have already lost. I refuse to let my country become a fantasy land for the religious right, where only one religion is allowed.

The only way for that to happen is to connect the profound with the profane of politics, and implore everyone for the deepest ethical and religious reasons to unite and vote. To be involved, to counter the rhetoric that all religious people are in bed with the right wing. If you are involved politically, thank you, and if you’re not, no matter what your political stripe, please get out there. It is the best path for true and just systemic change.