The REAL Issue Facing Those Of Faith In This Election
You are going to read, and if you are reading hard have already read, lots of stuff about religion in the general election now upon us. Most of it does not matter.
For example, the religious label you choose to apply to each candidate will not matter in the end. How you report about it will. For example, the same man, in two separate interviews about faith seems to say Romney has a faith problem and he does not. Of course, we do not know what questions were asked and what part of the interviews was not discussed in the two pieces. What we do know if we read carefully is that whatever faith problem exists, it is more about the press than the electorate. Don’t just read the headlines and the ledes, read what Richard Land is actually saying.
It’s not about those few remaining people that claim they still have a problem with Romney. Sore losers are sore losers. It’s not about “Mormon moments” and JFK. In the end, Catholic life was unchanged after JFK was elected, sure there was a psychological uplift, but what it meant to be a Catholic and Catholic life in general was far more changed by Vatican II at roughly the same time than it was by an election for POTUS.
It may have far more to do with race than anyone in the country is willing to admit, but not is the way most people would have us think. The problem is not what the LDS church believed or said 30-40 years ago, the problem is race will be used as a club, if not heavy artillery. Things that happened before a good deal of the electorate was born will be used to raise guilt, if not wielded as direct reverse-racism. And that brings me to the real issue.
Karl Rove in this mornings WSJ:
Rick Santorum’s decision Tuesday to suspend his campaign effectively ends the GOP nomination fight. But it doesn’t mark the start of the general election between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. That contest has long been under way. Mr. Obama’s speech to the Associated Press last week and two appearances in Florida on Tuesday provide a glimpse of the low road the president and his campaign likely will take.
He will distort beyond recognition his opponent’s arguments. For example, he explained to news executives at the AP that Republicans want to “convert more of our investments in education and research and health care into tax cuts—especially for the wealthy.” Actually, no one has suggested that.
No honest differences are possible with Mr. Obama. He will impugn the motives of any who disagree with him. As he told the AP, his opponents want to “let businesses pollute more and treat workers and consumers with impunity.” His agenda “isn’t a partisan feeling . . . [it]isn’t a Democratic or Republican idea. It’s patriotism.” To disagree with him is unpatriotic. That’s to be expected from Republicans, whom Mr. Obama says stand for “thinly veiled social Darwinism . . . [that is] antithetical to our entire history.”
Mr. Obama will build entire edifices on top of one fake premise, all dressed up in one big phony assumption.
Distortions…falsehoods…outright lies, this is the stuff of the Obama campaign. Yesterday already saw an attempt not merely to argue, but to impugn the lifestyle of millions of American women. This stuff will be personal, nasty, ugly, and angering. It’s all part of “the Chicago way:”
The question facing those of us of faith is how do we respond? If we take our faith seriously, whatever particularly brand it may be, we simply cannot crawl in the gutter with Obama. That does not mean we are not strong, we are in fact stronger. When he pulls a knife, we do pull a gun but we do so not in anger or revenge instead with purpose and intent.
We do not lie, we stick to the facts. There is no need to engage in personal vindictive nor impugn the character of our opponent. The facts speak for themselves. We may have to shout to gain attention, but once we have that attention we return to a reasonable tone of voice.
We occupy the moral high ground and we cannot be driven from it by lies, innuendo and gutter tactics – we can only concede it by resorting to same. We face a terrible battle, and we will have to fight very, very hard. In this battle we will wound many of our opposition; such is not a sin. But if we do so to be vindictive, if we resort to lies, then our opponent, though wounded will have won the exchange.
The campaign ahead will be a test of our faith. To some extent it will be a test of our faith in the public square. But more importantly it will be a test of our personal faith. It will be the kind of test that will build our character to new heights if we submit to it. It is going to be an interesting seven or eight months.
They can also be a fruitful months on many levels.
Posted in Candidate Qualifications, Doctrinal Obedience, News Media Bias, Political Strategy, Religious Bigotry, Understanding Religion | 1 Comment » | 
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Rockgod28 on 12 Apr 2012 at 10:36 am #
Indeed.
I agree 100% this election will be about lies vs. Facts, the truth vs. Error and government mandates vs. Individual responsibility.
Barak Obama has already staked out his tactics of class warfare by attempting to label his opponents, Republicans in general, as dirty, cruel, failures and unamerican.
That Republicans only care about profits of wealthy people and that the average American is below their concern. As President Bush Sr. Infamously flubbed, ‘Message: I care’.
That is what Barak Obama is trying to do in his class warfare tactics. That it is the Democrats and him personally that truely cares for the American people. However the evidence is clear that Barak Obama does not care for the American people and only wants the ‘flexability’ the office of the President of the United States can afford to transform American into a country he envisions as Positive.
Positive rights that do not limit what the government can do to collectively save us all whether we agree with the President or not.
It will be a nasty, dirty, low down campaign as November gets closer. Even though Democrats have said religion is off the table we know one thing for sure, Democrats lie and especially President Obama. Just ask John McCain how that campaign financing agreement went.
Not Obama will drop the knife of class warfare and pick up the gun of religious bigotry the moment he feels the race is getting close.
The appointment and continued efforts of Eric Holder prove Obama cares about racial issues. There is no doubt Barak Obama will use this political gun the moment the Main Stream Media fails to get Romney any way they can. ‘Think Rathergate’
It will be the only weapon he will have left in the end.