“CHANGE! NOW! PLEASE?!?!?!?”

Sound familiar? Before you jump to conclusion about the quotation … this is what a gnat might say, finding itself nearing windshield impact. Yes, the brainpower of a gnat is sufficient to know, when things aren’t going well, “Change” is a good idea.

Why, then, has the “Change” mantra generated so much excitement over Obama? If good “Judgment” accompanied “Change” … with the aim being better, not just different … “Judgment” that, metaphorically, can keep us from going splat … I could understand.

Sadly, many who are excited about Obama and “Change” remain so in the face of indications of his lack of good “Judgment”. This list grows daily … far too long to address here. Choosing to sit under the teaching of Jeremiah Wright for nearly 20 years is very troubling. Ironically, the one that’s most telling about lack of fitness for the Presidency is the cornerstone of Obama’s candidacy … he wouldn’t have gone to war in Iraq … again, metaphorically, he wouldn’t have allowed us in front of that windshield in the first place.

Based on intelligence at the time, every other subsequent Presidential Candidate supported our President’s decision but, somehow, as an Illinois State Senator, Obama knew that going to war in Iraq was a mistake. It turns out, the intelligence was wrong and mistakes resulted. How did Obama know better? Was it ESP? He hasn’t said. He just says we need “Change”. Frighteningly, his “Judgment” hasn’t led him to the “Change” that’s most needed here … better intelligence. That means, if Obama becomes President, if he gets the same sort of menacing intelligence we had about Saddam Hussein’s Iraq (or Hitler’s Germany or Tojo’s Japan), proactive military action would not be an option. If that happens, wave your little gnat wings goodbye … we’ll be going splat on the windshield of the world.

McCain’s Defense of Hagee

OK, there wasn’t one. As a result of controversy that was raised up about Pastor John Hagee within the past few days, Senator John McCain rejected the endorsement Hagee had given his presidential candidacy, without any apparent attempt to come to Hagee’s defense.

At the center of the mentioned controversy is an argument Pastor Hagee included in a late 1990s sermon. Those who unearthed this sermon, sum up Hagee’s argument as saying, “… the rise of Adolf Hitler was part of God's plan to help the Jews reach the Promised Land.” If that’s an accurate summary, I think Pastor Hagee is wrong. I’m a man of faith and I believe that God does know the end from the beginning so I would agree that God knew what Hitler would do. I, also, believe the Bible and what it tells us about the nature of God. As an example, in Romans 8:28, we’re told, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.” In other words, though God knows of the evil that men will do, He sees to it that it leads to good anyway, for His people. So, while I can see that applying to the mind-boggling evil that Hitler did, it isn’t in God’s nature to raise up that evil Himself. With that said, I guess I can see how Hagee could get carried away and come to the conclusion he did but I don’t agree with that conclusion and I would agree with McCain in rejecting that conclusion.

However, it wasn’t just that conclusion that McCain rejected. He rejected Hagee’s endorsement and in doing that, he rejected Hagee himself. In order to understand McCain’s character and his fitness to be our next President, I think it’s appropriate to ask … Why was there no apparent attempt to come to Hagee’s defense?

Of course, I can understand why it was politically expedient for McCain to reject Hagee’s endorsement. Especially, in light of how McCain’s detractors have relentlessly dug for anything they can find to counter the Rev. Jeremiah Wright stigma that McCain’s opponent, Senator Barack Obama, carries. But doesn’t Hagee deserve better? McCain actually sought out Hagee’s endorsement. And this past February, Hagee stood up for McCain, in the way McCain wanted. I trust that Hagee did this, fully aware that McCain has his flaws. McCain admits to this, himself. A good example came this past MLK Day; when McCain appeared at the site of MLK’s assassination and stated, “I was wrong. I was wrong.” And “We all make mistakes. We all make mistakes”, regarding his original opposition to establishing MLK Day, as a National Holiday. Perhaps McCain’s original opposition to MLK Day was out of some well-intended but misdirected over-exuberance. Whatever the reason, McCain, himself, now rejects that position and yet, he asks that we not allow this admitted error to cause us to reject him or his presidential candidacy.

Why, then, isn’t Senator McCain extending the same consideration to Pastor Hagee that he asks for himself? Perhaps Pastor Hagee wouldn’t admit to being in error. I don’t know. What I do know is that it troubles me that McCain rejected Hagee without any apparent attempt to give him that opportunity, so he might continue to stand up for him. It makes me wonder how the “Captain of the Straight-Talk Express” will stand up for me, in spite of my flaws. Although I’m, presently, a McCain supporter, I have to wonder if I can count on him once he finds out that I voted for Ambassador Alan Keyes for President, in California’s 2000 Primaries. I heard Keyes speak at my church and every time he spoke, he uttered my views. Since then, Barack Obama beat him like a drum, in the Illinois race for U.S. Senate and with his few appearances in the current presidential campaign; I’ve been embarrassed for Keyes. Maybe I was just overly enthusiastic about Keyes’ speech at my church but, considering what I’ve witnessed since then, I have to conclude that my judgment was flawed, in casting my Year-2000 Presidential Primary vote for him. Does that mistake, with or without admitting to it, mean that Senator McCain would reject my support and thus, reject me? Maybe so and maybe I’d understand it, in a way. Maybe that would be the politically expedient thing to do. But is that what we want our nation’s character to be founded on? Political expedience?! Shouldn’t we be willing to stand up for those who stand up for us … At least to the extent that, before rejecting them, we give them the opportunity to acknowledge their mistakes so that we can continue to stand up for them? I’ve done that for Senator McCain and so did John Hagee. But, that’s not what Hagee got from McCain, in return. John McCain is an unquestionably-genuine national hero. My gratitude for all he’s done for us and our nation is undying. Regardless, I’m disappointed that I didn’t see the courage of an unquestionably-genuine national hero in the way he dealt with this recent controversy, that was raised up around John Hagee. My hope is that he will revisit this in a way that assures me that we can continue to count on John McCain to courageously stand up for us all, imperfect though we are.

"... the content of their character."

Maybe Barack Obama just wanted to change the subject or maybe he genuinely missed the point. I don’t know. Only he and God know what’s in his heart. I do know that, in his speech today, he didn’t address the main point concerning me in the firestorm of controversy that has arisen in recent days over comments made by the Pastor of the “black church” where Obama has placed his membership for nearly the past 20 years.

As this matter has intensified, it struck me that the definition of my related concern was embodied in the famous words of a former Pastor of what is, arguably, the most prominent “black church” in America. I’m talking about Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church and its former Pastor Martin Luther King Junior when he said, “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” These words planted much needed seeds of change in me, when I was growing up in what was, practically, still a “separate but equal” part of the Midwest. So, what I was looking for from Obama’s speech today had nothing to do with “… color … of skin …” My interest was “… content of … character” … Obama’s character and why his judgment would lead him to associate himself so long-term and so intimately with a church that has advocated and even championed many comments that Obama now condemns. Obama’s speech today addressed none of this.

No doubt, Obama is an excellent speaker and today’s speech was a good speech … about race. In fact, I agree with many of the points he made on this topic. His comment that, “The most segregated hour in American life comes on Sunday morning”, is sadly true. As a man of faith, this has troubled me for quite a long time. But, in context with the matter inciting today’s speech, I’ve wondered if what we’ve seen about Obama’s church over the past few days is typical of a “black church” in America. Again, I don’t know the answer to this question. My experience in this regard is limited. Ironically, I do have experience with a “black church” Obama mentioned in his speech. It’s the one I mentioned earlier … Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church. We attended there while visiting Atlanta about four years ago. At the time, we were long-term members of a conservative church in Orange County, California. The congregation there reflected the ethnicity of Orange County i.e. - As of 2005, the African American population was 1.9%. As you might expect, the ethnicity of the congregation at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, on the Sunday we attended, was pretty much opposite of what we were accustomed to. And, I did notice some political comments coming from the pulpit early in the service. I was quietly indignant about this until I thought about the fact that I’d heard political comments come from the pulpit in our Orange County church too. I was only "letting my nose get out of joint” because my political views are more in line with what I was used to hearing “back home.” Beyond that, though, I only knew that I was worshipping with Brothers and Sister, in Christ. The Pastor taught a wonderful lesson from Romans, Chapter 8. And the congregants couldn’t have set a better example of keeping what the Lord said were the most important commandments … Love God with everything you’ve got and show that by loving your fellow man as you love yourself (my paraphrase). I don’t know how the congregation at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church could have done more to make us feel welcome and loved.

So, which is the typical “black church” in America … Obama’s or Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church? I don’t know. Probably, neither. But, its clear that there are alternatives to the “black church” Obama chose, as his, for nearly 20 years. There are many indicators of a person’s character. I think one of the most telling indicators is the others that a person chooses to associate themselves with long-term. Obama did not address this and I see this as showing his character to be very suspect.