the one about obama’s speech

i missed most of the democratic national convention this week, because i was painting at church. but i made a point to watch obama last night. i was glad i did. i think he made a great speech, laying out some of his plans and giving a vision of a changing america. you can read the speech on his website:

http://www.barackobama.com/2008/08/28/remarks_of_senator_barack_obam_108.php

unfortunately, he had to spend some time defending himself from negative attacks and the smear campaign that is being waged against him. if there is one thing i hate about politics, it is smear campaigns. i was impressed by the way he addressed the attacks on his character and patriotism:

These are the policies I will pursue. And in the weeks ahead, I look forward to debating them with John McCain.

But what I will not do is suggest that the Senator takes his positions for political purposes. Because one of the things that we have to change in our politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each other’s character and patriotism.

The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America – they have served the United States of America.

So I’ve got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country first.

(emphasis added)

i think a similar argument can be made with regards to religious debates. to alter his quote, “one of the things that we have to change in our religion is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each other’s character and faith.”

i also admire obama’s humility in his acceptance of the nomination. he said something i’ve never heard a politician say before…maybe some have said it and i’m not aware…maybe many have said it and i’m not aware…but it struck me last night.

I get it. I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don’t fit the typical pedigree, and I haven’t spent my career in the halls of Washington.

But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the nay-sayers don’t understand is that this election has never been about me. It’s been about you.

(emphasis added)

i’m curious to see how mccain responds to the speech. i guess we’ll have to wait until next week to find out. november 4, here we come. and to quote obama, “eight is enough!”

 

the one about voting

i voted today. i live in north carolina, and the primary is next monday. but, i will be at montreat on monday, and unable to vote in my district. so, i went into downtown mocksville this afternoon to vote early.

i live in davie county, which is immediately to the west of forsyth county, which is where winston-salem and clemmons are located. i work in clemmons. davie is a rural county, but growing in places and is quickly becoming a bedroom community for winston-salem. i never go into mocksville, since i work in the other direction. but, today is a beautiful day and it gave me a chance to drive through the country…and what a pleasant drive it was. along the way to mocksville, i pass a vineyard, farms, nurseries, many old houses, and bunches of huge trees that have been around forever. although i rarely make the drive, i enjoy it when i do.

when the primaries began for this election, i didn’t think that the north carolina primary would play a significant role in the outcome of the party conventions. i figured that, as is often the case, the clear winner rises to the top well before all of the state primaries are conducted. that happened with the republican party, of which i was a registered member. when i first registered to vote at age 18, i registered republican because that was with whom my parents were registered. unfortunately for me, my 18th birthday fell between the deadline for voter registration and the november election in 1990. although it was not a presidential election, it was a gubernatorial election year in tennessee. i did not get to vote. sad. as this primary approached, i began to realize that the primary would have an impact on the election – but only in the democratic party. at the same time, i realized i’d be out of town on election day. so, i switched my party affiliation to the democratic party and looked into early voting.

i am not a very political person. in fact, as knowledgeable and experienced as i am with many things, and although i was a history teacher before becoming a pastor, i know squat about politics. i tend to avoid deep political discussions, because i can’t really participate knowledgeably beyond the surface. i tell myself that i should do research more often on the candidates and pay attention to the current events in the media…but only to the media to a certain extent. one reason i am not too political is because of the media. i hate how the media spins politics, among other things. who cares if obama’s pastor made offensive remarks? obama did not make them. obama did not condone them. so why associate obama’s character with the character of another individual? if i were to disassociate myself with everyone with whom i disagreed politically, theologically, socially, or in any other topic-ally manner, i’d not have any friends. none of us would. if the media can’t drag up stuff about obama to hold against him, don’t hold the actions of other people against him. seems silly and pointless to me.

besides the media, i’ve always disliked mudslinging politics. it’s just like commercials for competing products. i want to see why certain products are good products on their own and maybe how they contrast with others in performance. i want to be influenced by positive reasons. but i do not need to see, nor do i want to see, how the other product is inferior, bad, not up to standard, or lacking. i do not want to be influenced by negative reasons – at least from one’s point of view. if one’s product isn’t good enough to stand on its own, one should work harder at making one’s product better and showing it in a positive light. one shouldn’t make one’s product seem better by discrediting the other, relying on negative information to bolster interest. in the end, one hasn’t really said anything positive about one’s own product…one has only trashed the other. i don’t want to see candidates telling me that they are better for the position, simply because they have bad things to say about the other candidate. tell me that the candidate is better for the position because of their merit, success, ideals, innovation, foresight…whatever…anything but negative advertising for the other side. any guesses on who i voted for?

i hope you voted, or if your state hasn’t yet voted, you will use your right to vote. that is, if you are 18.

the cardinal in the window is still hanging around