O-Force, I think you’re the man, but this simply will not do. It is lyrical statement, pulsating with truth; however, you can’t be talking to the average blue collar person like this and hope to get their bells ringing and lights flashing…sigh

Agreed. Onward to Armageddon? I say NO.

I am tired of watching Democrats hand religious voters to the Republican party without so much as a peep. Many younger Christians are turning away from the “culture war” issues of their parents and are more interested in social justice issues. Obama should go after these votes.

The Democratic Party already has their own religious voters – the Black community, which is a large part of the religious Democrats.

Anon, here’s a good article about Obama, faith and politics.

It’s very good.

What our deliberative, pluralistic democracy demands is that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values. It requires that their proposals must be subject to argument and amenable to reason. If I am opposed to abortion for religious reasons and seek to pass a law banning the practice, I cannot simply point to the teachings of my church or invoke God’s will and expect that argument to carry the day. If I want others to listen to me, then I have to explain why abortion violates some principle that is accessible to people of all faiths, including those with no faith at all.

Faith has no place in politics if you ask me. It can inform your decisions and your perspectives – that is simply unavoidable because we have to get our morals and values from somewhere. I have faith in human beings and existence for example. So I welcome people saying they have so and so position or view because of their faith. That is being transparent and we need more of that BUT it should end there and the core politicking – that is conversation and decision making has to be as close to faith neutral as possible. There has to be open and critical dialog. So people can own their faith and talk openly about what informs their views and positions but I cannot accept making a decision based on “Well, it’s what God wants” or “I feel this way because I follow God’s will”. Appeals to an invisible and therefore unquestionable authority like that is totally undemocratic.

I really hope the Democratic Party remembers you can support human rights and humanity without being Christian.

mikefromtexas

Interesting!

Of course, someone accused Obama of speaking about his faith so openly to appeal to these voters.

Expect McCain to begin speaking about his faith.