If I had tried to look up everything in his article, it would have taken way more time than I have. I did look up several things and I hope you will read this post. If you still do not like Obama when you finish, that's fine. What I hope you will do is take time to research what is being said about him for yourself. There's a lot of hate and lies out there. And a lot of it is coming from Christians. That is just plain wrong. So...happy reading.
THINK
FOR YOURSELF
I
read an article posted on e-mail titled “How Can A Christian Vote
for This Man?” (the man being Obama). It was authored by David
Barton, a self-proclaimed historian.
First,
Barton is a radical right winger who has a reputation for shoddiness
in his research, for lying and manipulating the facts to suit his own
agenda. And he has certainly done that in this article. He is also
under fire for his free air time on Alabama's public radio airwaves
since he asserts that gays should be in prison and he doesn't care
what Congress says. Because some of the NPR employees dared to
disagree with him, they were fired. (Their station is Republican
controlled.)
My
research on Barton's assertions is not complete, because it takes a
long time. But I would encourage all of you as thinking
Christians rather than led-by-the-nose sheep, to do your own research
rather than just taking the word of Barton, me or anyone else. Good
luck wading through all the anti-Christ claims and Muslim claims to
find anything factual rather than hysterical on the Internet.
Here is what I have found so far in response to a small part of Barton's article:
1 Obama
allegedly disparaged Christians by saying they cling to their guns
and religion.
In
reality, he was talking about some small towns in Pennsylvania and
the Midwest that have sunk lower and lower economically over the last
25 years. President after president has said the towns will
rejuvenate. They have not. People are without jobs. They are bitter.
And Obama said that in their bitterness, they understandably have
sometimes clung to their guns, their religion, their anti-those who
are not like them, and their attitudes toward immigration as part of
this bitterness. The claim was not about Christians at all, nor was
it made unkindly.
2 There
are two statements in Barton's diatribe about the portion of the law
that protects health care workers from going against their
consciences in providing abortion or contraception care. He says it
is being revoked by the President. That is patently untrue.
The
law protecting workers has been on the books for 30 years. In August
2007, President Bush added a new rule called The Provider Refusal
Rule that was enacted on January 20 when Obama was inaugurated. It
expanded on the present bill and released health care providers from
even providing counseling or information to patients. That is what
was revoked! As the representative of this revocation said, if health
care providers give advice, counsel or information to people, the end
result may well be to prevent an abortion!
3 The
President supposedly left God out of his Thanksgiving proclamation in
2011. OOPS! Not so. He did mention God and all our blessings (which
are commonly accepted as being good things from God) in his speech.
Guess who forgot to mention God? Yep. Romney and good old Newt.
Oh,
and while we are at it, Obama is criticized for hosting a dinner at
the White House celebrating a Muslim holiday—Ramadan. Seems this
was started by President Bush who hosted 8 of them!
4 The
President is accused of not supporting or hosting an event for the
National Day of Prayer. It seems hosting an event was done by
President Bush. Before him, his dad hosted one, and Reagan one. Not
much of a precedent for hosting an event. The President did, however,
proclaim a National Day of Prayer as did those presidents before him.
And he spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast in which he exhorted
people not only to pray to God, but to listen to God.
And
by the way, President Obama has 5 pastors upon whom he calls for
prayer sessions via telephone and advice on religion in politics
issues. They are: the Rev. Otis Moss Jr. who was once active in civil
rights; T. D. Jakes; the Rev. Kibyjon H. Caldwell who was also
sometimes an adviser to Bush; and last but not least, the Rev. Joel
C. Hunter, pastor of a conservative mega-church in Florida. (Hmm.
Where o' where are the Muslims?)
5 The
President is accused of ordering that the cross in the background at
Georgetown University be covered before his televised address. Yes,
the white house staff wanted to use the same backdrop they always use
for policy speeches. There were visible, however, 26 IHM symbols
throughout and the paintings above Obama's head were religious. No
coverings.
6 The
President appointed 3 pro-choice ambassadors to the Vatican. One of
them was Caroline Kennedy who was informally rejected because she is
pro-choice. The other two, one presumably a Democrat and one a
Republican Catholic—were informally rejected because they had
supported a pro-choice candidate. They now have an ambassador that
the Holy See is happy with. Bad Obama!
7 Some
land in the Mojave dessert with a WWI Memorial which has a cross on
it was recently given by Congress for private use with the condition
the memorial be kept. The allegation is that the president insisted
the cross be removed. Not true.
“The
Obama Administration joining with the VFW upholds the display of the
cross now that it is in private hands.” The Los Angeles Times
8 Obama
took two years to appoint a religious freedom ambassador. Yes he did.
But he appointed a great one; Rev. Suzan Johnson Cook, founder and
president of Wisdom Worldwide Center and senior pastor of the Bronx
Christian Fellowship Baptist Church in New York City. So far, she has
visited 8 countries in her mission and is highly regarded.
9 Supposedly,
the president seeks to eliminate the ability of churches and
religious organizations to discriminate in hiring pastors (or rabbis
in synagogues).
Yet
the “Employment Nondiscriminatory Act (ENDA) proposed bill would
allow no discrimination in hiring and employment on the basis of
sexual orientation or gender identification BY civilian,
non-religious employers with at least 15 employees.” This is
supported by President Obama. Did you see any bias against churches
or synagogues there? Me either.
10 President
Obama supposedly refused to allow Roosevelt's “Day of Infamy”
speech with its wonderful prayer and the words “so help us God”
be included on the WWII Memorial. Guess what? It's there. Guess Mr.
Obama was busy and didn't have time to follow through on forbidding
it.
11 Last,
on the issue of same-sex marriage, at a gathering where he made a
speech on May 15, 2012, the president said he believes this to be a
state's issue, not a federal issue. HE ALSO SAID, GET THIS NOW: That
churches and religious organizations have the right to make their own
determination on this issue. He respects those differences. But when
it comes to CIVIL law, everyone must be treated equally and fairly!
BOOYAH!
I
hope this covers enough of the article to make you extremely
suspicious of the rest of it. I hope it also encourages you to
research for yourself.
Last
but not least, I wholeheartedly resent anyone saying, “How can a
Christian vote for this man?” And I don't give a hoot whether that
man is Obama or Romney. I am a Christian. I am an American. And I
will vote for the person I feel is right for the job and I will do
that proudly before God. And I totally respect your right and
obligation to do the same. And Mr. Barton needs to shut up.
Please
take time to read something other than right wing scare tactics.
Please take time to pray for your president, rather than denigrate
him. He may be president, but he is also a husband, dad, and a person
with feelings. He and his family are people whom God loves as much as
He loves you or me.
Peace.
Noel
