As we draw closer to selecting the next President of the United States, I find myself more and more reflecting on the conditions of our community. When I say our community, what I mean is the Black and Hispanic community or sometimes called the inner city. As I reflect, I cannot help thinking about how long we have been in these conditions. Irresponsible parenting, undisciplined children, gang violence and the highest crime rate. Drugs use, alcoholism, babies being born out of wedlock, the murder of the unborn, homosexuality are all the product of indiscipline and it is a growing issues in our community. Things are not getting better, they are getting worse. Now the undisciplined children are adults, they have children and the cycle continues.
What has contributed to these constant, long declining conditions in our community? Who’s responsible for the mess? I believe the answer is obvious. The no accountability, blame every body for my issues mentality has been the philosophy in our community for far too long. Things will not change until we stop pointing fingers and start accepting responsibility for the issues in our community. We must stop choosing leaders who promote this philosophy. It will not change until we change. It will not change until we change. Let me say it again “it will not change until we change”.
In sports, if the team continues to lose they fire the coach. In corporate America, if the company continues to decline, they fire the CEO. When our communities continue to fail, we keep selecting the same leaders. How long will we allow the Maxine Waters, the Mark Ridley Thomas’s the Barbara Boxer’s and the Diane Feinstein (Congress and Senate in our community) to lead our failing, declining communities? Their philosophy of no accountability, blame everybody but myself for my issues has not and will not work. It is time for us to start accepting responsibility for our own issues. We need leaders who are going to promote accountability. We need leaders who are really about change. How is it that we have allowed these leaders to go unchecked for so long? The results or lack thereof prove that we need a change. Who’s responsible if our communities continue to decline? We don’t need more social programs. We don’t need more rights. What we need is accountability. We need parents to be responsible for disciplining their children and we need to hold them accountable when they don’t. We need leaders who are going to promote accountability.
Unfortunately, most of the people I talk to in our community are more concerned with the skin color of those who are leading our communities then they are about their philosophies and ideologies. I was speaking on the subject of the next president with my barber and he informed me that he was voting for Barack Obama because he’s black. He told me he was not concerned with his policies but the fact that he is black is enough to earn his vote. I wonder how Mr. Obama would feel to know that people are voting for him solely on the basis of his skin color.
I agree, it is time for change, but who’s responsible for bringing about that change?
I am currently writing about Social Conservatives trapped in a Liberal Party. I will post it next week.
Feel free to straighten me out, I might be looking at this wrong.
18 comments:
YOU SOUND LIKE A REPUBLICAN!!! How old are you son?
Pastor,
You hit the nail on the head. Leadership accountability must be demanded regardless of party affiliation or skin color. We can not continue to put leaders in office who forget about the communities who put them there. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and I look forward to your next post.
Great thought provoking post my friend. I want to suggest that while it is not completely responsible for anyone to vote for a candidate simply because of his skin color, let us not forget that for many seasoned saints, the candidacy of Barack Obama is the answer to a long history of prayers.
Remember these are the people who had to endure the intense hatred of the Jim Crow south, where basic liberties that we enjoy and take for granted were denied them. All they ever asked for, fought for and even died for, was for the playing field to be level. Not that it appears to be that way, they are voting based not just on color but more importantly to them, they are voting for retribution.
I am an avid supporter of Obama and not just because he is a black man, but because I agree with his economic policy, health-care policy, energy policy and his stance on restoring America back to where it was around the globe.
Let us remember that history will decide for us whether or not this country had enough fortitude to vote for the right man and not the wrong one just because he is black. Whether we want to admit it or not, in this country, black still means inferior.
Lance
um I don't know how to feel about that because I agree with both side I'm starting to question whether anybody is listening to his points because their so excited to get an african american in office but I heard his side and I think he could be just the right person for the job because he does have good points Mc Cain seems like he's simply just a good talker and we don't need anymore of those Obama seems like he really wants it because he feels like their time for a change and who better to enforce it than someone whose came from where we came from family issues and etc so thoug you have good and valid points give him a chance he may be that change we're looking for be open and don't be so focus on others and their opinions just listen to him and then base your opinion on that love you your sister Tree Trunk lol
Great post to start dialogue. Many of us in our inner city communities do not discuss issues like this in a fashion to educate. I've found myself sitting with my teenage son and daughter discussing issues that plague our cities more now than ever before. My vote is for Barack. I don't agree with his theological positions on a number of things. But, I'm not voting for him to be a leader of theology but a leader for our country who's able to produce change. One quality of leadership decision he has made that maybe many of us have not paid much attention to is his selection of Biden as VP. Obama is not strong in the area of foreign policy so he selected someone who is. That's a good leadership quality in my opinion. Keep thought provoking posts like this coming it's something we all need to stimulate our minds. Oh, by the way it's ok to post if you'd like. Thank you much for the consideration.
It seems entirely unfair that you lump all those politicians together. Diane Feinstein is basically a Republican who has repeatedly voted with the Bush administration and against accountability. Barbara Boxer on the other hand has been one of the few advocates for oversight and accountability.
You also lump State Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas with a group of federal legislators which is odd. Also, Ridley-Thomas has been an effective advocate for accountability throughout his career. He may single-handedly be most responsible for implementing a civilian inspector general to watch over the scandal plagued LAPD.
Interestingly, Ridley-Thomas is now running for L.A. County Supervisor against the man who ran the scandal (Rampart) plagued police department. So you have a golden opportunity to vote for accountability in Ridley-Thomas or against accountability in Bernard Parks.
See here for more on how Parks fights against accountability: http://bernardparks.blogspot.com/1999/10/city-council-members-disappointed-with.html
I think Mr Obama would be just fine with winning a vote "just because he is black" because he stands behind the idea that someone should hand you something. He believes in the "have's" taking care of the "Have-not's". Why else would he allow a tax break to go to people who DONT pay taxes? He supports the instability of families. Why else would he support gay people calling what they do as EQUAL to marriage and its rights, benefits and privileges? He is fine with murder. Why else would he support abortion? He is fine with lawlessness. Why else would he support illegal immigration? He is fine with poor communities. Why else would he support taxing business owners so they cannot afford to stay in our state and communities and force them to outsource jobs if not leave altogether? He is happy with baby mamas on welfare. Or why wouldn't he REQUIRE working and going to school as part of the welfare requirement in addition to being a citizen? Oh yeah... because he supports lawlessness. You know.. no punishment for fake ID's, stolen social cards, failure to pay taxes on all that cash you make under the table. Oh yeah... because he supports giving tax dollars to people who dont pay any. Hmmmm.... maybe it's because while he is trying to "help" US, he's not opening up upscale communities like his own to section 8 housing, not allowing vouchers so OUR black kids can go to the better schools. God forbid! But... he is black. And that's about all he is.
Pastor Fitts, we have not met via blog yet but I'm sure you have seen me on my blog son's comment pages. The ones that have adopted me as Mom are... Pastors Mann, McGhee, Witherspoon, Ed Johnson, and Rhone. Pastors Kraig and Kevin Pullam are my biological sons. I am married to a Pastor and I am gaining new blog sons all the time, which is a great blessing.
I must admit I did not read this particular post yet. I wanted to see how long you have been blogging (which I have done with everybody else) so I went back as far as I could. Amazingly, your blog from Sept.21,08 entitled "What a time we had at peace chapel" caught my eye. It is VERY commendable that you tackled a series on depression. I would love to hear it. Are there any tapes or CDs? The reason I asked because I have had some experience with depression and had therapy along with mild medication. Thank God it worked. God brought me through and in the process I have a wonderful testimony and I can also identify with the passions of David.
Sorry this is so lengthy but I wanted to get that information and to introduce myself. Take care. I will be back.
wow goheadgyrl makes a lot of good points that i never really heard pointed out quite like that dang that really a mess all this time i'm thinking since he's been through it all abuse,abandoned, and etc I thought he'd be able to relate but now I'm starting to question whether we need more problem I work hard everyday to make life better for my son and my nieces,naphews, my community overall the best way I can and I don't wanna pay to help take care of families who are not willing to do the same thing work hard I'm dealing with a issue right now with medical insurance me and my husband together gross $2700 a month and we can't catch a break no low income insurance to them we can afford to pay and to us in reality we barely making it so if the case is what goheadgyrl says it is we don't need more money taken from the working man & womans pockets to put in those who are not even taking responsibility for their acts God blessed me with a husband and supportive family but I also love working and by able to pay my bill because God gave me that ability I don't appreciate the thought of taking care of a lazy person whose excuse is their doing it by themselves accountability as my brother says in this passage you had a baby out of wedlock living irresponsibly should not be my responsibilty because if it were me I'd still work HONESTLY! all these people planning to vote for him based on his color do your research or you might end up paying in the end think about you and your children future cause that's the most important thing to me don't give them a reason to be a disappointment abortions and gangs I want a president that will help me and my husband encourage our son to do something positive with his life so consider everything before you vote I know Bush screwed us for the most part but make a realistic decision and not one based on emotions...
As all of my close blog associates know I am very conservative in my thinking. I can also be caught up in traditionalism, and I'm proud of it. We have gotten way out of line of God's plan for the family and what our spiritual convictions should be. This is where our problem started. Everyone had it's role to play in the family and community. The children had ample, consistant supervision and knew how to stay in a child's place. More and more we have babies with grown up problems and being tried as adults. The reason why we had ample supervision once upon a time is because we lived within our means financially so that the nurturer (mother) could be present in the home. We didn't have an epidemic of young people having babies and no husband. The family unit has almost deminished. Everyone was held accountable to someone else. The children to the displinarian, the wife to the husband, the husband to God and government, the government to the people, and every God fearing individual to the teachings of God. Now everybody wants to do somebody else's job, which causes the job I'm supposed to do undone, this includes the roles in the church, home and government. We are all out of whack of God's plan and design. What would we do if the Trinity of God was displaced and their roles were confused? God has an order to both heaven and earth. WE have chosen to be misplaced.
We are all at fault and we are being held accountable. This is just another example of our chickens comming home to roost. We have done this to ourselves. We are to blame. All of these horrible things that is going on in our inner cities, families, churches, and government is God speaking to us. We are just not getting it. We refuse to take responsibility. Yes, it is time for a change. That change has to start with each individual, and family by family getting back to the ways of the Lord. 2Chronicles 7:14
Thank you for stopping by my blog and the nice compliment. I look forward to an ongoing fellowship. I will send you our church address real soon so I can receive the series.
Be blessed
To Mr. Fitts
I have just read some of the posts in your blog. I love to read the material of the king you are writing. I can see that you have a good following-up readership for your writing. I would like to re-visit you blogs.
If you are interested in reading short stories and other writings by an Indian author, do visit my blogs.
Naval Langa
To Hon. Mr. Fitts
You are heartily welcome to my blogs.
To my mind, the peace of mind is like seeing our reflection in the mirror. But the mirror has become dusty by the particles of various learnings(You are black, you are white; you are man, you are woman; you are rich, you are poor, and what not). These learnings disable us to see ourselves clearly. Once the dust is wiped out, through some un-learning process, the peace is there.
I shall be visiting you writing regularly, as I liked the embedded simplicity of the mind in your words.
Naval Langa
Friend, I know what you are saying about people voting for Obama simply because he's black, but let me say that -- even though it seems wrong headed -- it will partially balance out the ledger because there are many whites who won't vote for Obama because he is not white.
I have even heard good, life-long democrats say that they will not vote for him.
They won't say at first it's because he's black, but when pressed they will.
ps: thank you for stopping off at my blog this morning. If you have time, you might be interested in listening to Garrison Keillor read my poem "What my father believed."
http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/programs/2007/12/24/#friday
Pastor Fitts,
I was trying to respond to your comment about how do we vote for Obama as believers. I don't believe I re-phrased your question verbatim, but I think that's the crux of it.
Firstly, how are you man of God? I read through your blog and perused your church website. I loved every bit of it.
With respect to Senator Obama, I assume that your question stems from his views on same-sex unions and abortion, and maybe even his view of government. As stated in a few of my earlier blogs, I vehemently disagree with Obama's position on these two issues. His stand is one of tolerance, relativism, and humanism, and frankly ignorance and a denial of basic and fundamental biblical truths.
However, those issues are spiritual. I am not saying that my relationship with God does not affect my decisions, but 5 years ago you and I witnessed a president that sent young men and women into a foreign territory to search for something that later our government admitted to not being there.
I'm a "pro-lifer" all the way. I believe in the sanctity of life, however, how do you knowingly send someone on a death mission and justify it for all these years? Have we ever considered the sanctity of the lives of those soldiers? It's difficult for me to just jump on the side of moral right when you defend senseless killing as if killing an unborn child is any different then lying to a soldier about WMD's leading thousands to death. That's hypocrisy.
I can't stomach that. Maybe it's my background as Student Government President in college or as a Deputy Campaign Manager for a State Representative, but whatever it is, I've got a good taste of what "real" politics is like and I've seen the best of them say what they need to say to certain demographics to garner votes.
I sincerely question each of these men's salvation. Their lack of ethics, lack of knowledge of Christ, lack of the knowledge of Scripture, and lack of integrity has disallowed me to base my voting decision soley on biblical issues. This is the first time I've had to do this. I voted for Bush in 2004 and was proud to do it, but after the information came out about the the faulty intelligence concerning the WMD's and his knowledge of it, I couldn't bear to deal with that.
That's the gist of my philosophy on this year's election plus I think Obama actually has a good plan (I've read it). There's more, but maybe we can sit down at your favorite restaurant (my treat)and discuss this among other things.
And oh yeah, there's no excuse for the same-sex union thing. All I know is that personally Obama doesn't agree with them, but at the same time he won't support a constitutional amendment to disallow them either based on the fact the country has never defined marriage through a Constitutional amendment. My answer to that is, duh! There wasn't a need to back then, but now societal norms are changing and there is a need to preserve an institution that is not only inextricably tied to the family unit, but the sustainability of civilization itself.
Thanks for all the compliments! Send some of those folks that comment on your blog to comment my way, but I'm serious about that sit-down...email me at danthomas_1@hotmail.com and we can exchange information.
God Bless!
Hey Fits very thought provoking post.
Thanks for hitting me on my blog.
Keep cutting it straight.
Tony R.
Pastor Fitts, I am still interested in those messages on depression. No hurry. I can wait until you get it up on your website. But, If you want to send it to the church I will be happy to pay postage. Address it to me. 1620 N. Port Ave., Corpus Christi, Texas 78401. Let me know if you send it so I can look out for it.
Thanks, take care.
Mr. DA Thomas,
You simply CANNOT compare the sanctity of the life of an unborn child with that of a soldier in the WAY you make the parallel. Sir, an unborn innocent life that is snuffed out is different than the choice of a man or woman willing putting their life on the line so that you (and all of us) can make the comments that we post here today.
It is anti-American to imply to a soldier that you will not respect and honor his/her CHOICE to participate in the armed forces. To stand up as Cindy Sheehan did and DISRESPECT her son’s right to CHOOSE a path for himself in the armed forces is despicable and DISHONORS her son. Because of people like her son, she is free to stand up and curse the President to his face. Perhaps she would prefer the fate of what would happen to her in the Middle East if she said ANYTHING especially being a woman? She may not appreciate what her son and the other soldiers gave, BUT I DO.
Also Bush did not send anyone to their death. Bush let the world know that you will not attack us on our own soil and think that we ain't coming after you.
When the Japanese attacked us on our land back in the 40's the President declared war. You don’t want us coming over to your country and wrecking shop? Don’t come over here trying to tear up.
How can you blame Bush? When Clinton had Osama in range to arrest him he failed to do so TWICE!!!!
If you have all the components of a toaster thrown into a box, you would not be telling a lie when you say, " I do not have a toaster." Because you don’t have a toaster- You have all of the PARTS of a toaster. Sadaam was not a stupid man. HE told the truth when he wrote they do not possess WMD's. BUT they confiscated ALL of the components/parts and tools of WMD's! They put the parts in different bunkers!
War was declared in Iraq to CUT OFF the funding that Al Queada was receiving. Why do you think they don’t want the drug dealer as much as they want his SUPPLIER? Cut the source FIRST. Otherwise the supplier finds a new runner to do his bidding.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that Bush has not done his share in letting us down, but it is NOT in the arena of sticking it to us. No. He is guilty of giving into the pressure and straying away form traditional Republican values and operating under some Democratic ones ( I. E. expanding government) and THAT my friend spells trouble!
AAAARRRRGGGGGHHHH! I could just SCREAM!
I can definitely understand your view. I just disagree. I also understand the failures of Clinton. (I think I dealt with that on my blog, my sister was in those conflicts) However, I must ask, HOW DO YOU NOT SEE THE CONNECTION? On what basis did the soldiers make their choice to put their lives on the line? I'll tell you, FAULTY information that BUSH knew was faulty from the beginning...point blank. You seem to speak from a decidely Republican perspective, the kind of perspective that equate Republican with Christian religion. Nothing could be further from the truth. You can't equate any party with Christ. The truth came out about Bush. The facts are there. If you allow your reasoning to be consumed by your love for a party and the defense of it, where does Christianity come into play. The man lied, and lied, and lied and lied. I don't care if it would've been Barack Obama, Lord knows he's got issues, but the man lied and troops lost their lives, and as I said I'm a pro-life, but it weakens the argument.
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