I’m back for round two of my political talking points. A couple weeks ago, I wrote a post entitled “Social Conservatives Trapped in a Liberal Party” that drew some interesting comments. In the post, I asked the question why are people who are social conservatives so loyal to a party that is so opposed to social conservative values? With all of the comments, I still did not get an answer to that question. Doc Spoon did a wonderful job of making a case against the David Duke Democratic party of old, but he did not answer my question.
But for argument sake, lets look at a couple of things he mentioned in his comment.
The GOP is the home of racism.
Quite frankly, I think this argument is old and played out. America has become the home of immigrants. Studies show that immigrants are entering our country at a rate of over 800,000 people per year. Do you think people are so desperate to get over here because America is so racist? I know you said the GOP is the home of racism, but most who make that argument feel that racism is still a problem for African Americans. I am in no way saying that racism does not still exist, but racism cannot find a home in either party. It will not be tolerated. Lets not forget that President Bush appointed more African Americans to his cabinet then the last Democratic President. He named Condoleezza Rice, to be the first female African-American secretary of State in the history of the United States. Under the Bush administration, homeownership among African Americans is higher then ever. We have more African American owned businesses then ever, more African American Millionaires then ever and more African American Billionaires then ever. Case closed!!!
The GOP is the home of classism.
I assume he meant Structural or Institutional Classism, which is a passive form of classism that occurs when institutions or common practices are structured in such a way as to effectively exclude or marginalize people from lower classes. If so, that sounds like Liberalism. It is the Liberals that are contributing to classism with all of their social programs that discourage accountability.
The GOP is the home of sectarianism.
Again sounds more like the Liberals with the Separation of Church and State argument.
The GOP is the home of economic red-lining.
Sounds like what Senator Obama wants to do with his socialist economic plan (redistribute the wealth).
As I stated before, most African Americans are Social Conservatives but quite a few are economic Conservatives (just added), trapped in a Liberal Party.
I am not nearly as concerned about the economic issues as I am about the social issues. We as African Americans can do just as well economically under a Conservative President as we can under a Liberal President, I would argue even better. I am more concerned about issues that stand in direct opposition to the values of the Kingdom of God. We know that life begins at conception, so how can we remain loyal to a party that contradicts that clear biblical principle? We know that homosexuality is wrong, so how can we remain loyal to a party that contradicts that clear biblical principle (the Democratic Party is the home of the homosexual movement)? We have a Proposition 8 on the ballot here in California that says marriage is between one Man and one Woman, guess who’s pouring the big bucks into defeating this proposition… The Teachers Union, Brad Pitt and Ellen DeGeneres (Avid Democrats). Barack Obama has called Prop 8 "divisive and discriminatory." www.democrats.org/page/community/post/mceades/CnR . I know that we are not voting for Jesus Christ, but we can use our vote to glorify Him.
Spoon, Mann, D A, Anonymous or somebody "that is"... Please straighten me out.
12 comments:
Pastor,you are walking heavy here! Touching on some topics that a lot of soldiers retreat from. God bless you for this post,it will make a lot of look at the real issues at hand.Are we governed by man's law or God's law? Let me thank you for your words of encouragement they ment a lot.By the way we both have the same favorite biblical verse Col.1:28.
Stay on the wall my brother.
BAW,sr
I will comment later. I am in the middle of exams and I have not had a chance to share but I will say this. When I read Dr Spoon say the GOP is the home of racism (and alot of other things) I could only shake my head and feel EVEN MORE SURE THAN EVER that I do not want any democrat who keeps with the democratic habit of saying whatever comes to mind whether it is truth or not.
THE GOP freed the slaves Mr. Spoon. This is why we had a civil war. The democrats fought very hard to keep us enslaved and they still are trying by keeping abortion but not teaching about it (A woman who has sex before the age of 21 increases her risk of cancer by 50%. If she has an abortion she increases it to 75% and increases her chances of mental illness- but I do not know the rate here as I am looking for the article). The democrats support us being socially enslaved in the "affordable" project housing and then some so we forget that it is GOD WHO EMPOWERS US TO ACHIEVE WEALTH. To look to the Gov't to fulfill what thus said the Lord is a slap in His face.
AHHHHH! I have to go. Y'all like to get me started and I gotta study!
Pray for me everyone that I continue to grow in God. That I will be might for Him, pleasant in his sight and up hold HIS statutes.
AND MAKE GOOD GRADES!!!! LOL! Much love.
I appreciate this well thought out presentation, but like I said my original intention was to say that neither party is perfect. So I will refrain from any other arguments. God Bless you!!
Racism is a fabric within our society that no matter how often you send that garment to the cleaners the stain is still there. No matter which party is in office we are still considered the minority even though we are the majority.
Yes, President Bush may have appointed more African Americans to his cabinet, but at what cost (motives), one African American that I know who could smell a rat and did not buy into his "yes sir" program was General Colin Powell who also has now endorsed Barack Obama.
In round one, I had stated that if you were to get close enough to either party you would begin to smell the stench, but the current situation tells me to vote democrat. Well I and my mom were early voters.
Sounds like your mind is already made up my friend. Experience has taught me that once a person has their mind made up, there is no changing it. Hurry up November 4th.
Fitts, I am so glad that you wrote this post and even called me out at the end (LOL). Okay here goes!
Let me address these issues in order. Firstly, my brother, for you to say that racism is tired and old is really disturbing to me. We live in a country where the color black still represents the permanent underclass. How can you say that racism is tired and old, when more qualified blacks are still being refused employment or being laid off in favor of less qualified whites. How can you say that racism is tired and old, when people who are supportive of the GOP plotted to assassinate Obama and about 100 more young black people. How can you say racism is tired and old when during McCain/Palin rallies people in the crowd are yelling kill him. Now maybe in the melting pot called Southern California, racism is not evident, but when the Grand Wizard of the KKK lives in the same county as Dr. Spoon in Indiana, where Indiana is the birthplace of that group, where more klansman live in NJ than anywhere on the east coast. My brother, racism is alive and well.
Now to the matter of more blacks being millionaires now more than ever, let's remember the facts, blacks were given more opportunities to acquire such wealth under the administration of Bill Clinton and not George Bush.
Your characterization of Obama's economic plan as socialist is equally disturbing considering that you are a student of the sacred scripture. The bible declares in Acts 2:45, and they (Apostles) were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. That sounds like those who have making sacrifices so that all can reach the same level at the same time. That's biblical and socialist. The question I have is are you a capitalist or a follower of scripture(I really know the answer brother Pastor just being a little rhetorical here).
While I do agree that we as followers of Jesus Christ are not to accept the act of homosexuality nor gay marriage. However, I feel that it is equally as important for us to denounce the killing of innocent people because of race, sexual preference or social class under the banner of Christianity. Just as it is wrong to oppress another group of people under the banner of Christianity.
If you really want to make a statement, tell James Dobson from Focus on the Family to stop praying for the demise of Barack Obama, and putting out mailers that he is really a Muslim in disguise under the banner of conservative Christianity.
The GOP may have abolished slavery, but Lincoln didn't do it willingly, he was forced to do it out of fear of the destruction of these yet United States of America.
Lance
Pastor Fitts,
Why is it that we cannot disagree without degrading someone?
This young lady sounds like a disgruntled older man that I've seen on television recently.
Dr. Fitts, You know two things they say that we should not discuss are religion and politics. Doc, you are to be likened to Peter, who had enough courage to "step out of the boat" for touching upon this often volatile subject matter.
I had an opportunity last week to read Spoon's comments, and I must say, things got kind of firey for a minute. But, you know what? That's the purpose of these blogs for us to engage in constructive conversations that we might be able to "enlarge everyone's territory" of understanding. You are to be commended brother for "asking the tough questions."
However, should you ever have a desire for a breather , and to travel the smoother road of blogging check me out. It's not so controversial, but it is challenging. Makes you say "Hmmmmmm!" Be blessed my brother, and keep your hands to the plow!
I read my Brother's blog then I read you guys comments and all I can do is smile because truthfully no one will ever know what is going to take place in the Whitehouse until after November 4th, 2008 everybody's going back and forth with all these different points but reality is what it is you never know who you can trust Obama or Mc Cain,Ronald Mc Donald or the King from BurgerKing if your minds made up let it be go in there and vote for who you think is the best for the job not focusing on race or age all I ask is that you pray that God gives you the strength to deal with your decision if it doesn't won't out the way you want it too God is most definitely going to be the one helping my decision because he knows our needs better than we do be blessed bloggers Love you Big Bro Thanks for all the Prayers Talk to you soon
I would never attempt to straighten out Pastor Fitts!
However, since I was called out I guess I have to say something.
Firstly, after reading this follow-up post to Mr. Spoon's comments I am now able to better understand your position and find myself in agreement on several points and maintaining my stand on others.
I think what I understand you to be saying is that epicenter of the social issues of this country seem to be changing due to immigration, the progress of minorities,etc, and we can longer cite racism alone as the primary detractor to minority disenfranchisement. We now have to focus primarily on the barriers that we cause ourselves. I can dig that.
It seems your argument is also not ignoring that racism still exists, but maybe not as prevalent, and it doesn't seem to be a deterrent to economic prosperity, at least not individually, I think we can all argue that there is institutional racism that still widely exists.
Every since I was able to vote I've vascillated between the Democratic and Republican ticket. In 2000 I voted for Al Gore. I still think that was the right choice. In 2004 I voted for George Bush and I still think that was the right choice, mainly because John Kerry didn't have a clue, (but that's another story).
But in response to your question that we didn't answer :), I think the answer is in your question and it speaks to an inheret attribute of many African-Americans - loyalty.
Pastor Fitts,
I was writing this time to thank you for the wonderful comment on my last post. This really lifted me and served as confirmation.
Be Blessed Bro!
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