Pensees: Why I am Rejoicing with the Obama Supporters

Having lived through and with segregation on a first hand basis, I will rejoice with you that our country elected a black president elect. I was able to share the joy with several of my co-workers today.

Thanks for putting things into the proper perspective on Wednesday. I am one of those militant Conservatives that was annoyed that the most liberal person in the U.S. Senate won the election and my life would probably be changing. Once I realized,however, that it was not about me and my life and that we are to be Ambassadors of Jesus Christ; it just made sense, though on Tuesday night I did think it was neat that we had a black president. Now I believe that I can truly share in their joy

Hamas is rejoicing. Planned Parenthood is rejoicing. Fidel Castro is rejoicing. The Nation of Islam is rejoicing. Al Qaeda is rejoicing. Gay rights groups are rejoicing. The American Communist Party is rejoicing.

Dr. Martin Luther King said he wanted his children judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin. How is rejoicing over the election of a man devoid of any trace of godly character based on the color of his skin a solution to the problem of racism?

I’m going to skip the rejoicing. Sorry.

James 4:16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.

True, lots of bad people are rejoicing. But they’re not rejoicing about the things for which I am rejoicing.

True. Dr. Martin Luther King dreamed of the day when a man would be judged by the content of his character and not the color of his skin, and many blacks voted for Obama because of the color of his skin. I’ve heard a gazillion white conservatives suddenly evoke Martin Luther King — a man that they considered evil and actually were happy to see assassinated — in this election in order to justify their anger about Obama’s election. Seems a little late to be evoking King.

The fact of that matter is that if King’s descendants, politically and racially, perceive this election to be the victorious culmination of long years of fighting against oppression. To what end then does it serve to offend the offended even more by refusing to celebrate what they believe to be a restitution of our offense against them?

The arrogance continues: “not only do we have the right to offend you, but we have the right to determine when you can consider yourselves to be rightfully restituted.”

It is hard for me not to imagine that there is residual racism when people cannot even bring themselves to celebrate one isolated factor - the ethnicity of the man who was elected. In this country this is huge. It is true that the victory is sweetest for godless liberals, but if fundamentalist evangelicals had been leading the charge for civil liberties forty years ago instead of spouting of ridiculously racist lies as did the president of Bob Jones University then perhaps blacks in general would have been more inclined to share our values. But when we don’t value them it’s preposterous to hope that they’ll value our values.

Before you accuse me of “residual racism,” you should know who you’re talking about, and the interracial relationships in my family. That’s a baseless insult, and a red herring. My rejection of the rejoicing regarding Obama’s election is based on philosophy, not prejudice or racism.

I treat everyone in my life by the King test, and that didn’t suddenly start on election day. (And Obama grievously fails that test.) There’s much more that could be said, but I think wisdom dictates stopping here.

you are being VERY magnanimous. And i will be a little perhaps non-magnanimuos to these rejoicing minority poeple by saying that if sarah palin or alan keyes had been elected, these minority people wouldn’t be celebrating. they would be in the dumps like a lot of republicans are.

i think they are celebrating a world view as much as (or more than?) a skin color. But it’s evangelistic and wise to connect with people thru this factor, i think. at least it gives ground to start being heard and making friendships.

i think camille lewis would deem you a comedy, fwiw :)

also, the horrible irony that many do not understand is that in rejoicing in obama as the first black president is actually rejoicing in their destruction. it’s no secret that certain groups have clearly been using abortion to target the black community.

http://mommylife.net/archives/2007/02/abortion_and_af.html

she gives several other links there.

it’s so sad that even in this one factor (skin color) we want to be happy for, the beliefs of the man himself are destroying the very people we want to rejoice with. It is a horrible irony. The wicked are caught in their own nets!

Watchman, I am not accusing you personally of residual racism. I apologize that you perceived it as such. I have also been very forceful and as outspoken as I dared to be about the long-term devastating effect of an Obama philosophy in the presidency. It is indeed a bad thing.

However, my point was specific. We can rejoice that the race barrier has been finally breached. Even on a purely cynical and political basis it would be wise for conservatives to concede this victory to the Jesse Jacksons and Al Sharptons of the world in order to remove their breed of racial hucksters that got rich claiming that blacks don’t have a chance in this country. Clearly blacks have a chance at the highest office in the land. Praise God!

I agree with Anne. Abortion is killing more black babies than any other people group. It’s appalling.

But a when the Christian church for generation has in fact judged blacks by the color of their skin it is too late to start yelling about the content of their character when suddenly they eliminate all the barriers that for so long have oppressed them.

Watchman, you may not be a racist. I take your word for it. But the fact of the matter is no one admits to racism except extremists. Similarly, one can go into Germany the land that voted 98% for Hitler and seek in vain for anyone that will admit that they were Hitler enthusiasts. While you may not be tainted by the least amount of residual racism it is foolish to think that most of the white church in America is as blessed with uncontaminated anger and grief as you are. That’s my point.

Be angry, but sin not.

Sen. Obama’s election wasn’t really about race—It was about the economy and fear. Obama is a product of the 60s in many other ways than race. A white Democrat with his views would have been just as easily elected this year. Although some people probably overcame racial prejudice and voted for Obama, perhaps a more accurate assessment would be that economic fear trumped racial prejudice.

Sorry for taking it more personally than it was intended. It’s just a sore spot given family history. And the fact that you must in order to be truthful use the words “white church” to describe much of American Christianity is a disgrace.

I however do not share your optimism that Obama’s election is going to silence the professional race baiters (Jackson, Sharpton, etc). If that happened, I would rejoice, but there’s too much money being made in that industry for it to be given up willingly. Perhaps you’ve seen the statement by Obama’s probable DOJ Civil Rights Division head that white people only voted for Obama because he’s half white/half black, and that his election therefore don’t prove anything about the decline of racism in America.

:) Yes, Anne’s right about you, Bob! This is a time to rejoice even if it’s just this one thing.

If I may interject a thought here. I’m sure I’ll be misunerstood, but I suggest that you’re asking people to place their focus on the wrong thing.
Man is neither White nor Black. Man is either justified (in Christ) or not justified (positionally, not in Christ). There really is no other way to view man than in this way. Our response to President-elect Obama, or any other human, must be in this context. Focusing on his race falls far short of what should be our larger concern — the same concern we should have for every human that is not in Christ. For the truly justified, our race will not be a consideration when Chirst in His time assess our life. For those standing before the judgement throne, their race will not be a consideration.
I’ll chose to rejoice when President-elect Obama, or anyone else, realizes their need for Christ, repents of their sin, and commits their life to Him. So, my prayer will be for Mr. Obama’s salvation — which would do more for impacting his agenda than any political action committee or protest.

Bob: I understand the recognition of this significant milestone in our nation’s history. But I’ll be sure to ask you in about 6 months if you’re still celebrating, or if you wish we could have waited for a different candidate in order to celebrate this significant milestone… :)

There’s no doubt that I wish that there had been a better candidate, so I doubt my basic perspective won’t change — even six months from now. There are going to be a lot of people who voted for Obama who are going to wonder what in the world they did!