Religious political hypocrisy

[josef rosenkranz]

We have all,or almost all,witnessed the "incoronation" of Barack Obama.
Beyond the excitation of such a memorable event, what struck me was the religiuos hypocrisy which accompanied the event.

True,Obama is obliged in the name of american politics, to balance his Hossein midname with an apparent deep believe in Christianism as opposite to what the name implies i.e.Islam.
He is evidently an intelligent guy but he "acted" exactly in the manner the majority of america's christian population expected from him.

I looked at him when the lunch was served for the honorables of the Capitol and all rised to say thanksgiving before beginning to eat.The inclining of the head, the closing of the eyes, the inner apparently concentration ,all was typical american standard, as we see in american films.
The projectors focused on him when he attended the religious ceremony in the church and when he, in the same inner concentration approved, al what this old woman preached about the poor ,bla,bla ,bla and the God who cares so much about America.
As a show of american religious unity they presented a row or religious people ,a muslim woman drapped all over except her face,two rabbis and a series of christian religious people who according to their dresses one was supposed to understand which congregation they are representing.
They all said something sweet abot god and then making a little pause pronounced a same mantra about God who shall take care of America.

You know what? I'm not a great fan of Dubbya but his evangelical belief was open and came from inside his soul,it was sincere.

With Obama the religious belief is ,if not 100%,then surely a big lot of it sheer fake.
It's as I say religious political hypocrisy or political religious hypocrisy
which is the same.

Now the problem is to what extend will his religious beliefs influence America's external politics.
The islamic extremists ,as Al -qaida,the Iranians ,the Irakians, Hizbullah ,Hamas and other such nice guys saw in Bush a crusader which will finally be defeated by a modern Salah-a -din .
Will Obama succeed to change their mind ,which what price?
The pockets of uncle Sam are empty and his own children are going to miss the good life of before.

Far from me of being a rasist but I never saw up till now a black politician anywhere in the world achieving successes,quite contrary.
It remains us only the hope that "god in his mercy wiil really care for uncle Sam and his dear children (the rest of the free world).

[lukec]

Yes- is Barack actually as faithful as he claims to be? Recently I was reading an interview with him and I was actually shocked (since I didn't really read too much about his policies or beliefs, being from Canada) to see how blatantly "Christian" his responses were. For example:

Warren: You've made no secrets about your faith in Jesus Christ. What does it mean to you to trust in Christ, and what does that mean to you on a daily basis?

Obama: As a starting point, it means that I believe that Jesus Christ died for my sins and that I am redeemed through Him. That is a source of strength and sustenance on a daily basis. I know that I don't walk alone, and I know that if I can get myself out of the way, that I can maybe carry out, in some small way, what He intends. And it means that those sins that I have on a fairly regular basis hopefully will be washed away.
But what it also means is a sense of obligation to embrace- not just with words but through deeds- the expectations that God has for us. And that means thinking about the least of these. It means acting justly, and loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God. And trying to apply those lessons on a daily basis, knowing that you are going to fall a little bit short each day, and being able to take note and say, "Well that didn't quite work out the way I think it should have, but maybe I can get a little better."
It gives me the confidence to try things, including things like running for president, where you are going to screw up once in a while.

Barack strikes me as rather intelligent, and so I have to wonder, definitely, exactly how much is real belief and how much is a show for the many religious americans? It seems to me, though, that if you take out the bits about god from that following quote, he's really just explaining a point of view that I myself could easily understand/follow- basically, try your hardest to do your best...

But the important point being brought up here, is could Barack have gotten elected at all, or even been in the running, were he an open Atheist? I doubt it.

[Meatball]

I personally think he is a true believer, but to be honest, it doesn't matter. He's already declared that his administration will be run from a scientific perspective, which is good enough for me.

It's a sad fact that he would be unelectable without making statements like the one quoted above. It's really unfortunate.

[leo-rcc]

I agree. His first week has impressed me though, committed to closing quantanamo, abortion possibilities expanded. Not bad for a 'rookie'.

[josef rosenkranz]

I agree. His first week has impressed me though, committed to closing quantanamo, abortion possibilities expanded. Not bad for a 'rookie'.

Unfortunately politicians are judged when they go not when they come.
Dubbya was also a great hope when he took the office 8 years ago.
Was he actually so bad or were the circumstances too strongly against him ? History will judge.
I would like to confess that being in principle against racism I'm also a skeptic about the achievements of black politicians.
Look at the great Nelson Mandela ,he fought the South-African racism ,won the fight and came to power.Where is South-Africa now? A crime and Aids and poverty stricken country.
Where is now this corner of Paradise country named once Rhodesia under the rule of black politician? Poverty stricken,aids,epidemic deseases,tyranny.
Let's look at the US.What achievements are accountable to Collin Powel?
The first Iraky war was lead by General Schwartzkopf not by him.
Before the second Iraky war he was a fierce supporter of Bush only later he got cold feet and resigned.
What political achievements could be attrubited to Condy Rice? Very
small ones if at all.
The list of failures by black politicians coud go on .
But finally let's not be pessimistic about Obama and say in a true atheistic style "So help him God" and "May God bless America"

[bozo]

I agree. His first week has impressed me though, committed to closing quantanamo, abortion possibilities expanded. Not bad for a 'rookie'.

Unfortunately politicians are judged when they go not when they come.
Dubbya was also a great hope when he took the office 8 years ago.
Was he actually so bad or were the circumstances too strongly against him ? History will judge.
I would like to confess that being in principle against racism I'm also a skeptic about the achievements of black politicians.
Look at the great Nelson Mandela ,he fought the South-African racism ,won the fight and came to power.Where is South-Africa now? A crime and Aids and poverty stricken country.
Where is now this corner of Paradise country named once Rhodesia under the rule of black politician? Poverty stricken,aids,epidemic deseases,tyranny.
Let's look at the US.What achievements are accountable to Collin Powel?
The first Iraky war was lead by General Schwartzkopf not by him.
Before the second Iraky war he was a fierce supporter of Bush only later he got cold feet and resigned.
What political achievements could be attrubited to Condy Rice? Very
small ones if at all.
The list of failures by black politicians coud go on .
But finally let's not be pessimistic about Obama and say in a true atheistic style "So help him God" and "May God bless America"

Sorry, jr, Dubya a great hope when he took office? Not this side of the pond he wasn't!
History will judge him. like all politicians, as both a hero and a villain.....it just depends on the politics of the historian.
The rest of your post sounds pretty racist to me, I,m afraid. It's as if you are suggesting blackness works against being successful. Do you really mean that?
Almost all politicians, whatever their colour, are failures in my book.

[Tiberius]

Ok, I think everyone needs to cool it before throwing the racism card around. Whilst I think culturally there may be something in what josef is saying (i.e. that black people tend to be undereducated - not that this is their fault mind), you cannot just look at the situation from one view.

Either these black people caused their country to fall because they were black, or their country fell because they were a bad politician and they just happened to be black (which given the ethnic ratios of these countries is probably the more likely explanation).

[bozo]

Ok, I think everyone needs to cool it before throwing the racism card around. Whilst I think culturally there may be something in what josef is saying (i.e. that black people tend to be undereducated - not that this is their fault mind), you cannot just look at the situation from one view.

Either these black people caused their country to fall because they were black, or their country fell because they were a bad politician and they just happened to be black (which given the ethnic ratios of these countries is probably the more likely explanation).

Sorry Adrian but the black people referred to are not " undereducated "
And actually, I'm not " hot" so I rather resent being asked to " cool it. "
( The problem with this form of communication is that it cannot indicate this! )
However, a question arises from your post, is racism too " hot " a topic to be debated here?

[Tiberius]

Certainly not, but calling someone racist or a post they made racist is pretty offensive, hence why I wanted everyone to "cool it" and take a few steps back. When accusations of racism come up anywhere, things tend to chaos; I was only trying to stop that from happening.

[bozo]

Certainly not, but calling someone racist or a post they made racist is pretty offensive, hence why I wanted everyone to "cool it" and take a few steps back. When accusations of racism come up anywhere, things tend to chaos; I was only trying to stop that from happening.

I think maybe you are being a tad protectionist! I'm sure JR can explain his post, which to me is racist. Hopefully JR can clarify whether it is or not?
I think racism is pretty important and not to be skated around.