Fair Play

     Most of us have embarrassed ourselves by forwarding an email purporting a supposed disastrous danger only to find it to be false. I still find myself caught offguard at times but mostly I remember to check a website like Snopes.com to be certain of the validity of a claim before panicking everyone in my address book.

     During this political season I have received numerous emails about Barack Obama. One such proposes he is an active Muslim who was sworn into the Senate with his hand on the Koran, which actaully happened to a totally different congressman, not Obama. The most recent supposedly quotes from his books and suggests he is a racist and Muslim as well.

     The quotes are taken out of context, don't exist or are reworded. His actual comments about white people come from his struggle as a biracial child to understand his identity. The misworded comment about Muslims comes from his suggestion that after 9-11 we need to avoid the kind of racial panic that caused us to intern the Japanese Americans during WWII. I hope we as Christians would all agree with that stand.

     This whole smear campaign offends me on several levels. First, as voters most of us don't like negative campaigning. We say we want to evaluate the candidates on their positions, not on their attacks on their opponents. So why would we participate in such a negative tactic ourselves?

     Second, the accusations are false or at least twisted. Obama's has created a website to clarify the truth, http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/factcheckactioncenter . But if that seems too one-sided, the same website I use for urban legends, which is politically  neutral, also addresses these issues, for example  http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/ownwords.asp. At least check it out before forwarding it.

     Third, if we are not careful, we will unwittingly contribute to the racism that threatens to focus the attention of this election on something other than the worthiness candidates and their positions. In unjustly accusing Obama of being a racist we are contributing to the problem ourselves.

     I pastor a church of both whites and African Americans. Because of this we are naturally more politically diverse than most churches. I am extremely careful about what I say politically, even one on one, and mostly stress tolerance and understanding. We are all entitled to our political opinions and agendas.

     But as Christians I don't believe we are entitled to spread slander against anyone, especially someone running for President. BT Roberts worked actively for political causes, and so should we today as Free Methodists. But whether we are supporting the Democrat or Republican candidate, we should not contribute to the misunderstanding and slander that will poison our opinion in such a crucial race in our nation.

    My prayer is that this election will not bring out the worst in us, but instead will help us take a hard look at ourselves and our nation and consider how we can rise above pettiness and decide our future based on the real issues at hand.

Kathy Callahan-Howell

Comments

[Howard A. Snyder]

Well said, Kathy. I fear our people are vulnerable to these smears, and don't recognize the Christian ethical implications involved in spreading falsehoods.

Obama is a Christian; I don't think he claims to be an Evangelical (so criticisms on that score largely miss the point), but he is very concerned with bridging religious and other divides in the interest of the "general welfare" (as the Constitution puts it).

Howard A. Snyder

[Brenda Young]

Great---I applaud what you hsve said, and agree with you!!!

[WICK]

I hear you. I think we also have a great opportunity to talk about "hope" these days, and whether or not any political leader can actually impact the US/World in the way they advertise. Our hope is in something far more powerful...and we are citizens of the Kingdom.

Props to Snopes too, I'm a regular user. I think it can be a valuable resource for pastors to check their "inspirational sermon fodder" stories on it too.

[Scott Dunn]

Amen!

[Mindi Grieser Cromwell]

I have to add my "amen" to your comment as well. I have been the "victim" of too many forwards by well intentioned folks. I have taken to a (hopefully) politely phrased response to most of those forwards. It's gotta start somewhere!