Disowning conservative politics is costly to pastor.sm

• Disowning conservative politics is costly to pastor.sm - LVMT
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WEST BEND, Wis. (AP) - Thirty-three pastors in 22 states used their sermons to make pointed recommendations about political candidates today.

The effort was orchestrated by the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund.

The conservative legal group plans to send copies of the pastors' sermons to the Internal Revenue Service with hope of setting off a legal fight and abolishing restrictions on church involvement in politics.

Critics call it unnecessary, divisive and unlikely to succeed.

The Reverend Eric Williams of Columbus has organized 55 religious leaders across the nation to file a complaint about the ADF's challenge.

The minister with the liberal United Church of Christ says churches should stand apart from the government.

The founding pastor of a second Colorado church has resigned over gay sex allegations, just weeks after the evangelical community was shaken by the scandal surrounding megachurch leader Ted Haggard.

Haggard, a gay-marriage opponent, admitted to unspecified sexual immorality when he resigned last month as president of the National Association of Evangelicals and pastor of the 14,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs. A male prostitute had said he had had sex with Haggard for three years.

On Sunday, Paul Barnes, founding pastor of the 2,100-member Grace Chapel in this Denver suburb, told his evangelical congregation in a videotaped message he had had sexual relations with other men and was stepping down.

Dave Palmer, associate pastor of Grace Chapel, told The Denver Post that Barnes confessed to him after the church received a call last week.

The church board of elders accepted Barnes' resignation on Thursday.

On the videotape, which The Post was allowed to view, Barnes told church members: I have struggled with homosexuality since I was a 5-year-old boy. ... I can't tell you the number of nights I have cried myself to sleep, begging God to take this away.

Barnes, 54, led Grace Chapel for 28 years. He and his wife have two adult children.

Palmer said in a written statement that While we cannot condone what he has done, we continue to support and love Paul.

According to dictionary.com, the meanings of the N-word are “deeply disparaging and are used when the speaker deliberately wishes to cause great offense.”  They go on to say, conversely, “it is sometimes used among African-Americans in a neutral or familiar way.”  Since he whispered the statement behind what he thought was a cold microphone, it is highly unlikely that Rev. Jackson intended to cause great offense and his use of the word probably falls into the latter category of usage. 

For example, the N-word can become much less offensive and even assume neutrality within historical discourse, literature, poetry, cinema theater and the like.  One could further argue that within certain contexts (i.e. rap music, conversations within the black households, neighborhoods and businesses, to name a few) connotations of the word can be construed so as to convey a sense of community…even a brotherhood, of sorts.  Language is fluid, dynamic and vital in its nature, not static or one-dimensional.  Context, message, intent, environment, speaker and audience all impact the ultimate nuance of meaning in all forms of communication. 

I agree with you and take deep offense at the use of the N-word, regardless of who says it.  However, I would like to comment on some of the other points you raised in your post.  A careful read of the actual statement shows that Rev. Jackson did not use this epithet to personally attack Obama.  Rather, he was referring to the black population as a whole.  Granted, his choice of words was extremely poor (at least from a white perspective), but the statement was not meant for public scrutiny.  It was spoken from one black individual to another, much the same was that Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s statements were made from black preacher to black congregation. 

As a white person, I do not believe I can sit in judgment one way or another regarding his choice of words when taken completely out of context, in the same way I am not qualified to criticize the sermons of Rev. Wright.  I would like to think that I am intelligent enough to understand that, having lived in the US as a white person both before and after the civil right eras (1948 to present), I have not experienced life in America the same way black people have.  They are entitled to their own “take” on their own lives.  Who am I to tell them how to “tell it like it is?”

One last point.  I am sure that much flap and bruhah will ensue over this unfortunate news.  However, the very fact that Rev. Sharpton, you, I, the media and countless others will be having this debate over our outrage and dismay is a testament as to just how effective Rev Jackson and other early leaders in the civil rights movement were in defining the key issues, defying status quo of his times, enlisting support for the cause, effectively engaging his opposition in ongoing bipartisan initiatives over nearly 4 decades and producing fruitful, far-reaching and substantial bodies of legislation from which today’s black community continue to reap bountiful benefits and blessings.  They weathered storms of protests, incarceration, series after series of setbacks and reversals, and buckets of bloodshed in their efforts to secure the civil liberties and rights that reach far beyond the black community to encompass other forms of discrimination against women, gays, immigrants and the poor, to name a few…all so casually taken for granted and so easily dismissed in the blink of an eye with one ill-chosen, unfortunate slip of the tongue. 

For those of us whose memories reach further back than the latest round of CNN sound bytes and chat room chatter, we probably would forgive Obama should he decide not to denounce Rev Jackson’s support, nor would we feel driven to force him to abandon his own pastor of 20 years for the sake of our own righteous indignation. 

Of course, we all know the Christian Right will haul out the WMDs to slay the messenger, but for the rest of us, this will be a pretty interesting read.  I have not had a chance to completely view the video, but it will be fascinating to see how the Christian Right can bash this Pentacostal Worldview.  Here's the link.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/02/palins-church-may-have-sh_n_123205.html

In Germany they first came for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me —
and by that time no one was left to speak up.

than an "anything goes" liberal. Yeah, we make mistakes sometimes, and we're not perfect, but at least we have a goal we're striving for. And for every conservative you ridicule, I could name 5 liberals that did the same thing but the media doesn't make a big thing about it. Of course, if it's a conservative, it's broadcast 24/7 - like Sanford - but the Edwards affair was actually covered up by the mainstream media and got no attention until the National Enquirer forced it into the open. Selective outrage, anyone?

theonion.com

Today Now!: How To Pretend You Give A S**t About The Election

There are so many funny ones at this site it was hard to decide on one!  You'll have to supply the 2 letters above which were refused.  What could they be?!

People who think Governor Sarah Palin didn't handle some "gotcha" questions well in a couple of interviews show no interest in how she compares to the Democrats' Vice Presidential candidate, Senator Biden.

Joe Biden is much more of the kind of politician the mainstream media like. Not only is he a liberal's liberal, he answers questions far more glibly than Governor Palin— grossly inaccurately in many cases, but glibly.

Moreover, this is a long-standing pattern with Biden. When he was running for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination back in 1987, someone in the audience asked him what law school he attended and how well he did.

Flashing his special phony smile, Biden said, "I think I have a much higher IQ than you do." He added, "I went to law school on a full academic scholarship" and "ended up in the top half" of the class.

But Biden did not have a full academic scholarship. Newsweek reported: "He went on a half scholarship based on need. He didn't finish in the 'top half' of his class. He was 76th out of 85."

Add to Obama and Biden House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and you have all the ingredients for a historic meltdown. Let us not forget that the Roman Empire did decline and fall, blighting the lives of millions for centuries.

To find out more about Thomas Sowell and read features by other Creators Syndicate columnists and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com. Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305. His Web site is www.tsowell.com.

It is very sad that Obama's grandmother passed.

For what it is worth....I don't criticize him for not stopping his campaigning.  He did stop earlier to go and see her, and I feel like she would want him to continue.

At any rate, my prayers for his family in what has to be a very difficult time.

...you're coming from, and it brings back a sad but very funny memory.

My mom died in 1982, and after the viewing, my cousin's husband's sister (no relation to me), whom I had never even met previously, came up to the minister, where my father and I were standing, and very seriously and sincerely thanked him for such a beautiful "urology."  My dad kicked my shoe a little bit, and all I could do was just immediately excuse myself because I knew if I looked at him, I wouldn't be able to NOT laugh.

Knowing my mother, she would have done the same thing -- kick my shoe a little bit -- as if to say, "Did you HEAR that?!"

I've always felt that humor truly does provide good medicine, and on what was undoubtedly one of the saddest days of my entire life, it injected itself in a most unlikely source and time in a way I'll never forget.

As far as Norm Crosby, I remember him well and will always relate to and appreciate his humor. 

...you're coming from, and it brings back a sad but very funny memory.

My mom died in 1982, and after the viewing, my cousin's husband's sister (no relation to me), whom I had never even met previously, came up to the minister, where my father and I were standing, and very seriously and sincerely thanked him for such a beautiful "urology."  My dad kicked my shoe a little bit, and all I could do was just immediately excuse myself because I knew if I looked at him, I wouldn't be able to NOT laugh.

Knowing my mother, she would have done the same thing -- kick my shoe a little bit -- as if to say, "Did you HEAR that?!" 

I've always felt that humor truly does provide good medicine, and on what was undoubtedly one of the saddest days of my entire life, it injected itself from a most unlikely source at a time and in a way I'll never forget.

As far as Norm Crosby, I remember him well and will always relate to and appreciate his humor. 

I am in a position to buy a new car (not going brand new, but 2008) and pay CASH for it.  After doing much research on the internet and deciding on the car I wanted, I then proceeded to find the "best" deals in a 150-mile area from my home.  Well, the 2nd best price actually came from the dealer that is only 20 miles from me, so I went there to talk to them.

Told them I was paying cash and asked if they could do a better deal to match the other dealership price about 50 miles away (mind you, this is a CHRYSLER dealership) if I wrote them a check and left with the car that day.  They said no, that the only way they made any money on cars was through financing and getting kickbacks so that the price they had was what I had to pay.

Now, if cars are not selling and people do not have any money to buy and banks are not financing right now, don't you think the smart thing would have been to match that other price and take my cash instead of letting me walk away?  That seems to me to be just greedy and just about shows you why the country is in the shape it is in. 

It seems as if they are saying if I can't make $100, I ain't gonna take the $90!!!

I try not to visit the bog of eternal stench. Funny though...sm

or else you'd have mastered the art of "twisting" and wouldn't have such high regard for the truth.

Lesson 1:  Visit the Conservative Board and study closely.

(Lesson 2 will follow as soon as you have successfully completed Lesson 1.)