Too far

We received a chain email this week that, in my opinion, goes too far. Basically this email is making the claim that the real reason that people are voting for McCain is that Obama is black. That we are overlooking all his negative traits simply because he is white. It is titled "If the tables were turned" and makes some statements about McCain, but put in a way that if Obama was the one who ____. (all negative statements, by the way) This is one of the final statements

If these questions reflected a reality, if the tables were turned, do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are? This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative characteristics in another when there is a color difference.

First of all, this is politics we are talking about. It doesn't matter the color of the person, ALL parties emphasize negative characteristics in the opposing party and downplay negative characteristics in their own party(which, by the way, we ALL have some negative characteristics). Sure, there probably are people who are voting for McCain because he is white. But, then again, you could say there are some who are voting for Obama simply because he has some African American blood. It could go both ways.

Secondly, this notion of racisim in this election is what could split this country up. If you go to Todd's blogs you will see how he and I have thought and wrestled with coming to an understanding on how Christians can vote for Obama because of certain fundamental family and biblical differences between he and McCain. Neither candidate is perfect, but we really feel that McCain and the Republican party more closely align themselves with our beliefs. (again, realizing that neither party is perfect in God's eyes) We have listened to the rationale of people who disagree with us. But, to claim that ultimately it comes down to color is very offensive to me and to many other McCain supporters I'm sure. For those believers out there who are voting for Obama, PLEASE stop this talk. It is not helpful to our community or our nation.

Whomever is the elected President next week, they are appointed by God. We need to respect that God has a reason for his election. If it happens to be McCain then I pray that people stop and think before they react. With chain letters like I mentioned, I worry about rioting and much worse. Again, if you are an Obama supporter and you are a Christian, please do not encourage the racism line of politics.