Monday, March 12, 2007
Barack Obama for President !
I am supporting Barack Obama and his bid for the Presidency of the United States in the 2008 elections. I have never been as convinced or passionate about a candidate as I am for Obama. He is a good man who understands the plight of the poor and middle class. His values are strong but he is not an uncompromising ideologue. On the other hand, unlike Hillary Clinton, he will make stands and not give ground on fundamental issues. He was opposed to our preemptive invasion of Iraq and seeks to get our troops out as quickly and as safely as possible. His ideas of economic security, health insurance coverage, and education are sound and well reasoned. His foreign experience is first rate - he has lived abroad and served on the senate foreign relations committee. We desperately need a president who understands that there are real cultural differences in the world (and at home) and can work as a partner with others, not simply as an adversary. I intend to do everything in my power to help Barack Obama win the Democratic primary and the presidency in 2008. I encourage you all to learn more about the man and see why you should support him as well.
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About Me
- Matt
- Lima, Ohio, United States
- I was born and raised in Ohio. I am a lifelong Catholic Christian who has always been interested in the big questions of life. I have a passion for learning especially Philosophy, Science, Religion, History and Culture. I graduated from the University of Toledo in 2001 with a B.A. in International Relations. I married my soul-mate, Jen in 2001 and we moved to rural Tanigumi-mura Japan where we taught English for 3 years. We moved to California and lived in San Francisco and the Bay Area for 4 years. Tired of sitting on the sidelines, I began volunteering for the Barack Obama campaign in March of 2007 and was eventually hired as a Field Organizer. Through the Obama campaign, I found my calling and moved back to Ohio to continue organizing. In 2009 I helped the field operations of the Keith Wilkowski for Mayor of Toledo race. After that, I was hired as a Regional Field Director for 15 northwestern and north central Ohio counties for the 2010 Democratic Coordinated Campaign. Jen and I are continuing to volunteer as we wait for the next organizing opportunity to present itself.
5 comments:
Hi Matt,
Not sure how I stumbled on your blog, but wanted to share some information about Obama. I share in respect for open dialogue and do not hold any hope of pursuding you one way or the other, but it is good to be informed.
Peace and Love,
Mick
- "Catholic" Politicians Must Choose: March 13, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI issued a 100+-page apostolic exhortation called Sacramentum Caritatis (Sacrament of Love), explaining that Catholic politicians have a "non-negotiable" duty to oppose practices like abortion and euthanasia and reaffirmed the Catholic Church's position that political leaders who endorse these anti-life practices should voluntarily refuse communion
- Unbelievably, Obama continues to refuse to address the disproportionate killing of African American babies in their mother's womb. Obama even supports the killing of born and partially born children
- the only thing it appears that Senator Obama will support are immorality and lawlessness and he will support them with your paycheck!
- I find it hard to accept any justification a brother or sister in Christ might have for condoning abortion when I read this verse and its context.
- If our current congress is representative of America, then America is sick. “Abortion kills over 3200 Americans per day, and 1.2 million per year. A child is killed by abortion every 22 seconds in America. Over 45 million Americans have lost their lives to abortion since 1973. 50 million babies are killed worldwide every year. This crisis deserves the utmost attention of our policy makers, and leaders”
God forgive us. God I pray you would lead America to repentance. Give us leaders that value life, that cherish every person and would fight for their dignity and well being above their own personal goals and ambitions for power.
Good to see you posting again, Matt. I hope you are well. Send me a private email; I have some big news to share with you that I haven't shared over the net.
Jim
OK, First to address Mick’s posting,
Thank you Mick for your comments and your obvious concern for people to follow sound Christian ethics. I appreciate your comments and concerns in (what I hope) is the well-intentioned sprit in which they were offered.
First of all, I would like to say that I personally opposed to abortion. However, I believe that there are very good reasons to argue why the government should not be involved in punishing those who have or provide abortions. There are factors such as legal status of an unborn child, enforcement issues, differing beliefs based upon religious or legal grounds and issues of human rights. Unfortunately, we have to question whether many are opposed to abortion simply because they are interested in the welfare of the unborn, or whether they are simply trying to curtail women’s rights. Unfortunately, I believe that there are at least a few who fall into the latter category.
One of the things that most impresses me about Barack Obama is the fact that he does not simply argue his position or employ ad homonym attacks and straw man arguments to argue against opposing views. In the Audacity of Hope, Obama rightly points out that abortion is a difficult issue that is very emotionally charged. We should all recognize that fact no matter our position. Obama does.
Let us move on to your citing of Luke 1:15. You claim it is against abortion. I fail to see that. Read Luke 1:13 – 1:14. This passage is about John the Baptist and stresses the fact that he will live an ascetic life. To call this particular passage anti-abortion is a real stretch of the context. I have even seen this passage touted as proof that Christians should abstain from alcohol – despite the fact that Jesus drank wine.
In fact, I don’t know of any biblical passages that relate directly to abortion per se. The prohibition against killing is enough in my mind, but in my Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994) Liturgical Press, Collegeville Minnesota, p.547, the strongest citation against Abortion is from extra-biblical sources. The most direct of these is from Didachte 2 “You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish.”. Obviously the Catholic church condemns abortion and rightfully so. I agree with the church’s condemnation. I will never have or assist in an abortion and argued against abortion with those who were considering it. I will never support a Pro-Choice candidate simply because they are a Pro-Choice candidate. However, I do support many Pro-Choice candidates, including Barack Obama, whom I believe fits much more closely with more of Jesus’ values than many so-called Pro-Life candidates. I believe that puts me into adherence with current Vatican policies.
Thank you again for your concern and God bless.
-Matt
Matt,
Thank you for understanding the good intention of my comment! It is hard to get a sense of "emotion" across in blog comments, and worse on such an issue!
Thank God we can talk in the Spirit of brotherly love.
I will, however, continue to disagree with you. I think God's hand of grace will continue to be removed from our nation as long as we continue to support such an act of inhumanity. Make no mistake, my anger is not directed at politicians or government, but at the Church for not witnessing a better moral way.
But, a government endorsement, even an implied one, devalues the sanctity of life and man as the image of God. Today it's the fetus, tomorrow the child, the next day is the elderly, then the "lame" and "weak". . . and on down the slippery slope. As evidenced yesterday by Hitler's "perfect race", and today in the Fetal Farming case in the Ukraine and the like minded here in America
Before being sworn in as president, Democrat Bill Clinton was told that he should "start immediately to eliminate the barely educated, unhealthy and poor segment of the country." Clinton received the advice in a letter from an advocate for the abortion drug regimen RU-486, which the president promoted during his first official act in the White House, according to a new report. (Hall)
As for my Luke 1:15 devotional, it was not about abortion, but about the Angel Gabriel talking about John and Jesus before their conception. . . I'm implying that life has value, in God's eyes, even before conception in the womb. And I think the psalmist would agree (Psalm 139).
Thanks again and may God richly bless you!
Mick
You are right to worry about the slippery slope argument of allowing abortion. I share your concerns about it devaluing human life.
Remember, I am opposed to abortion.
However, there are slippery slope arguments in the other direction as well that are perhaps just as serious.
Woman have had to fight very hard for equal rights and acceptance as being equal to men. And to advocate anti-abortion policies might prove to be a solution as bad as or worse than its problem. Do we create a police state that monitors doctors and invade the privacy of women? Do we throw women into jail who are scared and confused for consulting with a doctor about a now banned proceedure? Do we choose to act completely in the best interests of the unborn by chaining women down to ensure that they will not injure the life inside them? If we are willing to do all that, why should we stop there?
The inquisition was formed to save people's immortal souls. After all what is a few days/weeks/months/years of pain and torture compared to the potential bliss of the afterlife? But they ended up being simple brutal torturers who may have lost thier own souls rather than "saving" the souls of the poor Jews and Muslims they put to pain.
I am not sure how to handle the abortion issue in such a manner as to be sensitive to the rights and needs of both mother and unborn. Perhaps being inside another human being, it sould be considered "outside our jurisdiction". I am not sure - I struggle with the issue. It is a mistake to think that there are any simple solutions to this issue.
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