Posted by
Zanagy on Monday, July 28, 2008 11:20:07 AM
In Germany a few days ago, Barack Obama stated, "Tonight, I speak to you not as a Candidate for President, but as a citizen - a proud citizen of the United States and a fellow citizen of the world." He later opined, "The walls between old allies on both sides of the Atlantic cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes, natives and immigrants, Christian and Moslem and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down."
On June 24, 2006, in his 'Call to Renewal' speech he said, "Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values. It requires that their proposals be subject to argument, and amendable to reason." He went on to explain what he meant by his statement by giving an example, "I may be opposed to abortion for religious reasons, but if I seek to pass a law banning the practice, I cannot simply point to the teachings of my church or evoke God's will. I have to explain why abortion violates some principle that is accessible to people of all faiths, including those with no faith at all".
He has made it clear in these two speeches that he believes that our government cannot tolerate individual beliefs or stands based on beliefs, unless everyone in the country agrees to them. In other words, he believes that we must either take the most general point-of-view on an issue or accept both concepts at the same time. That would mean that the person with the most general position on crime would be the standard that I would have to accept, thus I could no longer impose my belief that crime is illegal based upon my Christian views or I would have to accept that we both have individual views of morality, so I would have to accept that we are both right. Government, then would have to allow any behavior having to do with values or morals because we would have to take a "universal, rather than religion-specific" view of the issue and not base our opinions on scripture nor from a religious foundation.
As a Christian, I would either have to accept that Christ is simply a man, no more special than anyone else or I would have to accept that Christ is God in the flesh and son of God (Christian perspective), a prophet (Moslem perspective), a great teacher (Jewish perspective) AND a simple man because I would have to take a universal point-of-view regarding Christ. As a Christian, it would go against my core belief to deny that Christ is anything less than God in flesh and the son of God, as I am sure that it would go against another's religious core belief to accept that Christ is God.
From a cultural perspective, I consider myself to be an American, not a citizen of the world. While I love to learn about various civilizations and peoples, I respect other cultures, and I am intrigued by historical novels, I cannot say that I am apart of the bigger world community. Being American doesn't mean to be a specific culture, religion, race, religion or creed. It means to be apart of a common constitutional government that allows differences among peoples to exist without having to assimilate, or change to become a part of it. It is about being different individuals yet equal as citizens. Barack's world bodes of taking the common thought and making it the universal thought and standard. For example, I would have to be Arabic, Indian, Chinese, European and Spanish all at the same time. I would have to conform to a universal culture and assimilate all cultures into mine and I would have to change to be part of the world community.
I do not wish to take on a universal worldview. I happen to treasure the uniqueness of my life, views and cultural heritage. While the Australian culture and heritage grab my attention creating a desire to learn all about them, I have no desire to be an Australian. I know who I am and what I believe and talking of world communion leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.
Unitarian Universalism accepts any religious philosophy, in which someone believes all persons and creatures are related to God and will be reconciled to God. In the church where Jeremiah Wright preaches, a member can be Moslem or Jewish to be a member, as well as a Christian. Barack has a strong desire to be associated with God as he shows in his 'Call to Renewal' speech, yet he doesn't have any inclination to follow that Bible in all its teachings as he believes the Bible is not inerrant (it is flawed) and that some scriptures are more important than others (so he picks and chooses what he thinks is important). While I respect his choice to believe in this manner, I in no way can accept his universally broad view of the world. We were made special and unique by the Creator and I feel blessed by that knowledge while I have great joy in knowing that everyone is not like nor thinks like me.
Additionally, now that I understand his world-view I can now comprehend, while not agree with, how he can take on view of both opposite sides of an issue and still feel genuine and sincere, in his own mind.