Retaining Our Humanity

The White House has decided not to release the death photos of Osama Bin Laden. Critics on the airwaves and in Congress are decrying the secrecy and fanning the flames of conspiracy. "How can we be sure he's dead?" they say. Can't we, just this once, believe our Commander in Chief? No? How about believing in Seal Team Six? No?

What will releasing the pictures accomplish? People who do not want to believe this President will not believe any proof that is offered. We could put Bin Laden's body on public display at Ground Zero and still these people wouldn't believe. Unless George W. Bush himself testified that he personally shot Bin Laden, carried his body back to U.S. soil and conducted the DNA analysis, conspiracy theorists and Obama haters will refuse to believe the truth. Can't we just praise the bravery and professionalism of those involved in taking down Bin Laden while honoring our dead?

By not releasing the death photos, Obama is doing his best to protect the safety of our service men and women around the globe and at the same time regaining some of the restraint, dignity, and humanity that our country has lost during our war on terror.

Well done Mr. President and God bless.

So much for religious tolerance...

I knew he couldn't keep it non judgmental when it comes to religion. You know who I'm talking about. Yesterday, just minutes after telling people to turn to god to restore our honor, Reverend Beck was, again, slamming President Obama's faith and accusing the President of not being a Christian. From the mouth of the Reverend,

"You see, it's all about victims and victimhood; oppressors and the oppressed; reparations, not repentance; collectivism, not individual salvation. I don't know what that is, other than it's not Muslim, it's not Christian. It's a perversion of the gospel of Jesus Christ as most Christians know it."

Note his clever way of sneaking in the the "Is the President a Muslim??" question in his statement. What Beck is alluding to are tenets of social justice, which actually play an important role in Catholicism and the United Methodist Church (and Judaism, and probably many other faiths).

I don't want to turn this blog into a course on comparative religion since I'm not an expert on that subject by any means. But I do think that Beck takes one before he starts preaching about what is and isn't a Christian value. I do want to point out his hypocrisy and lies as well as the danger of his rhetoric.

As much as I may mock the Tea Party movement, I hope that the Tea Party rabble will mobilize into an official third party for the next round of elections. If Republican politicians don't have to kowtow to the tea baggers, they can focus on core Republican values of smaller government, fiscally conservative policies, and a strong military. Those are values I can respect and work with. It's time to take religion (or whatever that was that Beck was spouting) out of politics.

Being a pinko, peacenik, knee-jerk, Kennedy-supporting, gay rights supporting liberal, my voice doesn't carry much weight with the people for whom Beck purports to speak. I hope that my Republican friends (yes, I do have Republican friends - you know who you are and thanks for the pizza!) will stand up and say "This man does not speak for me or the Republican Party!"

BTW -- to learn a little more about Liberation Theology check out the link on the right.