The American Spectator

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p> KEEP THE FAITH br> Re: Sean Higgins' The Audacity of What? : /p>

Sean Higgins makes some interesting points. To attempt to bolster his thesis, I would note that as Rev. Wright made his media presentations last week, he seemed to pointedly refer to Jesus as a Prophet (as opposed to the Son of God, the Redeemer, the Savior, who takes away the sins of the World, who through his resurrection brings about the triumph over death, and the resurrection of all mankind, the only path to the Father, One with the Father, the foundation of Christianity, whose kingdom is not of this world), Rev. Wright seems to accord Jesus the same status afforded to Him in Islam, the same status as Mohammed. (Hence the affinity of Wright and Farrakhan?) Black Liberation Theology seems to be Old Testament based, with Christ seen as the Political Liberator rather than the Divine Redeemer. Which raises the question: Is Reverend Wright a Christian in the usual sense of the term? From what I can gather, he is not. Christianity for him seems to be Marxist Black Supremacy/Separatism disguised as religion (for tax purposes?) -- the flip side of the Black Muslim coin, without significant difference.

I would add the notion that perhaps the reason Obama seems to enjoy the support of the liberal intellectual elite and the media is that he is (correctly?) perceived by them to share their agnosticism/atheism, or at least a sort of reflex antipathy to religion, as reflected in his San Francisco statement on God and guns, in dramatic contradistinction to George Bush's religious orientation, not to mention the religious right, which the left cannot abide. Obama's seeming antipathy may actually be mostly an indifference to religion per se, the anthropologist's perspective that Mr. Higgins describes, with religion appropriated for reasons of social and political activism and opportunism from his far left position in Chicago. That seems to concord with the United Church of Christ's general tenor, as the Church includes as ministers even those who are atheists, as the Rev. Barry Lind, who simultaneously is the head of Americans United for Separation of Church and State which principally attempts to suppress religious expression (ironic, as the origins of the UCC are in the religious institutions that provided the basis for the American Founding, which bars any state restriction on religious expression, whereas the UCC now appears dedicated to over-turning the American Founding -- again the apparent goal of the Far Left, the Progressives, those such as Chomsky, Soros, etc., and their surrogates, a considerable portion of the Democratic Party!).

Finally, this illustrates, I believe, why Obama didn't think he needed to distance himself from Rev. Wright (e.g., his constituency of liberal elites understood his luke-warm attitude toward religion already, and believed that he didn't really take Rev. Wright seriously except from a political standpoint -- exactly what his San Francisco comments communicated, while his constituency in the Black Church would celebrate his affiliation with Wright), why he stayed in Trinity Church for 20 years (the politics were advantageous, with the religion more political than religious, which fit Obama's religious perspective, or lack thereof), and why the Rev. Wright interlude hasn't particularly affected his base, or the North Carolina or Indiana primary outcomes, despite his shifting statements on Wright.

p>For Martin Luther King, his political and civil rights activities grew out of his religious faith, his faith in the American Founding, and his faith in the American People. For Barack Obama, his Religious Faith, such as it is, seems to be a convenient appendage to his political ambitions, he appears to have no regard for the American Founding, and his Faith in the American People seems to focus on their gullibility and willingness to accept pure cant as a political message of salvation, and their growing antipathy to the American Founding in favor of a completely centralized socialist form of government. No one should be surprised if he succeeds based on this cynical agnostic anti-Americanism. Unfortunately, this is what America has become -- a cynical, self-loathing, self-destructive, agnostic nation. The World is turning Upside Down again. But, as Dennis Miller is wont to say, these are just my opinions; I could be wrong. br> -- Kent Lyon br> College Station, Texas /p>

"One doesn't expect a nudist to argue with his tailor."

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