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Call to Renewal Analysis

By mrboma - Jul 6th, 2008 at 5:34 am EDT

This is the second essay I have written on Obama's public religiosity. This is an in depth analysis of Senator Obama's keynote speech at the Call to Renewal Conference in 2006, and was written about a week following the speech at the request of Pastor Dan on the blog Street Prophets. If you select [Issues] on Obama's website, and then choose [Faith] from the drop down menu, you can watch the speech this essay addresses. At the time, Senator Obama told Pastor Dan that many of the criticisms of his speech had come from people who had not read or heard the entire speech. So I went back and watched the speech a few times and read the full text to see what critics were missing. Taken as a whole, I found it to be a self-contradictory mess, and a worry that Senator Obama's religiosity may threaten the wall of separation between Church and State. I am especially concerned given his recent proposal on so-called faith-based initiatives. Read More »

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Senator Obama, Please Sign The Declaration Of INTERdependence

By mrboma - Jun 26th, 2008 at 8:27 pm EDT

In 1944, two leaders of the Jewish and Christian communities approached Pulitzer Prize winning philosopher Will Durant about creating a movement to raise moral standards. What emerged from this meeting was a decision to create a movement to fight intolerance, instead. Durant created the seminal document of this new movement, the "Declaration of INTERdependence." The movement started with a bang, featuring gala events in Hollywood, and reached its apex when the Declaration was read into the Congressional Record on October 1, 1945 by the Honorable Ellis E. Patterson. However, the INTERdependence movement soon faded and was replaced by the civil rights movement. But the Declaration of Interdependence is as relevant now as it was then.

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Declaration of INTERdependence

Human progress having reached a high level through respect for the liberty and dignity of men, it has become desirable to re-affirm these evident truths:

· That differences of race, color, and creed are natural, and that diverse groups, institutions, and ideas are stimulating factors in the development of man;

· That to promote harmony in diversity is a responsible task of religion and statesmanship;

· That since no individual can express the whole truth, it is essential to treat with understanding and good will those whose views differ from our own;

· That by the testimony of history intolerance is the door to violence, brutality and dictatorship; and

· That the realization of human interdependence and solidarity is the best guard of civilization.

Therefore, we solemnly resolve, and invite everyone to join in united action.

· To uphold and promote human fellowship through mutual consideration and respect;

· To champion human dignity and decency, and to safeguard these without distinction of race, or color, or creed;

· To strive in concert with others to discourage all animosities arising from these differences, and to unite all groups in the fair play of civilized life.

ROOTED in freedom, bonded in the fellowship of danger, sharing everywhere a common human blood, we declare again that all men are brothers, and that mutual tolerance is the price of liberty.
__________________________________

Senator Obama (and everyone else) can add their signatures to the Declaration by sending an email to feedback@willdurant.com including your full name, country and city of origin, and occupation.

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Senator Obama, Please Don't Call Me The Boogeyman!

By mrboma - Jun 26th, 2008 at 8:01 pm EDT

I am a secular humanist. That means I am an atheist with a coherent liberal world view. It does not mean I am a person with no faith, and I wish Senator Obama would not refer to the non-theistic as "people of no faith." I simply choose to place my faith in the potential of the human species rather than in the supernatural. The bottom line is that people create their own societies; we choose what kind of society we create. We have that power. And with that power comes responsibility. I have faith that with enough effort, we can create a good and just society that allows all people to fulfill their potential. In many ways Barack Obama embodies some of the faith (or hope) that I have built my personal world view around.

However, I have a problem with Senator Obama's treatment of the non-religious in his speeches. In particular, I am thinking of his seminal speech two years ago at the Call To Renewal Conference. You know, the one Dr. Dobson has been criticising lately (not surprisingly, my criticisms are in a different universe from Dr. Dobson's). I think Senator Obama dangerously embraced a rightwing lie about the non-religious, and I would like him to reconsider the way he talks about such issues in the future.

This first essay is mostly about what a Secular Humanist is and how the right wing has attacked secular humanism, and through those attacks, attacked all liberalism. It also tells my personal story of how I became a secular humanist. I will be posting a second essay which is a very in-depth analysis of Senator Obama's Call to Renewal Conference speech. Read More »

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