For all intents and purposes, the primary season (an unprecedentedly long and arduous endurance contest it was, particularly on the Democratic side) is now over, and the general election campaign has commenced.
Before the nation plunges into the partisan atmosphere inevitably generated by a general presidential campaign, Americans need to pause, to reflect, and to savor the moment.
The United States of America, who’s Supreme Court declared slaves to be property, not humans, 151 years ago, in the infamous Dred Scott decision, has experienced one of its two major parties nominating a presidential candidate who is of mixed African and Caucasian ethnic heritage.
If Senator Obama were to be elected, he would be serving as president when the sesquicentennial (150th anniversary) of the Civil War rolls around in 2011, and if re-elected, when the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation occurs in 2013.
I am sure that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is smiling at this historic moment in his country’s history. Surely, Senator Obama’s nomination as the presidential standard bearer for one of the nation’s two major parties is one of the things Dr. King had in mind when he dreamed of an America in which people would “not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
I am not naïve enough to believe that racism is no longer part of our society. However, I do believe that Senator Obama’s nomination demonstrates that it is no longer metastasizing, and that the Civil Rights Movement has provided chemotherapy and radiation treatments which have shrunk this deadly cancer in American society to a considerable degree.
Whether you are a Democrat, a Republican, or an Independent, or whether you plan to vote for Senator Obama or not, as Americans, we should all give our country at least two cheers for continuing the march toward the fulfillment of the promise of our founding document—“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. . . .”
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Diana Butler Bass is a religion scholar and author of Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church is Transforming the Faith. She blogs at 
Tony Campolo is Professor Emeritus at Eastern University and author of The God of Intimacy and Action: Reconnecting Ancient Spiritual Practices, Evangelism, and Justice, with Mary Darling. He blogs at 
Rod Dreher is a columnist for The Dallas Morning News and author of Crunchy Cons: The New Conservative Counterculture and Its Return to Roots. He blogs at 
Bruce Feiler is the author of seven books, including Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses. He blogs at 
Dan Gilgoff is Politics Editor at Beliefnet and author of The Jesus Machine: How James Dobson, Focus on the Family, and Evangelical America are Winning the Culture War. He blogs at 
David Kuo served as a special assistant to President George W. Bush and is the author of Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction. He blogs at 
Dr. Richard Land is president of The Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and author of The Divided States of America? What Liberals AND Conservatives are missing in the God-and-country shouting match!
Michele McGinty is a mom and a student at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. She blogs at 
Brian McLaren is a pastor, musician, and author of Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope. He blogs at 
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Jim Wallis is executive director of Sojourners/Call to Renewal and author of God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It. He blogs at
Maybe we should give our country 3 cheers. Obama is the first black person nominated to lead any western power. There is no where but in America that his story is possible.
Maybe we should give our country 3 cheers. As far as I know, we are the only western country that has nominated a black person to be its leader. As Americans, we should be proud of that.
Too bad Mr. Land isn't serious when he types the words “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. . . .”
Most of you are good people, but it just takes a few to muddy the entire picture with their ignorance and hatred.
I personally feel that senator obama was sincere in his speech at AIPAC this past week and that he meant what he was saying about protecting Isreal.
Just give him the same patience and chance as we are giving to john McCain.
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