Christian pianist Huntley Brown probably isn’t a household word in the Christian music industry, but for many who rely on chain, forwarded emails as their personal soapboxes, he may be a familiar name.
That’s because there’s an email written by Brown making the rounds in which he clearly and specifically lays out his thoughts on why he will not be voting for Obama in November.
In the email, Brown says, “Many of my friends process their identity through their blackness. I process my identity through Christ … I can’t vote black because I am black; I have to vote Christian because that’s who I am. Christian first, black second.”
The problem, as we all know, is that those chain emails are rarely legit. Except, in this case, the go-to site for the truth about hoaxes and urban myths, Snopes.com, verifies that Brown did write that email.
But he didn’t write it for you.
Brown tells Snopes.com that he wrote that email to some friends who were urging him to vote for Obama because he was black, adding that he never meant for the email to be shared around the world and didn’t write it to sway public opinion. Despite the hate mail that he’s gotten from people who have read the email, Brown insists that he doesn’t hate Obama (or gays or women who’ve had abortions), adding, “I love and appreciate Senator Obama but our views are diametrically opposed.”
I wonder why Brown’s friends would pass that email around the internet, especially when it was meant to be a private response in a discussion among friends. Shame on them.
But now that it’s out there, I’m really not sure what the problem is. A black man who isn’t going to vote for another black man just because he’s black, but instead plans to make his decision based entirely on where the candidate stands on the issues, isn’t a racist. He’s an American who uses his God-given, Constitutional rights to weigh the issues and make an informed choice that best reflects his own views.
Besides, there’s more to Huntley Brown than just that email.
The Jamaican-born Brown came to the US to attend Judson College in Elgin, Illinois and is an accomplished artist who had performed around the world. He was the regular crusade pianist for the recently retired Dr. Ralph Bell, an associate evangelist with the Billy Graham Association and is now the pianist for Ruth Graham and Friends Ministries. Brown’s electrifying playing earned him the Top Caribbean Gospel Instrumentalist Award for 2005 and 2006.
Brown’s ministry touches all ages and demographics. In one case, he was allowed to perform at a gang-infested high school, where the student body was allowed to assemble, under police guard, for the first time in four years to hear Huntley. The students responded with rapt attention and wild appreciation, including a deafening, heart-rending standing ovation.
To read Brown’s entire email, along with his response to Snopes.com, visit Snopes.com.
(UPDATE 2/12/09 - I heard from Huntley Brown this week, who has requested that I remove this post due to the overwhelming amount of hate mail and threats he’s receiving. While I can’t unpublish a story, I do want to remind you that Mr. Brown wrote this email to his family and friends back before the election and it was made public by someone else. With the election over, Mr. Brown says, “Now that he is elected I am committed to praying for him as we have been instructed to do in the Bible. God bless you and God bless America.” Even if your opinion differs from Mr. Brown about President Obama, I urge you to refrain from sending hate mail. We’re all allowed to have different opinions.)
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posted October 21, 2008 at 1:32 pm
well said.
A friend of mine received that email and forwarded it to an elist for my denomination.
This is what happened http://radicallyreal.blogspot.com
posted October 22, 2008 at 9:55 am
After reading “why he can’t vote for Obama” in our local newspaper, I really commend his stand and agree 100%. We can look at his (Obama’s mentors) friends from earlier years and see who he is. None of them are reputable and yet look at their places in our society. Those who help bring him into office are truly unaware of who he really is and then it will be too late. He is a liar and a fraud, and I fear for our future.
posted October 22, 2008 at 2:06 pm
One day various communities will conclude that “black”, or any other label by color, is not a scientific group. People who identify with being “black” or Afro American come from all over the world, have many ethnicities, many cultures, many nationalities. Some consider themselves “human” first, then gender second, before accepting the color of their skin as their identity. Actually, I think the language of the Republican is so very different than that of a Democrat or any other party. What terrifies me is the blind loyalty.
posted October 23, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Regardless of whether I intend to vote for obama or not, I don’t believe that is the issue. When it is all said and done, every politician, REPUBLICANS included have their own agenda. Did the christian community make such a fuss when it was expected that Hillary clinton would win? I judt hope this is trully about his spiritual beliefs and less about the fact that he is a black man trying to achieve a feat that no other black man has. As far as the pianist stating that he didn’t mean for it to get out to the public, i truly hope that’s what it is and not a cheap way to get added notoriety. I can’t help but notice the attention given to his ministry after his claim that he hadn’t intended for his e-mail to get out.
posted October 24, 2008 at 11:07 am
Here is a really unique concept: Let each Christian stand up and accept responsibility for their own family. If your family is
raised properly, then you and your church should be able to prevent
unwanted pregnancy, abortion and homosexuality. I do not expect the
Government to dictate our morals anymore than I expect them to
dictate our religion. We need to tend to our own needs and let the
government tend to theirs. Abortion is not a crime but it is not mandated that I have one. It is legal for me to carry a gun, but I am not required to kill anyone with it. It is legal for me to be a homosexual but not required to be one. See what I mean? We have a choice in this Country and we need to have sense enough to exercise that choice in our personal lives.
posted October 28, 2008 at 3:07 am
Here is a really unique concept: Let each Christian stand up and accept responsibility for their own family. If your family is
raised properly, then you and your church should be able to prevent
unwanted pregnancy, abortion and homosexuality. I do not expect the
Government to dictate our morals anymore than I expect them to
dictate our religion. We need to tend to our own needs and let the
government tend to theirs. Abortion is not a crime but it is not mandated that I have one. It is legal for me to carry a gun, but I am not required to kill anyone with it. It is legal for me to be a homosexual but not required to be one. See what I mean? We have a choice in this Country and we need to have sense enough to exercise that choice in our personal lives.
Ditto: Everyone has an agenda. What’s yours Mr. Brown, is it to sell more music…..notariety? Who do you collect your 40 pieces of silver from?
For the past 8 years what has the Republican Party done about any of the issues raised about “same sex marriage” “abortion” robing families of their life savings in the name of democracy. The rich have gotten richer and the poor have gotten poorer while we continue to fall for that same trick again and again about who’s more religious and who’s more American. How can anyone be so blinded to what is going on here. Wake up America!!!!!!!
posted October 28, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Well said Mac Texas & Evelyn!
posted October 28, 2008 at 3:18 pm
by that same rationale… mac texas and evelyn…if each family is to take ownership of their own families (which i do believe we need to do) why do you even vote? By your rationale, ALL rules and regulations have a moral and religious standard by which they are imposed, if they didn’t what would be the purpose of rules? Sure abortions are legal and you are not required to have one… but if we as a society cont’ to allow abortions right up until the baby is practically born (as in partial birth abortions) one day in the delivery room, a mother might be able to say, nevermind, i changed my mind, kill it. That seems far off and unimaginable to you right now.. but it’s called incrementalism. Little by little we allow things (we allow “change”) until one day, we are a society with basically no rules at all. Is the change we are seeking, change for the future or in actuality change to the our medievil pasts? America needs to wake up alright…
posted October 29, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Someone sent Mr. Huntley’s letter to my husband and this is his response.
Thanks for forwarding me Mr. Huntley Brown’s thoughtful piece. I respect his call to Christians to view the presidential voting decision as Christians rather than based upon the color of one’s skin. For Christians, such an approach would also demand us to ignore the “talking points” and “scare tactics” that the political parties and campaigns may employ from time to time.
Christians Supporting Obama
In fact, many Christians like myself are taking the same approach suggested by Mr. Brown and voting for Senator Obama. Here are some links that explain why this is the case better than I can address with my writing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HK4w9LHhu30
http://matthew25.org/ourads.htm
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/faithissues
In short, there are many issues that Christians need to be concerned about, including poverty, peace, housing, jobs and health care. He spoke of this in his highly regarded speech to the Call to Renewal Conference. http://www.barackobama.com/issues/faith/
As a delegate for Senator Obama to the Democratic National Convention, I attended the “Faith Caucus” in which Christian and Jewish clergy discussed these issues. This discussion was led by a Pentecostal preacher who was a member of the Obama campaign team. All of these people of faith were supporting Senator Obama, not because of the color of his skin, but because of the content of his character and his plans to address these many issues.
Partial Birth Abortion
Mr. Brown is not speaking the truth concerning Senator Obama’s position. I will give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he is misinformed. Senator Obama has stated publicly on more than one occasion that he will sign into law a ban on partial birth abortions. So Mr. Brown’s graphic description of the procedure and statements to the contrary come across as uninformed scare tactics. The real debate is over the “health of the mother” exception which Senator Obama supports and his opponent does not.
Pro-Life for Obama
Since Senator Obama is “pro-choice”, he will never be able to completely satisfy “pro life” voters who may choose to vote based upon this single issue.
However, there are “pro-life” Christians that are supporting Obama. http://www.prolifeproobama.com/ This is based upon his commendable efforts to find common ground on this issue to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies. It is also based upon the recognition that a new approach is needed to break the current political deadlock on this important issue. Calling people “baby killers”, as I have heard in a local church, does nothing to reduce abortions.
Senator Obama has broken with Democratic presidential candidates of the past by arguing that “no one is in favor of abortion”, sponsoring the Prevention First Act, and including unwanted pregnancy reduction in the Democratic Party Platform. http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/womenissues
Thus, Obama is a candidate who seeks to reduce unintended pregnancies in the US which hopefully will reduce abortions in a meaningful way. This is an area that the “pro-life” and “pro-choice” groups can work together on. Frankly, this approach and facilitating adoptions may be more effective as a practical matter than a reversal of Roe v. Wade. Abortions did occur in the U.S. prior to that 1973 decision, but we can help women avoid them in other ways irrespective of the fate of that case.
War & Peace
For me personally, there are no greater issues where even our “Christian” politicians fail us than issues of war and peace. Although our brave soldiers should be commended for their service, our national leaders who pushed for the invasion that started the Iraq War should be ashamed. It was sold to the American people based upon deception that was rebutted by the CIA’s own National Intelligence Estimate.
While some Christians put aside their Christianity when it comes to war, its effects are too devastating to be ignored. In Iraq alone, thousands of innocent men, women and children have lost their lives or loved ones. Millions of Iraqis have been turned into homeless refugees or been forced to leave their country. http://www.refugeesinternational.org/content/article/detail/9679
While his opponent has not articulated an “exit strategy”, Senator Obama has a plan for bringing our occupation of Iraq to a responsible end. http://www.barackobama.com/issues/iraq/ This concept of a phased withdrawal has been embraced both by the Iraqi government and even recently by the Bush Administration. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2008/10/post-1.html
Senator Obama showed unique judgment and courage in speaking out against the war before it started. http://www.barackobama.com/2002/10/02/remarks_of_illinois_state_sen.php That tells me that he has the critical judgment and wisdom necessary to avoid unnecessary wars and its devastating consequences.
“Liberalism”
I frankly find the “liberal” and “conservative” labels to be unhelpful. Is it “conservative” to support continued spending $10 billion per month in Iraq?
Is it “liberal” for Senator Obama to oppose gay marriage based upon his Christian beliefs?
Is it “liberal” for Senator Obama to support the expansion of President Bush’s “faith based initiatives”?
Those are in fact his positions. Yet Mr. Brown didn’t mention them in his letter, even though they are unpopular with so called “liberals”.
Rev. Wright & His Former Church
This part of the letter appears to pre-date Senator Obama leaving his former church and rebuking his controversial former pastor. While Mr. Brown argues against Senator Obama’s character based upon some of the outlandish and divisive comments of Rev. Wright, he sidesteps the real test of Obama’s character. Did the well publicized isolated sermons of Rev. Wright turn Barack Obama into a hate-filled, angry or racist man?
There is no evidence whatsoever of this misguided “guilt by association” attack. In fact, Senator Obama is well-known by observers of politics for his approach of bringing diverse people together for the common good, to focus on issues, not personal attacks, and to “disagree, without being disagreeable”. Notably, he has run his campaign for President as an American for all Americans, not for any one select racial group.
For those who have not been following Senator Obama’s campaign closely, these aspects of his character and candidacy may have been ignored. But he made them clear in Philadelphia when he addressed the Rev. Wright controversy. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/18/obama-race-speech-read-t_n_92077.html
Subsequently, in announcing that he was leaving his former Church, he reiterated the obvious. That the divisive comments of Rev. Wright were diametrically opposed to everything he stood for. Had Mr. Brown read Obama’s best-selling book from several years prior “The Audacity of Hope”, this would have been clear to him too.
Fortunately, Rev. Wright is not the candidate for President. The candidate is Barack Obama and his proposals in no way reflect the divisive comments of his former pastor. http://www.barackobama.com/issues/
WWJD?
Finally, I must object to Mr. Brown’s argument that only one of the Presidential candidates has the “value system” that can be supported by Christians and, by implication, supported by God.
We live in an imperfect world. Much like ourselves, both of these candidates have their own transgressions and short comings. To the extent we view value systems based upon life experience, both of these men have fallen short in their own ways. That is no surprise.
To the extent this is viewed through their proposals, they are both a mixed bag. Both of them have some worthy policy proposals. Both have plans that Christians can admire. And both have plans that Christians can criticize.
Some Christian voters will be more passionate about feeding the hungry, providing help to the homeless, or helping those without health insurance. Others will be more passionate about war and peace, caring for the downtrodden, even those in other countries. Others will be passionate about protecting the unborn or advancing the sanctity of life.
We can all find ways of speaking out on those issues that are most important to us as Christians, including voting for our presidential candidate of choice. But to suggest that one candidate is necessarily the only “Christian” choice is very misleading.
No matter who we vote for or who wins the election, let’s come together and remember that we are one Nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
God Bless,
posted October 30, 2008 at 12:11 am
Although I admire your accomplishments I abhore your choices,My beef with you? The Repubican party right now is a dangerous choice because there’s no unity there.Have you even read where Ms.Palin came from and how she treats black men of God in her state? Or that her husband who belonged to an organization who wants to remove Alaska from the Union? Or that Top McCain aids say she is a “whack Job” This is your choice for a person second in line to run our country? And you seem to think Obama is misguided? CHECK YOURSELF !!
posted October 31, 2008 at 4:44 pm
OK, in my opinion my Bible tells me that the lord put a tree in the garden and gave Adam and Eve…choice.
The Lord told Judas that he didn’t have to do this, turning him in with a kiss… choice.
The Lord told Moses to tell Pharaoh to let his people go, Pharaohs made…. choices.
On and on all through the Bible you will see choice.
If the Lord give us choice then you are subject to deal with the consequences of your choices.
However, you still have a choice.
who are we to stop the choice of another?
Most of are medical knowledge today comes from the experiments done to blacks and Jewish people from slaves, holocaust and many other atrocity’s.
Christians take more birth control ( which sometimes abort ) more than any other religious group in the world, yet we adopt less children.
Stem cell research, if you needed a kidney or heart or other vital organ and it was developed from a stem cell and your life or a loved ones life depended on it….what would you do?
Don’t throw stones when we all live in glass houses.
Keep your eye’s on the Lord this is only a temporary drop off the Lord got all children even before they would ever come into the mothers womb…they are covered, believe that.
Our other candidate, keep the war going and kill more adults…we only win with the Lord, he told us his agenda. Keep your eyes on him, stand fast.
posted November 1, 2008 at 1:52 am
Teri -
Is “your husband” the same person found at this link -
?
When I ran the simple google search for your contrived phrase – “Thanks for forwarding me Mr. Huntley Brown’s thoughtful piece” the same message was posted there.
Why? – Professional political blog posters like yourself are out there putting together these overly polished rebuttals to the many problems that Obama is dissembling about.
Why would any person who in their heart believes something point us to links that only show snippets of videos and then have dozens of them in a single post to a blog? Why not say it in your own words, not the words someone paid you to post?
Simply put you and your “argument” are unbelievable.
Mr. Brown’s argument on the other hand is believable because the truth is simple and lies are complicated.
posted November 2, 2008 at 10:05 pm
The facts listed in Teri’s response are very flawed with biased resources. Read the actual voting records and find unbiased sources. Mr. Brown’s is correct.
Any society makes rules about choices. We can’t ‘choose’ to kill a puppy in our country. Why would a baby viable outside the womb be less than the puppy? In the same train of reasoning, you could say old people are a bother. If it is my elder relative and they are my financial responsibility, shouldn’t it be my “choice” for them to be euthanized? Where does this “choice” end. There is nothing about abortion than coincides with biblical principles or secular human rights philosophy. The emotional scars and physical problems that they cause are immense. Other community issues are important and Christian groups lead the way in most communities to assist with these issues too.
Also, Gov.Palin has been very badly treated by the media and others. She is a very capable governor and will be a wonderful vice president.
The rudeness, excuses, and low comments here make me even more proud of Mr. Huntley.
Wont’ be returning to this site. I wish you all well.
posted November 4, 2008 at 3:02 pm
I commend Mr. Brown for taking a stand that was obviously against what those around him believed.
As Christians, we are to vote for the candidates that are as close as possible to the pricipals that God has set in place for us. I am not saying McCain is the best choice we could have had, but in my opinion he is the better choice today.
posted August 11, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Mr. Brown is right on and for ANYONE to believe different is mostly a person that really don’t give a damn for nothing in my opinion!…he was mostly telling his friends about this President Obama. I think 99% of the blacks voted for him…now why is this?…because he is half & half?…..not to worry about his past?…..wow….ain’t this something. Naw I wouldn’t vote for NOBODY with that past record!!! I wish someone like Bill Cosby had run and won….now he has much sense and is proud to be an American!!! I’m white and 71 years of age and really don’t give a damn about race but I do believe he should be someone who will show proof of where he came from…where he went to college if he did…why is this man Obama holding back anything about himself?….we know nothing about him….I SMELL A RAT
posted January 25, 2011 at 10:47 am
Two years latter and Brown has been proven correct.