Terrorist strikes on four American cities. Russia rolling into Eastern Europe. Israel hit by a nuclear bomb. Gay marriage in every state. The end of the Boy Scouts.
All are plausible scenarios if Democrat Barack Obama is elected president, according to a new addition to the campaign conversation called "Letter from 2012 in Obama's America," produced by the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family Action.
The imagined look into the future is part of an escalation in rhetoric from Christian right activists who are trying to paint Obama in the worst possible terms as the campaign heads into the final stretch and polls show the Democrat ahead.
Although hard-edge attacks are common late in campaigns, the tenor of the strikes against Obama illustrate just how worried conservative Christian activists are about what should happen to their causes and influence if Democrats seize control of both Congress and the White House.
"It looks like, walks like, talks like and smells like desperation to me," said the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell of Houston, an Obama supporter who backed President Bush in the past two elections. The Methodist pastor called the 2012 letter "false and ridiculous." He said it showed that some Christian conservative leaders fear that Obama's faith-based appeals to voters are working.
Like other political advocacy groups, Christian right groups often raise worries about an election's consequences to mobilize voters. In the early 1980s, for example, direct mail from the Moral Majority warned that Congress would turn a blind eye to "smut peddlers" dangling pornography to children.
Add to Del.icio.us
Add to Technorati
Add to Digg
Add to Newsvine
Add to Facebook
Add to StumbleUpon
Subscribe
The Christian middle and left are running on the fear of having two warmongers in the White House that will protect the financial interest of the wealthy.
I haven't read the entirety of the article this one is linked to, nor have i read the letter from FOTF. But I would like to comment on a couple things.
The Huffington Post article noted that the FOTF article says that if there is Nationalized Health Care there will be long waits for surgery and hospitals will not allow service to those who are over 80. Ok, the second part of that I HIGHLY doubt. But the long waits are almost a guarantee. I'm a Canadian and we have nationalize health care. And the waits for elective or non-critical surgery are ridiculous. If you critically need a procedure done you'll get it done quickly, anything else -- you'll wait -- forever.
Some examples:
A friend of the family has needed a knee replacement for years, and not "I think I need a new knee" she could barely walk. It took 3 years to get the knee put in.
I have a pinched nerve in my neck. In order to get it checked, I needed to get an MRI done. The first available MRI appt was 3 months down the road -- and I only got one that quickly because they are currently run MRI machines 24 hrs a day to get through the back log.
My mom is being tested for the Breast Cancer gene. It took 3 months to get in, and after the blood was taken, it will take a minimum of 8 months to get the results because of the back log.
Granted these are anecdotal, but they also are symptomatic of the problem with the Canadian Health Care system. Because its free, its abused and people go to the dr with the sniffles, just in case. Drs. are leaving Canada because the pay just doesn't make it worth while to practice in Canada -- especially as a family doctor. And there is never enough money to pay for the system -- as such our taxes go up every year to cover the skyrocketing costs. I think we're currently the 2nd highest taxed nation in the world, and have very little to show for it.
And I find it interesting that Christian "lefties" get so up in arms when the Conservative Right (by which i think most people actually mean Southern Baptists) predicts what might happen if Obama wins. But you think that when you spell out the doom and gloom of what
might happen if McCain wins if some how ok. It saddens me to see the amount of animosity that exists within the Body of Christ for people who are supposed to be our brothers and sisters in Christ.
By the way the very same breast cancer gene test has a 6 week turn around time. So if my mom's test comes back positive, I will save the money and get it done down here in the States where I now live.
It most unfortunate to see the desperate right wing evangelicals, void of any reasonable persuasive issues, resorting to fear mongering, and tarnishing all Christians to be even remotely associated with their bigotry.
MCain has tossed out all honor running his malicious campaign in running a nasty Bush/Rove style campaign, and the mullahs of the conservative right are showing their true colors in driving dirty politics of dishonest hate and fear.
Regime Change!
It most unfortunate to see the desperate right wing evangelicals, void of any reasonable persuasive issues, resorting to fear mongering, and tarnishing all Christians to be even remotely associated with their bigotry.
MCain has tossed out all honor running his malicious campaign in the style of a nasty Bush/Rove campaign, and the mullahs of the conservative right are showing their true colors in driving dirty politics of dishonest hate and fear.
Regime Change!
Post a Comment
By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.