Obama Who

This was written in response to a post on blogher.com regarding the Rick Warren/Obama controversy.

What exactly is it that we are hoping for? I am stunned at the number of people who believe that in order to come together as a people we have to somehow give up who we are as individuals. Rick Warren is a Christian whose beliefs, philosphies, perspectives, opinions, and platforms are fully informed by the Bible. He believes the Word of God is inerrant, immutable, and that it serves as a manual for how Christians schould live their lives. His subsequent views on the submissiveness of women, homosexuality, and abortion flow from the Bible. Now I know stating this is blasphemous to some individuals who either reject the Bible or who opt to use it as an a la carte menu where you can choose what you like and leave the rest. His ideas don't orignially come from the Southern Baptist. They stem from the Wrod of God upon which the Southern Baptist have sought to develop their doctrines. The question is can members and supporters of the LGBT community, abortion rights advocates, and liberal pundits look beyond their issues with the Bible and its advocates and embrace Rick Warren for who he is. Isn't that true tolerance?
I find the whole Rick Warren/Obama controversy interesting b/c I am trying to figure out who exactly Obama is. He purports to be a Christian but many of his statements tend toward the more post modern type of Christianity where interpretation and application of scripture takes a backseat to his social causes (i.e. instead of accepting the actual statements regarding homosexuality you fashion a more palatable faith system that allows you not to offend political correctness). So I was shocked to learn he had asked Rick Warren to participate in the inauguration. Now for the most part I really respect Rick Warren. I think he has a special gift of remaining relevant to today's culture while not compromising his faith. So I am left wondering. Who Is Obama? Is he secretly a bible believing Christian who is attempting to secure a platform by catering to the left. Or is he more of a leftist liberal who is patronizing the conservative Right. Who Knows. If nothing else I think Obama is an expert in making both sides pay attention.

To Do Or Not To Do

While shopping for my kids this week, I did feel odd being able to give them a lot of what they wanted given our current economic times. Ifound myself continuously justifying my expenditures by saying,"My kids work really hard all year", "They deserve this", "I'm not spoiling them", "I'm actually a pretty demanding parent so they deserve some fun", etc. Each year I host a Christmas Eve celebration where in addition to reading the Christmas story from scripture we exchangegifts. I've been trying to figure out how to do this w/o embarassing my friends or family who are struggling. We decided to exchange meaningful, handmade, nonmonetary gifts during the celbration and to pass out our gifts to each other apart from this gathering. I am a little torn because the kids really look forward to the big gift exchange but as a kid who went through hard times I know what it is like to not have a bounty under the tree. Especially b/c we spend a lot of time empahsizing the real reason for the season and my kids are very aware and sensitive to the needs of others. Oh well, I've got a couple of days to figure it out.