Slippery Slopes

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry about the recent Barack Obama mess with his pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright.  I am not for Obama or Clinton (or McCain for that matter), but I find it incredulous how the Democratic party took one of the most spirited political races in decades and once again divided their own party and started the mud slinging.  The first (legitimate) african american candidate for the presidency against the first (legitimate) female candidate.  I know about Rev. Jesse Jackson and I know about Geraldine Ferraro and neither were legitimate candidates.  But this could have been a commentary on how far we all have come as a people and as a nation.  Instead, the nomination will probably be decided by people who aren’t even running, and rhetoric that is more befitting the WWE than one of the great political parties of this country.   Maybe that’s the true commentary.

The saddest part of the whole Jeremiah Wright situation is that religion (namely Christianity) once again takes one on the chin.  By the way, when exactly did religion become politically incorrect?  I understand that there have been some improprieties, but that is not God’s fault.  I understand that there have been some nuts in the flock (Swaggart, the Bakers, and misguided Catholic Priests come to mind), but I blame the church leadership more than anyone.  In their eagerness to replenish the churches, they may have turned a blind eye to some telling signs.  I hope they believed that Christ would fill those less than moral and show them a better way.  What they got were a handful of unscrupulous people who would pass around the name of Christ and use that favor for evil purposes.  Now as a nation, it seems we are turning away from religion.  More and more hatemongers like Bill Maher (HBO) are gaining a voice and a following.  He PREACHES!!  He preaches about how bad religion is and how people who believe in God are stupid and pitiful.  And it scares me.  Not only for me, but for what it might hold for my daughter as she grows up.  Religion is dead in Europe, and we are quickly following suit.  Our forfathers came to this country to avoid religious persecution…now we persecute ourselves.  We all need something to believe in.  “Freedom of Religion…Not Freedom From It”.  Forgiveness.  I need to get back in church.