klhayes's blog

This will be short, but I need to say something in regard to Barack Obama and James Dobson's comments on the Bible and religion. If you are a Fundamentalist, that means you believe EVERYTHING in the Bible is literal and without error. How is that possible? "An eye for an eye" or "turn the other cheek"? Stoning for adultery or remembering that we are without sin? It's impossible as far as I am concerned. The Bible is a guide on how to treat your neighbor and if we as Christians need to start applying the Bible to our own lives. However, we do not have a right to enforce every Biblical principle on others (I may have said this in previous blogs). And most Christians certainly don't take everything in the Bible literally. It's time for Fundamentalists to explain themselves!

Apparently my last blog caused a bit of a stir.

First off, I must say that I have never been a member of a Black Church, and I put my foot in my mouth when I said that (I seem to be doing that lately and it has nothing good has come from it). I was raised Catholic and went to Catholic school for all of my primary and secondary education, where I was the minority. I never had problems in regards to my race. But I did excel academically, and I believe that was due to the high expectations that my parents and teachers had of me. Those high expectations was not those around me saying "You have to succeed," it was people saying "You can and will succeed in whatever you do." While people argue about how to fix education, I feel it starts with having those high expectations. Sorry for the tangent, but I needed to say that. So back to Black churches. I have never been comfortable with a race label on a house of worship. That is quite offensive to me. I wonder how Jesus would feel about that? I understand why Black churches at one time were very important, but I think it is time to seriously question if designating some churches as "Black" is a good thing in our society. We are trying to bring people together and find common ground on issues that affect us all (although the media wants you to think otherwise).

First off, I need to say that I consider myself a progressive person, but this may deviate from the typical progressive philosophy and ideals. This is very near and dear to me and in light of the story about Barack Obama’s Pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, I feel that I need to address the issue of race in America.

I am a biracial woman (black/white), and I like to think that I see the world in a very fair way when it comes to racial issues, but this article may prove otherwise. I read an article by titled “Sick and Tired-And White,” by Arnold Ahlert. He talked about how Rev. Wright’s comments, which apparently are typical of the sermons in Black churches, keep black people from succeeding. I have to say that I agree.

I have been thinking about the issue of science vs. Christianity (I hate to phrase it that way, but that is how this topic is often presented), and I believe that it relates to a much bigger issue of Fundamentalist Christians choosing ignorance over knowledge presented to us through science that I believe has been has been good for humanity for the most part. Childhood vaccination, annual exams, screening test such as mammograms and colonoscopies have allowed diseases to be prevented or caught early. People are living longer lives and a better quality of life, although obesity is eroding that idea. We can even save very premature babies, something I believe that even most fundamentalist Christians cannot be against. And I know that most Christians, the majority of Americans,use these services and benefit from them. But once a discussion about science in the context of Christianity is discussed, there is a disdain that people emit toward anyone or anything that may support science and its role in society (interesting enough, I have noticed that conservatives will point out that biology is what makes men and women different). This is a very personal issue for me because I am a veterinarian in grads school doing cancer research, and I been the target of that disdain from time to time when I tell fundamentalists that I am in science.

I can respect the pro-life side, but I just cannot bring myself to join them. Why? Because they want to ban abortion but often they also want to ban birth-control. If people used birth control, there would be less abortions. Preventing people from getting the correct information does not prevent people from having sex. They just are not responsible when they engage in sexual activity. And pro-lifers love to talk about how birth control does not work. So no pro-lifers use birth control or they want to believe that it only magically works for married couples? I don't get it.

This was a blog that I posted on the faithful democrats web site to show my support for Barak Obama's attempt at bringing Evangelical Christians to the forefront of the fight against AIDs. Recently Barak Obama went to Rick Warren's megachurch to speak to the congregation about AIDS and how everyone needs to be part of the solution. I know that many Christians do not want to associate with Barak because of his views on abortion,and have decided they will not address this issue with Barka Obama unless the issue of abortion is addressed.