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Pluralistic diversity matters
In the wake of his weekend rally, Glenn Beck kept up the drumbeat of criticism about President Obama's religion, calling it a "perversion" and saying that America "isn't recognizing his version of Christianity," which Beck characterized as "liberation theology."
Despite critique of Obama's Christianity, a recent poll showed that nearly 20% of Americans believe falsely that the president is Muslim.
Why is there so much attention on Obama's religion? Does it matter what religion the president is?
The president's religion should not and does not matter. Period. What matters is the upholding of the Constitution and serving American interests fully. It is his actions that matter!!!
In all this rhetoric, the focus seems to be on the religious identity rather than the governance actions that President Obama or for that matter any leader is actually taking. Can a label measure the efficacy of the person's moral and value barometer? What about the political position?
And then, do only certain religions define values and so belonging to that religion implies that the person has passed a moral/religious hurdle of acceptance. There is, an "us" versus "them" mentality where pluralism and the right of people of ALL faiths to be accepted as Americans, is being denied explicitly or implicitly. A non-inclusionary path where the diverse political candidates, for example some of Hindu faith, are being told "....doesn't share our values" or subjected to racial slurs.
There is so much work to be done to turn the country around. Today's America has people of all faith who are proud to be its citizens and doing tremendous seva.
It is in the country's best interest to leverage this talent and creatively develop solutions to strengthen America. We can learn a lesson from some segments of Corporate America which are able to encourage diverse thinking, are able to harness diverse workforce exceedingly well, resulting in higher productivity through improved work environments.
I do hope collectively we will put more of our energy in addressing the pressing problems of the day, finding the right person to do the job at hand, rather than on creating narrow paths of acceptance in this pluralistic country.
By
Anju Bhargava
|
September 5, 2010; 1:59 AM ET
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Posted by: EdgewoodVA | September 15, 2010 6:18 PM
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to the author of this article
Your premise is wrong...
Life here on earth is short, compared to all eternity,
Joshua made it very clear, in the old testament God said thru him, Chose this day whom you will serve,,,,,,, for me and my household we will serve the Lord.
My bible says, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Christ Jesus is Lord.
Yes we have worldly problems, and we will resolve them one way or the other,
but everyone has a sin problem, and there is only one solution and you too will have to face God one day and answer the question of
" why should I let you in to my heaven"?
( ps ) good works is the wrong answer)
Posted by: loudubin | September 5, 2010 12:55 PM
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Dear Mr Beck,
I do not know what divine revelation you received personally from God that Obama is not a " Christian".
Firstly you have never defined what you mean by Christian and is it what Jesus and the Bible says is a " Christian".
You have been a follower of Mormonism which taught that " dark skinned people" couldn't obtain the highest positions in heaven, that you could baptize a living person to obtain forgiveness for a person who has already died and the LUCIFER is the brother of Jesus.
Now I doubt most " Christians" would agree with those positions,
So I ask you kindly, Jesus said you "must" be born again,
Are you born again ( born from above and filled with the Holy Spirit) ?
I do not hear you mention Christ Jesus that often, although you do mention God,
Do you realize and agree that Jesus is God?
You lately have been talking about "faith" well you have not defined Biblical faith ,, I may have missed it if you did but I listen to you often,
Lastly, Jesus said "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Do you agree that all other " religions" cannot come to God with out faith in Christ Jesus?
Please talk about this on your show...
You are all about saving the USA from its problems
Jesus said Mark 8:36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Talk about Christ and salvation
Posted by: loudubin | September 5, 2010 12:45 PM
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"The president's religion should not and does not matter. Period. What matters is the upholding of the Constitution and serving American interests fully. It is his actions that matter!!!"
Exactly. Unfortunately some Americans (as expressed so crossly by LOUDUBIN here) believe that to be non-Christian is the same as being un-American. It seems to come from a deep-seated need to establish a state religion...which is one of the reasons we broke away from England in the first place!
Apparently, to these people, their country and their faith are dependent on one another for the validation of both.
Since Obama breaks so many of the superficial litmus tests they put out, to them, his actual religion is tantamount. Sad, very sad.