Religious Leaders Condemn Clinton's Attacks
A diverse group of religious leaders have released an open letter to Senator Hillary Clinton condemning her recent personal attacks on Barack Obama. You'll notice that at least two of the religious leaders are Baptists. Check it out:
Dear Senator Clinton:
We write to you as people of faith from many backgrounds who love our great country and are concerned with the present tenor of your campaign.
Today, you took a new and disquieting step when you decided that it would be to your political benefit to wade into the waters of the issues surrounding Senator Barack Obama and his former pastor. This crosses the line and brings us full force into the zone of the politics of personal destruction.
There are those among us who support Rev. Wright and believe his comments were deeply misconstrued. There are others among us who reject his words outright, even in context.
But across these lines, we stand together, White and Black, Protestant and Catholic, Christian and Jew.
No candidate should use religion as a tool to divide the American people, as you have done today. By engaging in the politics of personal destruction your campaign runs the risk of turning people off from participating in the democratic process – and that hurts us all. We need this race to be about the values that are important to the American people.
We need to end the war and promote peace around the globe. America needs real leadership to address the housing crisis, a fighter who will help lift up our economy, and we need a leader in the White House who will tackle issues surrounding world wide climate change.
We urge you to join the debates over those issues instead of using valuable time making personal attacks that diminish both our democracy and our moral standing.
Sincerely,
Dr. T. DeWitt Smith
President
Progressive National Baptist Convention*Dr. Michael Battle
President Interdenominational Theological SeminarySr. Jamie T. Phelps, O.P., Ph.D.
New Orleans, LARev. Dr. Stephen John Thurston
President
National Baptist Convention of AmericaThe Rev. Milton Cole
West Des Moines, IARabbi Moshe Weisblum, Ph.D.
Annapolis, MDThe Rev. Chuck Currie
Portland, ORRabbi Abie Ingber
Cincinnati, OHRev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery
Atlanta, GA*Note: Affiliations are listed for informational purposes only. Individuals signed this letter in their personal capacities, and not on behalf of their house of worship, denomination or organization.
*Note 2: While some signers are Obama supporters, this is an independent letter that was not authored, organized or driven by the Obama campaign.
Labels: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton
posted by Big Daddy Weave at 11:37 PM
7 Comments:
big daddy,
i asked this over at peter lumpkins place, but i was afraid that it would get lost in the comment stream before you could respond. and, i'd really love to hear your response to this. i'm sorry if this is off topic. please forgive me. but, i wonder if you can shed light on us about a release from bp news. it seems that the president of baylor u. is denying tenure to a lot of professors there. it seems that even a woman prof. named dr. rene massengale was denied tenure even though she had a million dollar grant for her studies. and, the baylor powers that be arent giving the baylor prof’s denied tenure two years, but only one year, to find somewhere else to go.
why dont we hear from you and the enid crowd about baylor? where’s the outcry about baylor denying tenure to women prof’s?
david
9:25 AM
David,
I don't have a clue about what is going on behind the scenes at Baylor - who knows? Perhaps the tenure denial is unfair; like I said, I don't know. But why are you, With that I am Peter, Tim R., and others in your camp so giddy about the coincidental denial of tenure for a woman professor at Baylor as though it has some bearing on the Patterson/Klouda discussion? If she were denied tenure BECAUSE she is a woman and if there weren't several other female professors at Baylor, you might be on to something. But come on! Stop comparing apples and oranges.
10:25 AM
BDW -
Sorry I helped to take your post off topic.
This letter issued to Clinton shows how much she is alienating herself from various leaders and groups (though I understand the signers of the letter do not intend to speak for anyone but themselves). It seems that she may have shot herself in the foot enough to tip the scales, but I have been wrong about that sort of thing before!
10:38 AM
Volfan,
Go over to Tim G.'s blog to see that conversation.
10:49 AM
It's not the theology, but the sociology, of Obama's pastor and church that make Wright's statements justifiable political discourse.
These religious leaders need to quit condemning politicians' campaigning ways and keep preaching.
3:24 PM
Hope these same leaders wrote to Obama and Wright and condemned Wright's attacks.
4:13 PM
No Southern Baptists, of course. They're singing "This (Richard) Land is our (Richard) Land" and cheerleading the attacks.
10:57 AM
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