Christian Code Words called 'Race-Baiting'? - Obama 1995 video

Some people have been listening to hate speech for so long that they can no longer hear and recognize code words for Christian ethics and Gospel values. (Sigh)

The URL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7fi8STNlxM points to a video in which Barack Obama is quoted discussing policy problems in Christian terms of "sacrifice" and "salvation"... and the heading someone put on it is: "1995 Obama Bizarre, Race Baiting Interview Found! HE MUST SAVE BLACKS SO HE CAN BE SAVED". Here's one of the blogs that goes on like this as well: Gateway Pundit: 1995 Obama Race Baiting Video Discovered I'd find it funny that they think this video is "race-baiting", if it weren't so sad.

I don't object to anything that Obama says in this video, because I have heard nearly every word from the ambo in our Catholic churches. I was briefly a fan of Ayn Rand, too, but that was when I was a little kid and an active agnostic. I even wrote a paper ranting about her ideas for a political philosophy class at Northwestern. Thirty years later and a practicing Catholic, I find her economics juvenile and her moral position an insult to God.

Obama's remarks about taxes reflect Christian ethics. Our talents are given to us by God; they're unearned gifts of the Almighty. We are expected--no, I should say that God DEMANDS that we use His gifts to the greatest profit possible...recognizing that the fruits belong to HIM. Taxes that ask each individual to sacrifice according to ability is a Christian idea. The widow's mite is a greater sacrifice to her than a chestful of gold from a wealthy Pharisee who never even feels its loss. SHAME ON ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE FORGOTTEN THIS!!!

The basic idea of public education is that we ALL benefit when everyone fulfills their potential and becomes a good citizen. I'm a 51-year-old white woman, and I totally agreed with Michelle Obama's statement about how disappointed we all have been for years as the American Dream was soiled by virulent self-interest... SHAME ON ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE FORGOTTEN THIS!!!

The 'American Dream' is dead because the playing field is no longer level. Social mobility is now a sham: you can only get into Harvard now if you are a legacy (i.e. if your parents did). If you come from modest means, it is now all but impossible to do better than your parents did and you will most probably do worse. I felt like a liar when I tried to tell school children that if they worked hard in America, they could have a good life. SHAME ON ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE FORGOTTEN THIS!!!

When Obama says that his "individual salvation" will not come about without a "collective salvation", he reflects the Greatest Commandment: we cannot really love God if we don't love & care for our neighbor. We can't be a "Christian country" or a moral people when we spit on the common good and grab whatever we can for ourselves, like those strapping, armed men in Haiti grabbing relief supplies from the arms of starving women and children. Not everyone who calls "Lord, Lord" will get into heaven, but only those who actually do the work of the Father... SHAME ON ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE FORGOTTEN THIS!

This would be funny if it weren't so sad...