BUT SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS ARE ... **insert racial ethnicity here**

This statement is often used by many as an explanation as to why their remarks do not make them ignorant, or prejudice, or racist. After all, people ought to be able to question others and make stupid comments without being judged. *insert sarcasm here*

First, I must disclaim that I originally intended for this blog to update family members with the latest news about the Moore family. It was never intended (and will not become) a political blog. Lately, however, I have been so disheartened by the presidential campaign that I have to address it to anyone who cares to listen (and I will not be offended if you care not to listen).

Second, I have no problem revealing that I am registered as a Republican and have typically voted Republican. I am unashamedly a follower of Christ and my desire and purpose in life has always been to follow Him. I have found that I, and many of the Republican candidates I have voted for, tend to agree on issues I find important. I do not, however, care to engage in a lot of label-making- left, right, conservative, liberal…blah…blah…blah. Because I care to follow Christ and seek Him for every decision I make, including this presidential election, I could care less about the labels people use. While I’m at it, let me go ahead and make a shameless plug for the book my husband and I will soon be writing, “God is not a Republican…And He’s not a Democrat Either.” It will hit stands as soon as we have the time to put all our little sticky notes of ideas and statements together, get a publisher, etc. Unfortunately, the Republicans, especially the Christian Republicans, think they have God solely in their corner. I hate to disappoint you, but God is not concerned with whether you identify yourself as a Republican or Democrat; especially those who blindly follow the Republican party. Some people do not even look at the issues but instead look to see how other Republicans feel about it. They do not care about whether or not it makes sense or if it’s important to God, they care only about what the Republican party has to say about it. In the infamous words of mothers across the land, “If the Republican party jumped of the Empire State building would you?” Sadly, we would find many at the bottom on 34th Street.

I have spent time praying and interceding over this presidential election as it has stirred me like no other. On one hand, you have the Republican presidential and vice-presidential candidates who to me, are just okay, just so-so. I'm a Republian and I haven't been energized by Sara Palin. On the other hand, you have a Democratic candidate who has many accolades to his name but does not quite take the stand I would like to see on some key issues. What is a Christian Black woman to do? Let’s just be real, the Republican party is not known to be one that embraces the plight of the African-American. After all, when they had the opportunity to address minorities in a debate just last year, none of the GOP front runners bothered to show up, including John McCain. I guess issues that are important to African-Americans are not as important to McCain.

Perhaps I’m in more of a ‘Sister Souljah’ mood because of my experiences lately. I can truthfully say that I’ve experienced more prejudice and racism here in Lynchburg, VA than I ever did in living in Raleigh, NC. I’ve experienced more prejudice at Liberty University (a distinctively Christian university) than I did at NC State. Don’t get me wrong, I loved being able to attend school with fellow Christians (at least many of them claim to be) and overall, my experience at LU law school was positive. In fact, when I take and pass the bar in February I’m going to send LU a few dollars. But I had more than my fair share of days when I left the campus wondering how anyone who claims to follow Christ can talk about Black people (or anyone who doesn’t look, talk, dress or act like they do) in such a manner. While it was enjoyable being able to openly share my faith in class or in meetings, it was a bitter pill to swallow when the student sitting behind me could make ignorant statements like: ‘Black people just indulge in self-pity and whine all the time about their situations while being lazy and not doing something to change their situations.’ Or, one that I heard at least a couple of times was: ‘Black people just expect handouts all the time and why should I be made to sacrifice {a job, or spot in college} when I personally was not the one who discriminated against you.’ And I dare not ever mention slavery in class, because that was soooooooo long ago that it has to be irrelevant today and certainly none of the effects of slavery or Jim Crown are felt in today’s society. But today, in 2008, you have a black man, who was not lazy and was able to accomplish what many white people can’t say they accomplished and who did do something to change not just his situation but the situation of many others in the inner city, but that’s not admirable, it just makes him out of touch with the real American people. Meanwhile, these same people in class making these comments are not the ones having to later go home and console their 5 year old son and boost his self-esteem after a white classmate tells him if they continue to play together the police will come and arrest him (my son) because black people and white people shouldn’t be playing together, and if they do play together, the white people will have to call the police on the black person, this according to the little girls father. But racism is a thing of the past, isn’t it? Just today, my son Virgil, II bought home a book about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In it, it tells of how Dr. King played football with 2 white boys when he was younger but after a while, the white boys told him they couldn’t play with him anymore because he was black. This occurred when Dr. King was just a little boy, in the 1940’s. My son being told that he would get arrested if he played with white children just happened last school year, in 2007, at Bedford Hills Elementary. I wasn’t prepared to explain to my 5 year old kindergartener about race and racism but I was forced to, because he didn’t want to be arrested for playing with his white friends. But I must not stay on that topic too long or I’ll be considered to be indulging in self-pity.

It is often said that we are never more segregated in this country than we are on Sunday mornings. We can go to school together (not as friends, but as forced classmates), we can shop at the same stores and go to the same eating establishments. But worshipping together has been a difficult challenge for some. I am grateful to attend a church that is racially balanced because I’d hate for my first experience worshipping alongside someone of a different race to be in heaven. I say that to say that if Black Christians and White Christians are truly serving the only God there is…if we both believe in the one same God, why do we see things so differently? Black Christians and White Christians will probably agree with the 2 key issues that Republicans live and die by: homosexual marriage and abortion. Christians everywhere, regardless of their race will typically agree that homosexuality is wrong and that abortion is not God’s plan. Outside of those 2 issues there is a divergence. For some Republicans, there are no more issues outside of abortion and homosexuality. For some Democrats, those are issues, but they just aren’t as important as other issues like healthcare and the economy. But regardless of what your party affiliate is, if it matters to God, shouldn’t it matter to all Christians?

The biggest problem I have with our party right now is that they are extremely double-minded. The bible is clear about a double minded man- HE IS UNSTABLE IN ALL HIS WAYS! (James 1:8). So, to those of you die hard Republicans who act as if you are so concerned with the issues, be real. Please do not act like you are so concerned about Obama’s associations but then become mute and turn a deaf ear as if you didn’t know that McCain has his own problematic associations. Don’t act as if you’re so concerned about Obama’s character but then act as if McCain’s own character should not be judged (The Keating 5 Scandal, the adulterous affair, etc.) Don’t act as if you’re so concerned about Obama being President because his middle name is Hussein (which must mean that he’s unpatriotic) but name your children Willow, Trig, and Track and you’re a maverick. Address that for a change! Please answer me why it’s okay for Palin to currently be under investigation for her recent actions as Governor (aka Troopergate) but its troublesome for Obama to have some loose association with Ayers when those incidents took place when he was only 8 years old? Why is it okay for Christians to rally behind a man who cheated on his wife and then divorced her for the heiress of a beer manufacturer with whom he had an affair while married? But the Obama’s have faithfully been married only to each other for 19 years but that doesn’t reflect your traditional view of marriage. Meanwhile, Todd Palin, aka “First Dude” is surely patriotic, after all, he only has 1 DWI and it only took him until the age of 25 to register to vote and that little club or association he was in (since associations are so important these days) just wanted Alaska to secede from the US, no big deal, that’s not radical at all. Why is Obama inexperienced when he spent 3 years as a community organizer, became the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, created a voter registration drive that registered 150,000 new voters, spent 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spent 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate’s Health and Human Services committee, and spent 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people. But Sarah Palin’s resume consists of : local weather girl, runner up in the Ms. Alaska pageant, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people but she’s ‘ready on day one’ to become the country’s second highest ranking executive. Why is this okay, better yet, why do Republicans not feel the need to address the MANY skeletons in the closet of the 2 Republican candidates? You’ll tear down Obama on issues that absolutely affect (and reflect) John McCain as well but you choose to look the other way as if McCain is your messiah and can do no wrong. Or, as if Palin has so ‘energized the base’ that she’s beyond scrutiny. I’m left with only one answer, you don’t really care about the issues as you say you because if you did, you’d take issue with both McCain and Obama, but you only take issue with Barack Hussein Obama because he is a black candidate. Are you happy now, I said it.

If you could just be honest with yourself for one moment, you’d have to admit that if the tables were turned, you’d be jumping over Obama for some of the same issues that plague the McCain and Palin camps right now. If Obama were married and then divorced his wife after she became disfigured and after he had already cheated on her you would have a problem with that and you would make it an issue in this campaign. But the Republican party has largely been silent on that issue. Instead, we tear down a man who has been married to the same woman for over 19 years. If Obama’s teenage daughter were pregnant and getting ready to enter a shotgun wedding you’d certainly question his ability to raise his own family as proof that he can’t run the country. But because its Sarah Palin, it’s a private family matter and is off limits. Obama just has 2 beautiful daughters by his one and only wife but that’s irrelevant and doesn’t reflect our traditional view of marriage. If Michelle Obama were heir to a beer dynasty Christians would have a field day, but since its Cindy McCain, it’s not talked about. Michelle Obama is just a Harvard law graduate who gave up a job with a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to focus more on her family, but apparently her family’s values don’t represent America’s. If Obama had graduated close to dead last in college he would certainly be unfit to run the country but because its John McCain, he gets a pass. Obama just graduated close to the top of his class, becoming the first black to be President of the Harvard law review but that apparently doesn’t amount to much. If it took Obama 5 different colleges over so many years to finish his college education we’d question his ability to follow through with anything of importance, but since it’s Sarah Palin, she shows real grit. If Obama never talked about his own faith but always the faith of someone else, Christians would question his commitment to the Christian faith (…well, they do that now anyway). But since its McCain, he has to be a true Christian.

So far, our party, the Republican party, has not done a good job at answering these troubling and apparently obvious questions, and it is making the party look bad. It is leaving a bad taste in the mouths of undecided voters. But, desperate times call for desperate measures and it is obvious now more than ever that Republicans are desperate; so I don’t expect for the attacks to stop or for the questions about McCains associations and judgments to be answered by the party. I’ve sat back and waited for the party that I am registered with to become more substantive but so far, I’ve not seen it.

If we, as true Christians, are so concerned about who is elected to this office, then we will be praying for the office and for whoever God, in His sovereignty, allows to fill it instead of praying against Barack Obama. The bible tells us to pray for those who have authority over us. That would include John McCain and Sarah Palin if they are fortunate enough to be elected to the White House. If they are, it won’t be a time to celebrate and stop praying, but a time to continue praying. The children of Israel prayed for a king to rule over them and because of their stubbornness, God gave them Saul. McCain (or yes, even Obama) could very well be our Saul if we focus more on party politics and not prayer. It will take Christians praying God’s will and not praying party politics that ensures that Christians will be able to live a peaceable life as the Bible says.

Now, having said all that, I will get back to the business of posting about my family. The children took pictures with their cousins in Winston-Salem and they should be posted soon. You may just fall out laughing at Victoria’s extensions (which by the way she just had to have because a white girl at school told her that she didn’t like Victoria when she wore her hair in braids because it looked as if she had spiders in her hair and because only girls with long silky hair could come to her party)…still dealing with racial issues in 2008, but don’t call me a racist because after all, some of my best friends are white.