Jesse Jackson Doesn’t speak for me

There will always be those who represent positions different from my own. For example, James Dobson doesn’t speak for me. Jesse Jackson doesn’t speak for me, either. While both these Christian pastors are entitled to their comments and opinions, they have each ultimately been revealed to be human.

I choose to make my decisions about politics and politicians based on a wide variety of factors, some of which are surely problematic to Jackson and/or Dobson. I don’t speak for them.

I wish both of these so-called leaders would exhibit the same sort of moral rectitude and Christian charity they call for from those who follow their exhortations rather than talking about fruitcake and nuts. I wish we all practiced respect in dealing with each other. I wish we weren’t at war in Iraq. I wish there was one reliable, objective source of information reporting. I wish there was a quick solution to hunger and poverty in the world, too.

I don’t, however, wish harm, even in some metaphorical sense, on anyone brave enough to run for public office – even those I disagree with on many issues. I work to insure the one I trust and admire has the best chance to exert leadership. I speak for myself; I make up my own mind; I allow others to disagree, and hope they do so without behaving disagreeably. I know the difference between a person and a person’s thoughts and actions.

Jesse Jackson doesn’t speak for me.

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“Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values. It requires that their proposals be subject to argument, and amenable to reason. I may be opposed to abortion for religious reasons, but if I seek to pass a law banning the practice, I cannot simply point to the teachings of my church or evoke God’s will. I have to explain why abortion violates some principle that is accessible to people of all faiths, including those with no faith at all”

~Barack Obama

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