Creepy…
October 3, 2008 /
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtGrp5MbzAI&hl=en&fs=1]
You watch this and you realize once again the messianic aura that some people attach to Mr. Obama–who’s just another dime-a-dozen far-left politician.
And then there’s this one:
Tip of the Wahoos’ hat to Warren for these…
I can’t decide what’s creepier – the children singing mindlessly, the strangely excited song director, the Stepford Obama Hitler Youth…or the gold boots – yikes!
I think I’m going to be physically ill….
Back in April, the MR. NO KOOL-AID ZONE was ranting about Barak Obama’s charitable giving. Since he raked in over a million dollars including his book sales and only gave $1,655,000, you wrote,
“Doing the math, that comes to less than 5%. Bottom line: when Barack Obama says that Jesus makes a big difference in his life, that his faith is very important to him, I don’t believe him for one second. Because if your faith is important to you, it will be reflected in your giving.”
Well, Byron, you have set the standard…
And your darling, Sarah Palin, has finally released her tax returns.
The Palins had income of $170,000 last year and $130,000 in 2006. The AP reports that “the couple donated more than $8,000 to charity over two years.”
Let’s do the math:
$170,000 + $130,000 = $300,000
$8,000 of that income is 2.66%
Now, with the facts in, are you really going to say that “you don’t believe Palin for one second” when she says she is a devoted follower of Christ?
Let’s hear you spin this, Mr. No Kool Aid Zone!!
(Here is an updated comment based on the more detailed article just released from the AP:)
Back in April, the MR. NO KOOL-AID ZONE was ranting about Barak Obama’s charitable giving. Since Obama made over $1,655,000 and only gave $77,000, you wrote,
“Doing the math, that comes to less than 5%. Bottom line: when Barack Obama says that Jesus makes a big difference in his life, that his faith is very important to him, I don’t believe him for one second. Because if your faith is important to you, it will be reflected in your giving.”
Well, Byron, you have set the standard…
And your darling, Sarah Palin, has finally released her tax returns (NEW LINK).
The Palins had income of $127,869 in 2006 and $166,080 last year. The AP reports that “the Palins said they donated $8,105 to charity over the two years. The bulk of the donations came in ‘gifts by cash or check’ — $4,250 in 2006 and $2,500 last year.”
Let’s do the math:
$127,869 + $166,080 = $293,949
$8,105 of that income is 2.76%
Now, base on the facts, what are you going to write, Byron? Are you going to say that when Palin says she has faith in Christ that you don’t believe her for one second?
Also, notice that the Palins made more money in 2007, and their giving went down.
Let’s hear you spin this one, Mr. No Kool Aid Zone!!
Well, ignoring the needless hostility in your voice, I will say that that is extremely disappointing news, without a doubt. Her choice in church is much more encouraging than that of Obama, yet on such a fundamental issue in Christian living, she also fails the test. I’m surprised, I really am, and this undermines her claims to be serious about her faith. I’ll maintain across the board: the most telling trait of one’s professed faith is one’s willingness to do things that go beyond talk, that involve real cost. On this count, both Barack Obama and Sarah Palin fail the test, clearly. Color me far less than impressed with her profession of commitment to Christ.
By the way, wouldn’t you agree with me–about both of them?
Someone sent me a clip of an interview with Obama, in it, he “inadvertently” said “my Muslim faith” – the reporter corrected him, and he then said “my Christian faith”. What a phony!
So far I haven’t heard Sarah Palin make such a monstrous goof.
I don’t know about you all, but I often give cash offerings, and I don’t even claim them on my income tax so if anyone looked at mine they might think I don’t give anything at all. Maybe we shouldn’t assume everyone reports all their giving to the IRS.
Yeah, but no…sure, it’s possible, but why claim anything at all as charitable giving? And is it likely that the Palins claimed such a small amount, but gave a lot MORE than they claimed, particularly when they seemed to go out of their way to claim every legitimate tax advantage they could (and God bless ’em for it!)? I don’t think so…
By the way, I also think, having heard the Obama interview, that it was a slip, not evidence of him being a phony.
Wow…I just took up for Obama, and disagreed with Laurie…miracles never cease…
There has to be a first time for everything; personally I think charitable giving is a private matter between the giver and God so I wouldn’t necessarily judge a persons sincerity on that basis, but I see what you mean about reporting anything at all if you’re only going to report a small amount – that’s why I don’t.
Yes, a private matter, but not one in which there are some Scriptural guidelines, and while folks can argue about tithing, its appropriateness for NT Christians, all day long, it still remains that we can make judgments about relative stinginess and kindheartedness. True, most people’s tax returns don’t become public; running for office, this is the nature of the beast. And yet, if I say that tax return, and was told that it was the return of a professing believer, my gut reaction would (easily) be, “this person apparently doesn’t understand the grace of giving”.
And I wouldn’t “judge a person’s sincerity” solely on that basis, but let’s face it, Laurie, it’s when our commitment to Christ actually COSTS us something that we demonstrate the depth of it. It’s easy to look the part, but the rubber meets the road in the area of giving unlike few others.
It’s true that Jesus said we should count the cost in deciding to become His follower, and although I don’t think He meant financially (I’m not saying I think that’s what you meant, either), I do think a Christian should be a giver, and generous with his/her time and money. We’re to offer our very lives as a living sacrifice. I may be a little sensitive on this issue because I was raised in a church where too much emphasis was put on giving, and it’s been nice to be part of a group that doesn’t over-emphasize it and is more in line with scriptural guidelines.
Byron,
Sorry for the “hostility” in my voice. I did that to make the point (badly, I admit) that we had better be careful when we rail against someone and doubt their confession of Christ by placing in bold letters “I don’t believe him for one second.”
And thanks for calling Laurie out for calling Obama a “phony” because, in an interview in which he is asked specifically about why people are calling him a Muslim when he is a Christian, he says the wrong word. This kind of thoughtless judgment against candidates does nobody any good. We need to focus on the issues, folks.
Same thing as the “57 states” comment, clearly a slip of the tongue. In contrast, it seems to me, to the words of Michelle Obama, who clearly said what she meant on being proud of our country. And I’m sure you’d probably find something the other direction as well…
As we observe each candidate, listen to their ideas and promises and evaluate them, it follows that in our opinion, they either come off as being sincere or not so much. At this point we’ve had enough time to have a sense, overall, of whether we trust what they say. Overall, I don’t trust Obama, so it doesn’t take much for me to think of him as less than sincere. Is that an accurate observation? Maybe, maybe not, but that’s my take on him.
Obama has had many “slips of the tongue”, and in some cases those slips have confirmed something I was already thinking about him. Of course it could absolutely be that he misspoke, that he was tired, that he didn’t understand the question, etc., or it could be that he’s been saying so many things to so many people that he’s finding it harder to keep track of what he wants to say. I have often found that the more people talk, the more likely they are to reveal something they may not have intended to.
Be that as it may – when Obama said his faith is very important to him, I was underwhelmed by his sincerity – hope my sense about him is wrong and he is genuine, I don’t wish for him not to be. Evaluating his character IS one of the issues we should be considering, that’s the reason he’s being asked questions about his faith, isn’t it? It’s not just because Rick Warren or other interviewers are just curious, the way he answers this and whether or not the way he lives his life matches up with it matters, otherwise, why ask?
One thing I will say about him in regard to the subject of this post – I don’t think Obama is saying or doing anything that is instigating or even encouraging the strange worshipful view some people have of him, but it IS creepy.