| Author | Message | ||
| Agapetos Registered user Username: Agapetos Post Number: 1899 Registered: 10-2002  |
Hmm... don't know the implications of this. I find I'm unable to comment: http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-05-04-obama-muslim-adventists_N.htm?csp=usat.me  | ||
| Gcfrankie Registered user Username: Gcfrankie Post Number: 416 Registered: 1-2007 |
All I can say is 'they doth protest too loudly.' What caught my eye was how sda changed the name of their church to Obama SDA and then changed it back again to its original name when she was not bapized. Did you notice how the article talked to the sda but not to her? I am like you I don't know what to think either about this except that Obama seems not to acknowledge that side of his family (grandmother, aunt who is illegally in the states, or his brother who lives in poverty). The only ones I ever heard about was his grandparents who lived in Hawaii. Gail | ||
| Hec Registered user Username: Hec Post Number: 112 Registered: 3-2009 |
A couple of things
Hec | ||
| Bskillet Registered user Username: Bskillet Post Number: 297 Registered: 8-2008 |
The other side of the family is black and Muslim. It is much more politically advantageous for him to play up the side of the family that is white and Christian. | ||
| Dennis Registered user Username: Dennis Post Number: 1667 Registered: 4-2000  |
No longer having an Obama Seventh-day Adventist Church must be painful for Kenyan Adventists. The USA TODAY article is the direct result of the GC public relations team trying to rewrite or spin the event in a more favorable direction to save face amidst tremendous opposition and local negative press. Dennis Fischer | ||
| Agapetos Registered user Username: Agapetos Post Number: 1903 Registered: 10-2002 |
I think that's a good summary of things, Dennis. | ||
| Agapetos Registered user Username: Agapetos Post Number: 1905 Registered: 10-2002 |
Now that I think about it, this reminds me of Jesus' parable about a man wanting to build a tower, how he should first count the cost before he starts building and finds himself unable to finish. It seems the church wanted a high-profile convert, but had not counted the cost of getting that in a Muslim stronghold and what backlash might occur. So when the backlash appeared, they quickly retreated. What it makes it look like is that they may have only wanted to convert her just because of the publicity it would bring. It seems like they were ready to announce her conversion with trumpets. What they hoped to accomplish with that publicity by her conversion... I'm not sure, though! I think this kind of thing happens with a lot of different churches, but it does seem to be an especially seductive method of publicity/advertising for Adventism and for other cults. Somehow getting a celebrity or famous person (or relative of a famous person) to convert seems like a good way to advertise the church, its message, and whatever. I don't know about the people there, the people on the ground, but whatever the case, in the flurry over trying to convert a high-profile person, the actual person being converted begins to matter very little. And that is the real tragedy. | ||
| Helovesme2 Registered user Username: Helovesme2 Post Number: 1971 Registered: 8-2004  |
So far as Obama's relationship with his relatives: It's not strange that he would speak more of the ones that raise him than of the ones that live half a world away. Even so, I've not noticed any hiding of them. In fact, I've seen the photos and read articles about him visiting his relatives in Africa and also remember when the world found out his aunt was here illegally. He may or may not have known about that. If he did and lied about it that's a problem, but how many of us know the legal statuses of all our relatives? And how many of us would even think we needed to ask? This is not meant as a commentary on his politics - that is open for people to opine on all day long. This is a plea for common sense. If you want to tar somebody, do it with things that they are actually responsible for and with things that actually have a bearing on their job! | ||
| Bskillet Registered user Username: Bskillet Post Number: 298 Registered: 8-2008 |
I'm just saying that, as a Chicagoan, I have learned that when it comes to politicians from the Windy City, no amount of cynicism ever seems to be enough. http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1865681,00.html | ||
| Agapetos Registered user Username: Agapetos Post Number: 1906 Registered: 10-2002 |
Of course, he would have to play up the Christian part when a shamefully large amount of "Christians" were trying to scare the hades out of every other Christian and non-Christian in the country by saying that Obama himself was Muslim. Sadly, many Christians were incredibly successful at convincing themselves to become more afraid, and are living in great fear today. We're still reaping a lot of the fear that we've sown. But let's try to set the politics of President Obama aside for the moment, please? The point of this little blurb was not about him or his politics at all. The point was not about how Obama played up either side of his heritage or their respective religions, but rather how the Adventist church tried to play up a conversion and then downplay it when it met oppositon. This is not about Obama, but rather about the Adventist church's ill-conceived attempt to convert his grandmother, and their rush to trumpet the conversion without counting the cost -- and apparently without consideration for her herself (it seems more like she was a tool for PR). As anyone knows who is involved with ministry to Muslims in Muslim strongholds, the religion is not one that welcomes conversion out of Islam (conversion into Islam is welcomed, of course). So whenever someone converts, their safety must be considered. If the convert chooses to go public immediately, they've got to count the cost. And those who did the converting also must count the cost, too. If God is leading that way, step forward fearlessly, unapologetically, and step forward in great love above all. The way that the SDA church handled it --from advertising her conversion and then retracting it-- appears to show that (at best) they too-quickly assumed she had converted when she hadn't gotten there yet, or (at worst) that they saw her as more of a sort of "prize" that they wanted to boast of or celebrate about. When a sinner repents and is saved, it's nice for the church to celebrate. But even if the church doesn't, all of heaven celebrates. There isn't a need to broadcast it through human means -- 'cause the heavenly celebration is the one that counts most. But celebrating just because a celebrity converts... it's something you do when you're looking at earthly means, when you're measuring yourselves by the world's standards, when you're trying to prove something to someone else. Like getting a bigger, badder car than the guy next door. "Look, we've got this important person!" | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 9775 Registered: 12-2003  |
Yes, I see this Sarah Obama issue to be an "Adventist issue"--and I agree, Dennis, that the USA Today article was a quick function of the SDA PR machine... It's all so familiar. Colleen |
