What America Has Done (Was the election about racial equality or the right to life?)

CE ^ | November 7, 2008 | Mary Kochan

[Salvation]

What America Has Done

November 7th, 2008 by Mary Kochan

I have been wounded in my heart by the election results to a degree that truly amazes me.  There is the kind of pain in my heart that comes from a deep sense of betrayal.  I know that a majority of my fellow Americans have never been, and are not now, anywhere near believing in the unlimited abortion license vocally supported by the president-elect during his campaign. I know that Barack Obama won the votes of Catholics who are not at all in favor of his abortion policies and that he won in spite of those policies, not because of them.  Still the feeling that my heart has been pierced by betrayal has been acute.

It isn’t just the work, the hours, the energy and words expended. It is that I long with all my heart for my country’s promise to respect the inalienable right to life of all human beings to come true.  Anything that pushes the hope of seeing that further away, hurts.

My daughter, a Marine, called me on Thursday echoing the deep sense of disappointment I felt.  And that got me to thinking about this in another way.  You see, my daughter is of mixed race, like Barack Obama.  Obama has identified himself as a black American and black Americans, have embraced him as one of their own. My daughter, however, is a very strong social conservative (go figure) and was a supporter of McCain.  Perhaps more pertinent, though, than her politics is her life experience.  She has never suffered on account of being “black;” no doors that she knows of have ever been slammed in her face on account of her race.  With a winning personality, fully accepted, and always popular with her peers of all colors, her experiences with “white America” have been positive.  Neither of her own parents have ever shared “war stories” about racism with her – we really didn’t have any.  And “civil rights,” when it enters our family discourse, has always been about the unborn, never about the struggle for racial equality.  In short, her heart is not wounded by racism.

But let’s face it.  That is simply not the case for millions of our brothers and sisters of color in this country.  For them, racism has been a fact of life, if not in personal experience, then in their family histories.  They have lived or are living an experience — or at least within a story — of betrayal.  They have longed and struggled for the day when, as Martin Luther King, Jr. put it, America would be “a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”  To them, the election of Barack Obama, self-identified as one of them, is a shining beacon of hope that they will see that dream of America fulfilled.  And putting other issues aside for the moment, the election of Barack Obama is historic in racial terms and positive when considered in that light.

So what do we, who fought so hard under the conviction that this election was crucial for the lives of the unborn, do now with the pain that we feel at losing, with this wound of betrayal in our hearts?  I think we need to take our experience of pain and use it to empathize in a profound way with those for whom this election was a moment of healing, a moment of triumph, a moment when the promise of America seemed etched in gold.  We need to empathize with those whose tears of gratitude streamed down their face that they lived to see the day that a black man was elected president.  That is not nothing.  It is, in fact, a great thing.

 

© Copyright 2008 Catholic Exchange

Mary Kochan, Senior Editor of Catholic Exchange, writes from Douglasville, Georgia. Her lectures are available from Saint Joseph Communications.

[Salvation]

Comments, anyone?

[Salvation]

Pray for LIFE!

What America Has Done (Was the election about racial equality or the right to life?)
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Doug Kmiec to give election ‘post-mortem’ at Calif. seminary [Catholic Caucus]

Fighting FOCA (the time to act is now!)
Billy Graham Won't Advise Obama Because of Strong Pro-Abortion Position
Bishop Carlson: Our witness must grow stronger (Statement on election results)
Back to the Drawing Board (several bishops calling for Faithful Citizenship to be overhauled)
On Eucharistic Consistency (Florida bishop urges Biden to examine conscience before Communion)
Future Obama abortion legislation will violate conscience rights, PRI president says
THERE IS STILL A GOD IN HEAVEN!
Bill Berkowitz: Religious Right Down but Not Out
Freedom of Choice Act - Election Implications
A Post – Election Reflection: Pray, Plan and Participate

Payback Time: What Planned Parenthood Expects from Barack Obama
Life will not go on
Catholic Leaders React to Obama Victory, Offer Advice
Archbishop Chaput Eager to See Kmiec Deliver a Pro-Life Obama
History, Hyperbole and Horror (Eye opening)
[Electing Obama] A Grave Mistake and an Abiding Hope
Douglas W. Kmiec on 'Obama's Miracle'
"The Killing Must End”: Christian Defense Coalition to Launch Major Post-Inaugural Pro-Life Campaign
Pro-Life Advocates Urged to Renew Efforts Against Abortion After Election Loss
Obama Pushes Abortion on Day One With Emanuel Pick

[Salvation]

Discussion Ping!

**So what do we, who fought so hard under the conviction that this election was crucial for the lives of the unborn, do now with the pain that we feel at losing, with this wound of betrayal in our hearts?**

Good question. I say, go for the real conservatives who are pro-life and not afraid to admit it.

[Safrguns]

It was about STUPIDITY!!!

We really think its funny when Jay Leno or Shawn Hannity does the man in the street routine... but it’s actually quite sad. Thats why Obama won... he bought it, and got away with it thanks to the MSM and the laziness of America to scrutinize their own candidate.

The TRUE betrayal was that of the main stream media.

They did not do their job.

They finally succeeded in selecting and coronating their own candidate. If you want someone to be mad at, start there... it has nothing to do with race, abortion, etc... it was about powerbroking.

[Kickass Conservative]

Republicans think people are smart.

Democrats know people are stupid.

That pretty much wraps it up.

[thesetruths]

Well, what about the pain of the unborn child whose skull is pierced and its brains sucked out?

Or the pain of the child born alive after an abortion who is left to suffer for hours and eventually die?

That is real pain. This article is disgusting.

[Darkwolf377]

Abortion was not a part of this election cycle. McCain, who has a good record on abortion, barely mentioned it for fear of alienating the holy middle. Obama didn't mention it because he didn't want people to think about his approval of infanticide.

This will go down as an election where so little was discussed--9/11, abortion, free speech (both McCain and Obama have problems there), corruption.

I know someone who was for gay marriage in California, who didn't know until AFTER the election that Obama, her god, doesn't support gay marriage (or so he says). What a confused widdle democrat.

[Kickass Conservative]

Barack Obama, making Infanticide cool again.

[Salvation]

I tend to agree with you on the lamestream ABCNNBCBS. What cheerleaders (fake) they were.

[Don W]

The author is proclaiming the plight of the murdered, not supporting abortion.

Re-read the article. It’s more about perceived versus real racism.

[Safrguns]

Republicans think people are smart. Democrats know people are stupid. That pretty much wraps it up. Republicans are learning. At least I hope they are.

[thesetruths]

You should re-read it.

I can’t follow the reasoning that there is somehow a silver lining, in that, the pain that we feel for the suffering of the aborted helps us to empathize with those who voted for an abortionist.

[Don W]

I disagree:

It is that I long with all my heart for my country’s promise to respect the inalienable right to life of all human beings to come true. Anything that pushes the hope of seeing that further away, hurts.

She's only guilty of trying to put a brave face on. Making lemonade of the lemon elected on Tuesday, so to speak.

[thesetruths]

I disagree:

“I think we need to take our experience of pain and use it to empathize in a profound way with those for whom this election was a moment of healing, a moment of triumph, a moment when the promise of America seemed etched in gold. We need to empathize with those whose tears of gratitude streamed down their face that they lived to see the day that a black man was elected president. That is not nothing. It is, in fact, a great thing.”

This election was NOT about healing, triumph, or a promise etched in gold. This election was not “a great thing.”

Obama is the most liberal, extreme abortion-supporter possible. No one should be proud of him. I am a woman, and I would not have happy tears streaming down my face if pro-abortion Hillary was elected. It would not be a moment of healing or triumph for me to see the first woman elected to the highest office, if that woman were for the killing of the unborn.

[Don W]

I see your point, but I still think she is trying to make the best of an admittedly horrible election.

Different perspectives, and I’m usually looking for the good in things/people, and tend to give the benefit of the doubt.

Pollyannish? Not really, I’m just of a sunny outlook most of the time.

[Rastus]

So, Lone Star, now you see that evil will always triumph because good is dumb.

[thesetruths]

It’s real hard for me to have a sunny outlook when Obama has referred to a baby as a “punishment,” and has argued that babies should be refused life-saving care when born alive after an abortion.

That is extremely radical by any estimation, and there is no lemonade or “bright side” to it for those human beings left to languish and eventually gasp their last breaths alone in an abortion mill utility room.

It bothers me, but it evidently doesn’t bother you as much.

[JavaJumpy]

At the end of the campaign, 0bama aired ads against McCain stating that McCain was running on a platform of banning all abortions, even in cases of rape or incest. We also had emails about birth control being banned and rape kits not being paid for so raped women could not seek treatment.

Combined, the strategy worked. That’s why so many unmarried women voted for 0bama.

[I still care]

This country is filled with many, many people who are totally decieved about what O stands for.

No, there isn’t any excuse for it, but it is so, nevertheless.

My sons and I have met at least five people in the past couple of days that did not know Obama was 1)antigun or 2)antiabortion.

They also didn’t know his associations were steeped in communists. The MSM had them believing it was just a “couple of people a long time ago”.

[Kickass Conservative]

“So, Lone Star, now you see that evil will always triumph because good is dumb.”

No, evil triumphs when people are too biased to confront their own ignorance.

To paraphrase Rush Limbaugh, Ignorance is the most expensive commodity. We’ll be paying for the voter’s ignorance for a Generation.