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Everybody wants to change the world but nobody wants to go first

I am a child of the 60's and grew up believing that together we could change the world. I was born in Oakland and grew up in the East Bay. I have always felt fortunate to grow up during that particular time in history and to grow up in what would be called "cultural diversity." I have a deep love and respect for people in all shapes, sizes and colors. My family is mirrors that diversity. We have just about every ethnicity accounted for in our gene pool. I am proud of my heritage and expect no less from others.

My back has been out for a couple of days and so I have been fairly immobile. I have read some, slept some and in desperation, I have watched a lot f television. There's been a lot of coverage on the presidential candidates. People are looking for answers and hoping to be able to judge from those answers who is the best choice for Commander and Chief of these United States.

I am not overly politically minded, but I do pay attention and maintain an interest in the policies and positions of the candidates. It seems that the front runners in the race for the White House are senators Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Barack Obama. Now, before I get started on the real subject of this post, I want to make it clear that none of these people would be my ideal candidate for president. I took a look at all of their websites and in doing so I noticed that Senator Obama has listed Trinity United Church of Christ as the place he attends worship. So, I looked up their site to find out more. You can click the link for yourself or you can read what I am cutting and pasting from their website:

We are a congregation which is Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian... Our roots in the Black religious experience and tradition are deep, lasting and permanent. We are an African people, and remain "true to our native land," the mother continent, the cradle of civilization. God has superintended our pilgrimage through the days of slavery, the days of segregation, and the long night of racism. It is God who gives us the strength and courage to continuously address injustice as a people, and as a congregation. We constantly affirm our trust in God through cultural expression of a Black worship service and ministries which address the Black Community.

The Pastor as well as the membership of Trinity United Church of Christ is committed to a 10-point Vision:

  1. A congregation committed to ADORATION.
  2. A congregation preaching SALVATION.
  3. A congregation actively seeking RECONCILIATION.
  4. A congregation with a non-negotiable COMMITMENT TO AFRICA.
  5. A congregation committed to BIBLICAL EDUCATION.
  6. A congregation committed to CULTURAL EDUCATION.
  7. A congregation committed to the HISTORICAL EDUCATION OF AFRICAN PEOPLE IN DIASPORA.
  8. A congregation committed to LIBERATION.
  9. A congregation committed to RESTORATION.
  10. A congregation working towards ECONOMIC PARITY.
Are you shocked? I am. I cannot help but wonder what would be made of one of the other major candidates attending a church that substituted the word Black for White or Female in their mission statement.

Somebody please tell me how this agenda is God honoring?

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