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An Open Letter to President-Elect Obama
The following open letter to President-Elect Obama, written by Margaret Buckley, was posted on the Girltalk blog.
Dear President-Elect Obama,
Today I shed tears of joy, along with hundreds of thousands of Americans, for the great victory of your election. The significance of this moment cannot be overstated. Our African-American friends have been oppressed and cast aside for generations in this country of ours. Now, may the shame be completely wiped away and may the glory that this nation represents and strives for become a reality for more and more of our once silenced citizens.
I confess I did not cast my vote for you. Not because you failed to inspire me with your speeches, because you did. Not because you do not impress me with your leadership and vision, because you do. I cast my vote for another based upon my concern for another segment of our society which is downtrodden and cast aside, the weak, the innocent; the unborn.
Mr. President-Elect, I pray that your heart would be burdened as well to do all in your power to encourage the life that is even now forming in many to come to fruition, to share in this great moment in our nation's history. We all know the times are difficult and no one will escape the trials at hand. Just as this is true, so is the gift and privilege we have to live it. May the millions of unborn get this chance as well. May the virtue of responsibility reign as mothers choose to carry the fruit of their wombs to term, to give the gift of life to another. I ask, President Obama, that you would prayerfully consider your pay grade since indeed it has now risen at this moment in our history. May you be the champion of all those who are weak yet share the same right to life.
May God bless you and your beautiful family.
Sincerely,
Margaret Buckley
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Comments (12)
Amen and praise God!
Posted by Brian Johansen | November 6, 2008 10:36 AM
I'm not pro choice but consider the following.
During the Clinton administration abortion rates dropped by 12% in this country. Under Bush they have dropped by 2 1/2%.
While the president does have influence over an issue like this it is not he who makes the decision.
Posted by Aaron Stewart | November 6, 2008 11:10 AM
Aaron,
I believe that you are attempting to use reduction in rates to prove a point that is untenable.
As one who does systems work, I know that the last 10% requires 90% of your effort. I think that the same factor (law of diminishing returns) is at work with the rate of abortion reductions. In other words, that 2.5% builds upon the original 12%
If nothing else, the Bush appointment of two strict constructionist Supreme Court Justices will be seen as the crowning pro-life achievement of the Bush administration.
Do you think that President Obama will do the same?
Posted by Jerry | November 6, 2008 11:22 AM
Hi Jerry,
I think I might have to respectfully disagree with you as this data is in light of the fact that the Clinton administration loosened laws and restrictions on abortion whereas the current administration has done the later. These are just my thoughts and by no means infallible. :)
Posted by Aaron Stewart | November 6, 2008 3:23 PM
Wow... I seriously need to stop hanging out on this website. I have never in my life come this close to interacting with the Republican right, and I SO don't like it.
I'm a Black woman living in a major northern city, and the daughter of civil rights activists. I happened upon this site because I read "Boy Meets Girl" a while back and really liked it.
It sounds like you all would rather vote Bush right back into office than have Obama simply because you cannot see past your disagreement over this issue. Would it take another Great Depression to wake you up?
Why is the church so reliant on the government? We can't win people ourselves?
McCain didn't just lose... he got STOMPED. People are way more concerned about losing their house than they are about the decision of a knocked up college girl in Utah. If you want to have a conversation with the rest of the coutry you are going to have to step outside your bubble.
Posted by Lonni | November 6, 2008 4:32 PM
Margaret is one of the most honest and articulate women I have every heard. May her tribe increase!
Posted by Caddiechaplain | November 6, 2008 4:47 PM
It would be interesting to me to look at how our economy would look today had we not aborted MILLIONS of babies in the past decades. Those workers would today be holding jobs, paying into social security, voting, and generally contributing to our society.
Murder of the innocent is the civil rights issue of our day... let's pray that Mr. Obama will do what is right after all.
Posted by Lakym97 | November 6, 2008 4:54 PM
That's funny... the Gays and Lesbians think THEY are the civil rights issue of the moment.
Posted by Lonni | November 6, 2008 5:09 PM
I'm just disgusted that the world, including Christians, obviously cares much more about animals, (who the unborn will never see) the environment (which the unborn will never get to enjoy) and health care (the one thing that the unborn need most.) than they do about human life.
Posted by Jared Duba | November 7, 2008 2:06 AM
Aaron,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. But I don't think your conclusions are accurate.
Abortion rates did not go up under George W. Bush or Bill Clinton. From 1992-2000 rates dropped, but not because of anything Clinton did. From what I understand they dropped because state legislatures passed effective abortion control legislation.
As for Clinton having a better impact on abortion rates than Bush, Factcheck.org has refuted the claim on it's website:
http://www.factcheck.org/society/the_biography_of_a_bad_statistic.html
I don't share this to "bash" any particular candidate or party but only to refute the notion that a candidate's stand on abortion has no affect.
God bless you.
Joshua
Posted by Joshua Harris | November 7, 2008 1:57 PM
Lonni,
i appreciate the input of someone who disagrees with us on the order of our priorities. however, it's very difficult to take you seriously when you are so disrespectful.
you tell us that WE need to step outside of OUR bubble, yet you claim to never have interacted with the republican right more closely than through a blog. i find that very hard to believe, but if true, then it's very sad. i'm not sure why you don't like this type of interaction. i definitely enjoy having opportunities to listen to how people i disagree with think, not only to gain their perspective, but because i see it as an opportunity to share what i believe to be God's absolute truth.
as for the Bush comments, i'll begin by pointing out that i disagreed with President Bush on many of his policies, though mostly for the opposite reasons that liberals disliked them. this is the main reason for his low approval ratings... just about all liberals disapproved, and many conservatives disapproved of how liberal he was in many areas. if Bush were the alternative to Obama, i definitely would have chosen Bush for several reasons.
however, to respond to your implication that the abortion issue shouldn't override other issues, i contend that it should and does. not only would a biblical perspective show more concern for a life than for a home being foreclosed on... the principles upon which this country was founded and is still based would also result in the same order of priorities. life does come before the right to choose... and i think God would want us to protect not only every child's right to life, but also it's right to choose whether it wants to live and how to live it.
the church is not reliant on the government to win people. the church is reliant on God to win people. the government can make it more or less difficult for people to do God's work (from an earthly practical perspective), and we should fight to make our government line up with God's truth... but God can win people no matter what the goverment does.
your last paragraph is completely disrespectful, irresponsible, and inaccurate. McCain did NOT get stomped if you consider more than just the past 3 elections in your analysis. i encourage you to go to the below site and look at the voting shifts of 2008 compared to 1992 and 1996.
http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/results/president/map.html
the nation is more red now than during the 90s.
i urge you to reconsider your beliefs about how God sees these issues, and i also urge you to reconsider how to communicate more respectfully. i definitely find it easy to separate my passion for politics and desire to please God when discussing these things, but there's no doubt that throwing around insults is not a way to live in God's image.
Posted by Shaun | November 7, 2008 4:22 PM
I really don't understand the dogma with saving the unborn when we allow so many americans - the homeless, the mentally ill, the marginalized - to go without medical care, or even food. I think the posters above should focus on christian with a small c. Frankly, you really scare me.
Posted by Sammuel | November 20, 2008 5:04 PM