Obama’s light in Africa
I watched in anticipation from the ambassador’s residence in Maseru, Lesotho, as Barack Obama was elected as the next president of the US. Every volunteer I spoke to was brimming with excitement the following morning as we began tackling our day’s projects. Any masotho who heard the news was thrilled. The national papers soon spread the excitement around the large towns and soon the infection will have spread to the villages.
I am now in a health clinic, bringing supplies, in the mountains in Lesotho. I had to take a four seater plane to get here as it is so remote. Amazingly they have internet access…so I am actually writing this from the clinic. In the doctor’s house, here in one of the most remote areas of rural Lesotho in Southern Africa, is pinned a poster of the president-elect and hope of America, Barack Obama.
Congratulations mr president. It appears that from this continent a resounding ‘Yes’ can be heard in support of him. I even heard recently that all the babies born in Kenya are being named Barack or Michelle. The world has high hopes.
I see that many of the american bishops are denouncing Catholics who voted for the pro-abortion Obama. In his very outlook Obama is pro-hope and pro-life and so I am confident that he can do more for the pro-life cause than George Bush Jnr or John McCain and the pitbull ever would.
Anyway, I just thought I would write this after seeing the poster here. Dave and Mike have written a few commentaries on the election so I won’t (for now!) but this is a taste of Lesotho’s reaction and the all-round jubilation from the volunteering community here.
On another note we have had storms for the past few days. This is great news here because of the previous six months of dry but it has also destroyed many homes and killed ten in the last two nights. For most though it means good crops and so, life. Often it seems that what appears to bring death can often bring life. Just a side note. Hope you’re all enjoying the cold in Ireland….it really sounds great from here.
Thursday, November 13th, 2008 and is filed under Messages from Africa.
Responses are currently closed
matthew Says:
I am afraid Ronan, that you are sorely mistaken in the comments you made.
Here is your comment that I wish to focus on ” I see that many of the american bishops are denouncing Catholics who voted for the pro-abortion Obama. In his very outlook Obama is pro-hope and pro-life and so I am confident that he can do more for the pro-life cause than George Bush Jnr or John McCain and the pitbull ever would.”
Ronan, I urge you very strongly and with Christian charity to deeply reconsider what you have just said. Without taking up the entire thread here explaining how you are wrong I will point you to one link which you ought to read very carefully http://www.priestsforlife.org/elections/consequences.htm
and an article which address all the false arguments made for Catholics supporting Obama is strongly recommended also http://www.eppc.org/publications/pubID.3577/pub_detail.asp
Fr Pavone head of priests for life, said that the american people have made one of the greatest mistakes in the history of their country. I would tend to agree. 1 million children are killed every year in abortion and obama wants to uphold that as a right. As Fr Pavone also says ” if a politican can’t tell the difference between protecting the citizen and killing them, then they are not qualified for public office” .
But don’t focus on these remarks, rather read those links.
November 16th, 2008 at 12:37 am
Ronan Says:
Matthew,
I recognise the horrifying reality which exists in countries where abortion is legal, such as the US. I hope and pray that such societies will recognise this reality as it is and put an end to it.
We must however be realistic and practical in our approach. The US is a democracy. The people of that democracy have, on countless occasions, spoken in favor of legal abortion. For example, in a CBS News/New York Times poll in 2003 the majority of every group surveyed were in favor of legal abortion. The highest pro-life stance was in the republican base polled with a 70% to 28% support for abortion.
This is the reality facing pro-life America. We must accept this if we ever hope to move forward. President Bush and his once-hopeful protégé, McCain, promised to remove abortion’s legal status. This is impossible. The president is not all powerful in such a democracy and so this was never a realistic option, just pure rhetoric.
While Obama is pro-choice he recognises the pro-life views of a significant section of the american electorate. He has pledged to work for all americans. The goal then should be to work to change public opinion not to follow the empty promises as those of Bush or McCain on the subject. As the president’s hands are tied on the issue abortion should not be the only subject which directs us.
Obama is pro-life in every way that he can act. He is against imperial warmongering, as typical of the Bush administration. The president-elect recognises the impact, or lack of, of the death penalty as a deterrent. He does not see it as a viable response to crime unless the crime is extraordinarily “heinous”. Bush, and so McCain, are so obsessed with gung-ho cowboy politics that their claimed respect for the dignity of human life is unrecognisable.
Barack Obama speaks for the weak in society but leaves out the weakest, the unborn child. I would never begin to defend this. I would say however that practically speaking this stance is of more use to the pro-lifers amongst us than the approach of Bush/McCain/Pitbull Palin which is to disregard the weak except for the unborn child-this stance would be great but as I say it is only rhetoric.
Please read Sarah’s comment in response to ‘Sarah Palin as the Pit bull with lipstick’. It is very useful in discussing this issue.
November 16th, 2008 at 8:59 am
Mike Says:
Matthew, I understand your comments and have gone into detail in reading and debating them with you. However look at the “flip side” as such and consider america alone.
I found this article on the spotlight on poverty website:
Newly released Census data reveal an actual increase between 2006 and 2007 of 500,000 in the total number of poor children. At the same time, the number of children living in extreme poverty increased by 260,000. In fact, child poverty has increased during the current Administration; 1.7 million more children now are living in poverty than in 2000, and the number of children living in extreme poverty has risen by more than 1.1 million over this same period.
Based on figures from 1996 everyday 2,660 children were born into poverty; 27 died because of it.
I’m saying look at all sides, President Obama is in a no win situation and abortion is a massive issue their can be no doubt because it divides countries, families, cultures and continents.
Mankind has not worked out how to protect those that we create and because of that many suffer. When we do have a glimmer of light to suggest we understand the message and the right way to live, we try to destroy and tear down everything we’ve created.
I’m asking you to look at both sides, I’m asking you to look at the pain and emotion of a decision being made and that not all are dismissing the choice they make. You can’t bang people’s heads together and expect us all to sing off the same hymn sheet and that’s regardless of religion or race or creed that is just the way people are.
If we all agreed, we would all be robots and matthew you have displayed everything to indicate that you do not just follow the masses and lose the right to contribute something.
A lot of rulers and governments would have us be mindless; thankfully common sense can save a lot of us.
November 16th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
matthew Says:
For Ronan,
-The majority of americans are against abortions in 2nd and third trimesters. which is radically opposed to where barack obama stands.
-It is not just prue rhetoric. Republicans unlike democrats appoint pro life justices. The court is one justice away from that crucial majority.
-Obama’s record shows not a single instance of compromise on abortion. In fact on the infant born alive protection act, NARAL the abortion group stayed neutral while he opposed it! That’s sayign a lot. It is very wishful thinking indeed to suggest that he would be anything but adamantly pro abortion.
- Please read the following link to which proves conclusively how you are wrong that the president can do nothing. http://www.politics.ie/us-presidential-election/36669-why-abortion-most-important-issue-election.html
By the way, did you read the other links I enclosed?
Mike,
I am indeed looking at both sides. A Catholic never leaves any issue out. Particularily poverty.
But some issues are more important than others. Did you know that there were 46 million abortions last year alone? If you truly think these are human lives then, you ought to be outraged. This is more than perhaps all the wars in the entire history of the world. And certainly more than would die of poverty. There is no comparision. A holocaust is taking place and Barack obama supports it.
As for your comment about emotions. A man who intends to kill his 10 year old daughter to collect insurance may be facing the most difficult decision in his life, but it doesnt make it right. Nor does it take away from the gravity of the evil involved. It is a trick that abortion apologists use to suggest that pro lifers don’t care about women. Such a suggest is absurd. Spend 10 minutes at an abortion clinic and see the love that the sidewalk counsellors exude and you will be convinced how much they care.
When faced with a choice between the two evils, a Catholic voter should always choose the leser of two evils. Obama is absolutely not that. and you know it. This is not about emotion. This is abotu facts.
Mike I plead with you to read the following brief article http://www.priestsforlife.org/brochures/singleis.html
God bless both of you.
November 17th, 2008 at 5:03 am
julie Says:
Bishop Robert Carlson………..
“So, how’s a Catholic to vote?” Let me put the matter as simply as I can: Abortion results in the killing of approximately 1 million children in the womb every year. A Catholic can, in good conscience, vote for a pro-choice candidate only if other issues outweigh this one in number and in kind.
What do I mean by “in number and in kind”? Let’s take an example. The Church is opposed to the use of the death penalty. But the death penalty does not outweigh abortion because:
1) they differ in number: over 1 million abortions per year vs. less than 100 executions per year, and
2) they differ in kind: the directly willed death of the innocent vs. the directly willed death of those found guilty in a court of law”
Poverty as you have brought up here , is not directly willed. In any case, the numbers of abortion out number them . Don’t forget use of abortifacient drugs are not included in the statics for surgical abortion, so the number is even higher.
I believe American Catholics who voted for Obama did not understand the gravity of their choice.
Juliet
Australia
November 22nd, 2008 at 12:26 am
LMaher Says:
Ronan,
The democratic tradition in the US gave the people of each state the right to determine their state’s abortion laws. That democratic tradition was voided by the supreme court in 1973.
The people of the US never voted to initiate their current (invented) constitutional “right to abortion (or privacy)” through any democratic process. When the supreme court decided to apply the right to privacy to abortion it simply voided the existing anti-abortion laws in the states.
Now-since the people of California through the democratic process voted to forbid homosexual marriage the California courts are looking at ways to nullify that vote. We shall see what happens.
Brings to mind the American quip: “What does the constitution say?” Answer: “Whatever the supreme courts says is says.”
Please don’t presume democratic action where it did not occur.
November 22nd, 2008 at 2:45 pm
matthew Says:
The fight against evil will go on until the end of time. There will never be a point where we can sit back and say “our job is done here”.
The supreme court can overturn it’s previous decisions just like it did in relation to the personhood of black people.
But there is also something else to consider and this is much harder to prove. The laws in the US around abortion are so extreme that people really want rid of them. There is a real weariness setting in. The Judges ( and kennedy included probably) are just looking for a reason to overturn Roe. People want rid of it.
Can I prove this? of course not. It’s just a sense. We are reaching the end of abortion in america- I pray it comes sooner rather than later- but one way or another it will come. And when it does come there will truly be hope for the world- Not the false “hope” that the devil makes us believe in.
I’m not sure if your last post Ronan was addressed to me. If it was I don’t know what democratic action I am presuming that did not occur. I would be interested to hear a further explanation from you. But if not referring to me then don’t worry.
November 22nd, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Maria Says:
Sorry. Wrong. Obama is looking to have babies aborted right up to birth. Look at the FOCA issue going on in America. This man’s prolife history is disastrous. Look at partial birth abortions that President Bush tried to restrict. This is usually the solution for a late term abortion and it is the most henious crime against humanity. No ‘Catholic’ can vote OBAMA he is a Child Killer.
November 28th, 2008 at 1:55 pm