Prayers, indeed. Capitulation, never.

By James A. Smith Sr. - Jan 27, 2009 - 2 -

President Barack Obama took the oath office Jan. 20 on the steps of the Capitol at one end of the National Mall overflowing with supporters and other Americans wanting to be a part of history. On Aug. 28, 1963, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at the opposite end of the nearly two-mile long Mall, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered to a similar multitude the definitive defense of the civil rights movement in his “I Have a Dream” speech.

As a white American born a year after King’s seminal address who lived most of his childhood in the integrated north where racial tensions, while real, were less severe than in the south, I cannot fully understand the meaning of Barack Obama’s election as the first African-American president. African Americans who were the victims of racist public policies that degraded their humanity and took the lives of some of their relatives see Obama’s inauguration in a way I will never be able to completely comprehend.

In a very real way, Obama’s elevation to the White House is an affirmation of the biblical truth that all persons are created by God in His own image and, as image-bearers, are sacred, deserving of inalienable rights. Human beings by their very nature, no matter their race, are God’s handiwork.

The most important of these inalienable rights is the right to life itself. Tragically, it’s the violation of this right that makes Obama’s inauguration also a matter of grave concern.

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These excerpts are reprinted with permission from the Florida Baptist Witness, the newspaper of the Florida Baptist State Convention.

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{comment_total} comments

1 On Jan 28th, 2009, at 3:42pm, David Hollar wrote:

I questioned the sanctity of life views of George W. Bush when he ordered the invasion of Iraq based upon lies and deception.

He represents a double standard that resulted in the premature deaths of 100,000 US soldiers and Iraq civilians.

2 On Jan 28th, 2009, at 6:55pm, Ron G. wrote:

How many millions did sadam Hussein murder? How many millions of unborn, defenseless babies have been murdered and are still being murdered?

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