Not too early is it? 2008 Presidential fun

[Not Afraid]

Originally Posted by Alex Stroup

\Query: If it were to turn out to be true that when living in Indonesia as a young child*, Barak Obama attended an Islamic school, what relevance or impact to his candidacy do you feel this should have?

Personally, I think his experience makes him a much more interesting candidate and one that may have a bit more understanding of Islamic culture because of it. This certainly can't hurt if you end up being President at this time of Islamic strife.

[Alex]

Off topic but if elected I really do expect Obama to hook the nation up with fresh malasadas from the Punohou School Carnival (which is next weekend now that I think about it; anybody willing to hop over and bring back some for all of us?).

I wonder if Michelle Wie and Steve Case are annoyed at Obama for passing them as the most prominent alumni.

[innerSpaceman]

Originally Posted by Alex Stroup

... but at no point did he attend what most of us probably think of when we hear the word "madrassa." But that is our mistake, not his.

Ah, it's his mistake if he doesn't clear that up as quickly, succinctly and well as Alex just did.

[innerSpaceman]

Originally Posted by Nephythys

That is untrue. He has made his faith public but he has never forced it into the entire country.

um, Stem Cell Research Prohibition ... just to name one off the top of my head.

[Nephythys]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

um, Stem Cell Research Prohibition ... just to name one off the top of my head.

He did not prohibit it- that is another untruth. First President to federally fund it- he just would not authorize the CREATION of more lines.

That does not force his faith on the country.

[Alex]

Sure it did. Presumably there were people who wanted to create more lines and people who though federal funding of that would be appropriate. Because of his person moral views, views that he recognized are not nearly universal, he prohibited it.

In my view, a president, when in such a situation has only one reasonable option: punt it to congress.

"Because of my religious and moral views I can not endorse federal funding of that nature. However, this is an issue still very much up for debate and reasonable people can disagree. Therefore, I ask Congress to tackle this issue and try to find the will of the people. While I personally stand on one side of this issue, I will accept their answer for that is their role."

Considering that second sentence is pretty much how Bush started the address to the nation where he announced the prohibition, the next two sentences seem very reasonable to me.

[BarTopDancer]

ooo mud fights!!!!!!

[Nephythys]

I fail to see how that forces his faith on the country.

He did force anyone to convert.
He did not force anyone to agree.

He made a decision- which of course would not be agreed upon by everyone.

Is someone actually trying to sell the BS that Bush is the only President to ever make a choice based on his faith and moral beliefs?

Spare me.

[Alex]

I'm not selling that BS. But I don't think "everybody does it" is a very good justification.

To the extent that our government forces religious morality on the population of our country, that is the role of Congress (where it can be debated, minority voices can be more prominently heard, and the sentiment of constituencies are more directly felt) and not the president.

I by no means claim that government should not be making moral decisions. That is pretty much all government does. But as much as possible those moral decisions don't belong in the executive branch of government.

[Nephythys]

Originally Posted by Alex Stroup

I'm not selling that BS. But I don't think "everybody does it" is a very good justification.

To the extent that our government forces religious morality on the population of our country, that is the role of Congress (where it can be debated, minority voices can be more prominently heard, and the sentiment of constituencies are more directly felt) and not the president.

I by no means claim that government should not be making moral decisions. That is pretty much all government does. But as much as possible those moral decisions don't belong in the executive branch of government.

I never said everyone does it- but for anyone (not you in particular) to act as if his choices are somehow outrageous because of his faith is IMO ridiculous.