Why I Can't Vote For Obama

By Huntley Brown

"Dear Friends, a few months ago I was asked for my perspective on Obama, I sent out an e-mail with a few points. With the election just around the corner I decided to complete my perspective. Those of you on my e-list have seen some of this before but it's worth repeating…

First I must say whoever wins the election will have my prayer support. Obama needs to be commended for his accomplishments but I need to explain why I will not be voting for him.
Many of my friends process their identity through their blackness I process my identity through Christ. Being a Christian (a Christ follower) means He leads I follow. I can't dictate the terms He does because He is the leader.

I can't vote black because I am black; I have to vote Christian because that's who I am. Christian first, black second. Neither should anyone from the other ethnic groups vote because of ethnicity. 200 years from now I won't be asked if I was black or white. I will be asked if I knew Jesus and accepted Him as Lord and Savior.

In an election there are many issues to consider but when a society gets abortion, same-sex marriage, embryonic stem-cell research, human cloning to name a few, wrong economic concerns will soon not matter.

We need to follow Martin Luther King's words, don't judge someone by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I don't know Obama so all I can go off is his voting record. His voting record earned him the title of the most liberal senator in the US Senate in 2007.

NATIONAL JOURNAL: Obama: Most Liberal Senator in 2007 (01/31/2008)

To beat Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton as the most liberal senator, takes some doing. Obama accomplished this feat in 2 short years. I wonder what would happen to America if he had four years to work with.

There is a reason Planned Parenthood gives him a 100% rating. There is a reason the homosexual community supports him. There is a reason Ahmadinejad, Chavez, Castro, Hamas etc. love him. There is a reason he said he would nominate liberal judges to the Supreme Court. There is a reason he voted against the infanticide bill. There is a reason he voted No on the constitutional ban of same-sex marriage. There is a reason he voted No on banning partial birth abortion. There is a reason he voted No on confirming Justices Roberts and Alito. These two judges are conservatives and they have since overturned partial birth abortion. The same practice Obama wanted to continue.

Let's take a look at the practice he wanted to continue.

The 5 Step Partial Birth Abortion procedures:
A. Guided by ultrasound, the abortionist grabs the baby's leg with forceps. (Remember this is a live baby.)
B. The baby's leg is pulled out into the birth canal.
C. The abortionist delivers the baby's entire body, except for the head.
D. The abortionist jams scissors into the baby's skull. The scissors are then opened to enlarge the hole.
E. The scissors are removed and a suction catheter is inserted. The child's brains are sucked out, causing the skull to collapse. The dead baby is then removed.

God help him. There is a reason Obama opposed the parental notification law.

Think about this: You can't give a kid an aspirin without parental notification but that same kid can have an abortion without parental notification. That is insane.

There is a reason he went to Jeremiah Wright's church for 20 years.

Obama tells us he has good judgment but he sat under Jeremiah Wright's teaching for 20 years. Now he is condemning Wright's sermons. I wonder why now?

Obama said Jeremiah Wright led him to the Lord and discipled him. A disciple is one in training. Jesus told us in Matthew 28:19-20 "Go and make disciples of all nations." This means reproduce yourself. Teach people to think like you, walk like you; talk like you, believe what you believe, etc. The question I have is what did Jeremiah Wright teach him?

Would you support a White President who went to a church which has tenets that said they have a…
1. Commitment to the White Community
2. Commitment to the White Family
3. Adherence to the White Work Ethic
4. Pledge to make the fruits of all developing and acquired skills available to the White Community.
5. Pledge to Allocate Regularly, a portion of personal resources for strengthening and supporting white institutions.
6. Pledge allegiance to all White leadership who espouse and embrace the White Value System
7. Personal commitment to embracement of the White Value System.

Would you support a President who went to a church like that?

Just change the word from white to black and you have the tenets of Obama's former church. If President Bush was a member of a church like this, he would be called a racist. Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton would have been marching outside.

This kind of church is a racist church. Obama did not wake up after 20 years and just discovered he went to a racist church. The church can't be about race. Jesus did not come for any particular race. He came for the whole world.

A church can't have a value system based on race. The churches value system has to be based on biblical mandate. It does not matter if it's a white church or a black church it's still wrong. Anyone from either race that attends a church like this would never get my vote.

Obama's former Pastor Jeremiah Wright is a disciple of liberal theologian James Cone, author of the 1979 book A Black Theology of Liberation. Cone once wrote: "Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him."

Cone is the man Obama's mentor looks up to. Does Obama believe this?

So what does this all mean for the nation?

In the past when the Lord brought someone with the beliefs of Obama to lead a nation it meant one thing – judgment.

Read 1 Samuel 8 when Israel asked for a king. First God says in 1 Samuel 1:9 "Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do."

Then God says

1 Samuel 1:18 "When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day." 19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles." 21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. 22 The LORD answered, "Listen to them and give them a king."

Here is what we know for sure.

God is not schizophrenic.

He would not tell one person to vote for Obama and one to vote for McCain. As the scripture says, a city divided against itself cannot stand, so obviously many people are not hearing from God.

Maybe I am the one not hearing but I know God does not change and Obama contradicts many things I read in scripture so I doubt it.

For all my friends who are voting for Obama, can you really look God in the face and say; Father based on your word, I am voting for Obama even though I know he will continue the genocidal practice of partial birth abortion. He might have to nominate three or four Supreme Court justices, and I am sure he will be nominating liberal judges who will be making laws that are against you. I also know he will continue to push for homosexual rights, even though you destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for this. I know I can look the other way because of the economy.

I could not see Jesus agreeing with many of Obama's positions. Finally, I have two questions for all my liberal friends.

Since we know someone's value system has to be placed on the nation,

1. Whose value system should be placed on the nation.

2. Who should determine that this is the right value system for the nation?

Blessings, Huntley Brown"

Huntley Brown is as described on his web site a "Christian Concert Pianist whose personal repertoire includes classical, jazz, gospel, reggae and many other styles." Snopes.com contacted Huntley Brown to verify he wrote this e-mail. He did. And here is his response to Snopes.

"Yes, I wrote this e-mail. I was responding to my friends who asked me to vote for Senator Obama because he is black. It was not my intention to send it around the world.

I did not post this email or send out any pictures attached. I wish they had not done that.

My friends did not ask me to vote for Senator McCain, which explains why my e-mail was geared towards Senator Obama.

My email was not meant to influence public opinion in any way, but simply to share with my friends my views on why I could not vote for Senator Obama.

I have problems with both candidates, but the differences I have with Senator McCain pale in comparison with the ones I have with Senator Obama.

For the record, I am not a politician. I am not a Democrat or a Republican. I am a Christian independent who just loves the Lord.

If Senator Obama wins, he can count on my prayer support every day.

I tell my friends it's like a family where you have different opinions, but you love each other just the same. I love and appreciate Senator Obama but our views are diametrically opposed.

If I knew my e-mail would have generated this much interest on a national level, I would have left out a few points. I don't want people to think I am against gay people or against people who have abortions. (I am not.) We are all sinners by grace but we need to have some absolute laws to govern society or else we will self destruct.

What has really bothered me is our beautiful black women constitute only 6% of the population, yet they comprise 36% of the abortion industry's clientele. Obama has done nothing to stop this. Most people don't know that the leading abortion providers have chosen to exploit us blacks by locating 94% of their abortuaries in urban neighborhoods with high black populations. Obama has done nothing to stop this?

To be honest I can't wait to vote for the first black President but it has to be a person who shares the values I read in the Bible.

Thanks for checking to make sure my e-mail is legit, it is.

The sad part is I have been getting hate mail and my family is being harassed. As you can imagine, not everyone is happy with my e-mail.

God bless you richly."

Did You Survive an Abortion?

How many abortion survivors do you know? I have a dear friend who went to a clinic as a teenager to find out if she was pregnant. When she learned her test was positive, she was told she could have an abortion if she didn't want to tell her family she was pregnant. My friend decided to schedule the abortion and was told not to tell anyone because they would try to convince her to keep the baby. Because she was very nervous about the procedure, she told another friend who told her mother of the plans. Her mother talked her out of having the abortion.

My friend now has an adult son whom she loves very much and counts him as one of the biggest blessings in her life! She had been told to abort this wonderful Christian man by someone who didn't know her, her family or her situation. I would qualify that child as one who survived an abortion. Even though the surgical procedure was never performed, he survived the easy availability for his mother to abort him.

I only know about my friend's situation because she has supported my speaking out about the lies Planned Parenthood and Pro-Choice supporters speak in the name of "Freedom of Choice" for women. You might have a very close friend or even a family member who is alive today because their mother decided to proceed with the choice of birth. They may not even know their mother contemplated abortion at all.

Do some choices have bigger consequences than others? Absolutely! If I decide to take home a pencil from my office, I might get a reprimand and a lecture from H.R. about ethics. If I decide to have unprotected sex with someone, I might get pregnant. Is the choice to carry that baby to birth a punishment?

I have recently known two teenage girls who had sexual relationships with their boyfriends and got pregnant. One decided to publicly announce her mistake, ask for forgiveness and decided to carry the baby to term and adopt her to a family unable to have a child. The second girl decided to move away for the duration of the pregnancy but still carried the baby to term and adopted her to a family. I think the most unselfish decision a young mother can make is when she considers another family to raise the child and gives them that gift. Especially when that family is physically unable to bear a child of their own.

I told the teenage mother I was very impressed by her maturity to make a decision in the best interest of another family and the baby. Since we were living in California at the time, it would have been convenient to take the "easy way out" and have an abortion before anyone knew she was pregnant. Girls at any age can acquire an abortion without parental consent in the following states: Alaska, California, Connecticut, Washington D.C., Hawaii, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Vermont, Washington.

Regardless of reason or rationale, every abortion is birth control.

Obama and Abortion

This post is not about the issue of abortion being against the law of God. For information about abortion and God's word, see my post Life. This post is about babies who are born alive after an attempted abortion, which is referred by the administering doctor as a "complication" of the abortion procedure, and Senator Obama's stance on the care and welfare of those babies. Or lack thereof.

Abortion procedures performed in the first trimester (usually before the 9th week) are Medicinal Abortion by taking several drugs to induce labor and cause a "miscarriage", or Suction Curettage (or vacuum aspiration) in which a long plastic tube connected to a suction device is inserted into the uterus to suction out the fetus and placenta. These procedures are not survivable by the baby.

Abortion procedures performed in the second and third trimester are Suction Curettage (or vacuum aspiration) and Induction Abortion in which salt water, urea, or potassium chloride is injected into the mother's uterus causing chemical burns to the baby with the intent the baby will die while still in the womb. Birth is then induced by pitocin being given to the mother via IV to cause contractions and laminaria is inserted into the vagina to cause dilation of the cervix for delivery of the dead baby.

However, if the baby survives an Induction abortion and is born alive, the doctor may then decide to terminate life by inflicting one of the following on the baby:

1. Suffocation by drowning.
2. Strangulation or stabbing by the hand of the doctor.
3. Exposure by leaving the baby unattended.

Senator Obama voted against a state bill to mandating doctors to give medical attention to the viable breathing baby who by some miracle has survived an induction abortion. By sanctioning neglect of an infant, the doctor has government approval to participate in infanticide by one of the preceding methods.

It is my hope and prayer that education on these abortion procedures and Senator Obama's support of denial of medical attention to babies who survive abortion will cause a great cry by people who are shocked these procedures still exist in a civilized society.

On Life... Again

The issues being discussed for America in the upcoming Presidential election have prompted me to look at political morality again and measure where each candidate stands. I have tremendous respect for teen mothers who chose to carry their babies to term when the option of abortion is readily available and seems the easy way out of an embarrassing confrontation... especially if you mom is the Republican Vice Presidential nominee.

Over a year ago I wrote a post titled Life about abortion and the Biblical evidence against it. Although I was told I was completely wrong by some Christians for using Old Testament scripture, they were not able to persuade me against the clear message in God's Word that taking the life of an unborn child, whether by accident or intent, was punishable by death.

An article from Stand To Reason written in 1999 is staggering in comparing abortion supporters to Nazis but draws some very clear lines to link the two. The site Abort 73 is working to educate women about the procedure of abortion and what an aborted fetus looks like.

After education on true abortion procedure and the sale of aborted fetuses, Christians must not keep quiet any longer. We need to educate all women on these practices. Then we have to be ready to step up and offer viable options to killing millions of people before (and sometimes after) their first breath.

Please pray for ways you can make a difference in the life of a woman facing this decision with the love of Jesus Christ. The precious life God created should be left in His hand.

Matthew 19:13-14

13 Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them.

14 But Jesus said, "Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

Update 9/3/08
Here's an excellent article titled Legislating Morality from apologist and educator Frank Turek, outlining the urgent need for Christians to become involved in current politics.

Life

I've been working on this post since November. The subject of abortion and unborn life is so sensitive I actually thought about deleting this before it was finished. By the power of the Holy Spirit, I didn't delete it. I have decided to publish this post because the Holy Spirit revealed insights from the Word of God that I needed to put down for someone to read. If you read this post and decide to comment, please be sensitive to other readers and to me.

This post is taken from a radio message by Chip Ingram. You can find the podcast at Living on the Edge.

God says he has absolute truth. God created life in Genesis 1:27

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

We know human life is sacred because God created it. God had capitol punishment in the Bible, whether we agree with it or not and scripture affords the same value to a fetus, from the first cell on, as to any other human life.

The first Scripture used against abortion is often quoted by Christians.

Psalm 139:13-16

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

God was involved in plans for us before we were born, not after we took our first breath. We find examples of this in both the Old and New Testaments. (David, Jeremiah, Paul)

But... what if in Scripture, we saw the same punishment for the murder of an unborn baby as for fully developed human beings?

In Exodus 20, there is the receiving of the Ten Commandments. The following chapters in Exodus are an explanation and application of these Commandments.

Exodus 21:22-25
22 If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman's husband demands and the court allows. 23 But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.

God views the fetus as special, needing protection as a pre-born human being.
If we believe the Bible is truth, we can not ignore this teaching.

There are several emotional oppositions the Pro-choice movement uses to keep us from taking our stand.

The mothers' life is in danger.
This is extremely rare and exceptionally uncommon. Former US Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Coop has said that in 30 years of practicing pediatric medicine, neither himself nor his colleagues ever had to choose between the life of the mother and baby.

Pregnancy from rape and incest.
These are horrific tragedies. However, punishing an unborn human for sin committed by another doesn't solve anything. Two wrongs don't make a right. Only 0.06% of rape result in pregnancy. Due to post-rape exams and procedures performed by hospitals (i.e. D & C), rape resulting pregnancy is extremely rare. The act of abortion is much harder on the mother emotionally and physically with regret, guilt, and depression toping the list.

A return to back ally abortion.
Before abortion was legal, in 1965 only 265 deaths occurred due to illegal abortions. Abortion became legal in 1973, since that time with the advances in medicine we would expect the statistics to have become better. However, according to the CDC, the statistics for the mortality of the mother is almost exactly the same. Of all pregnancy-related complications in New York and California, 20% were due to abortions. In 1996, about 20 women for every 1,000 women aged 15-44 years had an abortion, and for every 1,000 live births, about 325 abortions were performed, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

So, where do we go from here? What do we do about Christians who are professing the word of God but teach contrary to it? First, we need to work on finding forgiveness. There has to be an accountability to take responsibility for false teaching and then establish limits. Violence is ungodly and unrighteous. Bombing abortion clinics and murdering doctors is sin and, again, two wrongs don't make a right.

Romans 16:17-19
17 I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. 18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. 19 Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.

We are called to be light to the world, not heat. Light illuminates, heat drives away. It is not our place to keep others from sinning, but to bring the darkness to light and gently restore our brother in Christ.

Galatians 6:1-2
1 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

Matthew 18:15-17
15 If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16 But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

Acting in love, we need to be sure our method matches the message of Christ. How would he approach someone caught in the middle? WWJD? The loving body of Christ's Church has to use dialogue, not condemnation, so as not to drive our brother away.

Ephesians 4:15-18
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

It is vital to address the core issue based on the word of God: is it a human being or a mass of tissue? If you are able to use these scriptures to help your brother (or sister) to understand what this means, be sure to listen to their answer and share the truth in love.

I did not post this subject as a debate on interpretation of scripture. Everything written is from the Word of God, taken in context, and has been brought with prayer and love. If you have been convicted here by the Holy Spirit, please take it to God. Study his Word, the answers to all of lifes questions are there. He is faithful and he will honor seeking his name in truth.