“Next?” by Rev. Holly McKissick

Rev. HollyMcKissick

Dear friends,

I thank you for signing on to the Clergy for Obama website. It’s been a great source of hope for me throughout the campaign. Seeing your entries, seeing a name added from a city or state that hadn’t been there the day before. I’m particularly hopeful that it has served as a vehicle for clergy who are isolated by geography or circumstance to build connections, coalitions….friendships.

It’s been a great opportunity for us to meet our neighbors.

Several people have asked, what’s next?

In the past few months–canvassing in long forgotten neighborhoods in Kansas City, passing one condemned home after another—I’ve known what you know: We have been pretty good at saying “Yes, we can!” There’s a follow up question, though:

BUT WILL WE?

There is critical work to be done.

Too many have been left behind.

There are still hungry children.
There is still a need to expand opportunity and access.
There are still wars being fought in our name.

What will we do?

Two lessons I gleaned from this campaign:

1) Engage EARLY. Our family got on board with the campaign in July. As the campaign ramped up, so did our tasks: hosting house parties turned into voter registration, which turned into canvassing neighborhoods, to sponsoring rallies, to poll watching….

Don’t wait until election day. The outcome is all but determined by that point. Volunteers are critical in the earlier stages. Get out there and get it done. It’s a lesson for life and ministry: Engage early. Don’t wait for others.

2) Risk. I’ve spent the past 18 years as the “founding pastor” of a progressive church in a bastion of fundamentalism. Amazing things have happened because of risks we took. It’s true in campaigns, too: walk through the door of the condemned house and meet the folks inside. Usually they ask you to sit down and have pie. Be bold. The heart of our faith—that God became flesh—is the literal embodiment of risk.

What more can anyone say, but: President Barack Hussein Obama.

Who would have dreamed it two years ago?

God is good.

Let’s Keep up the work.

What have you learned? Let us hear from you.

Rev. Holly McKissick
Kansas City, MO

We Are Clergy For Obama

We are Clergy for Obama.

We believe in Barack Obama’s ability to change this country we love so dearly; more importantly, we believe in our ability to be the change.

We believe in our ability to create a country where:
     all children have nourishing food
     the sick can find affordable healthcare
     our young adults have real opportunities and a future they can trust
     the elderly live securely and in community
     women and men have choices about their private lives
     armed conflict is a last resort, not a substitute for diplomacy

Together we believe in our ability to move this country
     to a politics of hope
     to a deep regard for the life of the planet and care for all creation
     to an investment in programs that work to end poverty
     to equal pay for equal work

We are children of God.
We are citizens of the United States of America.
We believe now is the time for change.

We are Clergy for Obama

 

If you have thoughts to share with fellow clergy supporters of the Obama Campaign, send your note to
Brandon Gilvin. We would like to use it on the site.

Yes….We did.

Congratulations to our country!

And God bless the entire world!

Read Obama’s Speech HERE.

VOTE!!!!!

Today’s the day.

Go Vote For Change!

“1563. 230. 1705.” by Rev. Brandon Gilvin

Rev. Brandon Gilvin

For us, it started with a bunch of preachers at a Panera.

We had an idea. Getting out the word and getting out the vote for Obama.

This website has been a part of that effort.

We’ve spent the last couple of months presenting our cases, getting feedback, getting organized, sharing ideas. Some of us have already spent time standing in line, voting early, watching democracy in action.

I’ve heard people say–time after time–this is the most important election of our lives.

I believe it. Many lifelong Republicans have told me they’re crossing party lines for the first time…ever. I’ve seen 18 year olds and 20 year olds talk about voting for the first time with an unbelievable excitement.

And yet I’ve heard and seen other things, too. Innuendo. Misinformation. Anger. Insults. Racism in its most undiluted form. It’s been painful to watch. Not only because it’s aimed at the candidate whom I support, but because I think it leaves me disappointed. It disappoints me because it is a hard blow to something I believe in very deeply.

I believe in an America that values its people–no matter their race, religion, or political beliefs. I believe in an America that supports human rights abroad and due process at home.

I believe in that noble myth of “the American Experiment”–that we are a place built on ideas and ideals, not on the pure consolidation of power, roughly wielded for our national interests.

Of all the things I think this election is–a referendum on Rove-style politics, Abu Ghraib-style foreign policy, Bush-style leadership (or lack thereof), I think it’s truly a referendum on what kind of America we want.

Obama is my candidate. Not my Messiah. Quite frankly, he is not my hope. He is, however, the kind of leader–one who listens to different ideas, shows an intellectual curiosity, and can strategize and organize around new, innovative ideas–we need to work to make our own hopes for our families, friends, and nation come true.

That’s why this election gives me hope. That’s why I’ve cast my ballot for Obama. That’s why I’ve maintained this blog. That’s why tomorrow I’ll spend a few hours at a polling station, passing out water, sandwiches, and encouragement to people standing in line (no matter who they want to vote for).

That’s why 1563 Clergy have added their name to our list of supporters, and around 230 or so of you have added blog entries or comments on the site. 1705 folks have joined up on the companion facebook page.

Hope is not naivete. It is not only what builds dreams, but what builds allies and networks. It is what brings adversaries to the bargaining table, and what sparks entrepreneurship.

It is what America is best at.

So Tomorrow, let’s tell the rest of the world that we believe in hope, we believe in dreams, and most of all, we believe in ourselves.

Yes we can, friends.
Yes. We. Can.

Rev. Brandon Gilvin
Kansas City, MO

“We the People” by Rev. Wallace Smith

Rev. Wallace Smith

We’ve been working toward this day for a while now, and it is the eve of the election. The Obama campaign has truly been a campaign of “We the People”. Many have been sharing the path for a long time, many others are just now finding their own voice and truly believing in their own capacity to bring the change, to be the change we are looking for not only in Washington or in this country, but in the world.

I have voted now in 5 presidential elections, and I have never been so inspired, so involved, or so hopeful for a candidate, a moment, an opportunity, a movement, a transformation. Tomorrow is one last opportunity to help the campaign, and i would urge all who can, especially in swing states, to simply serve the voters waiting in line with bottles of water, or a snack, anything you can do to help voters stay in line and see this election through, one voice at a time, many voices in harmony with one another, uniting in support of Obama.

It is hard not to be anxious in these last hours. It has been a long journey, and my heart is in this. If you are reading this, I’m sure yours is, too. But I do believe that HOPE will triumph over fear and
LOVE will overcome hate, war, and greed. We have another special
opportunity after the election is over, as clergy and as citizens, to work toward a healing of the divisiveness in this country. “Not red states and blue states, but the United States of America….” I have family that are deeply divided over this election, and you may as well. There are emails I have received that are simply vicious lies, and commercials and words on the campaign that are deeply divisive, dangerously so. How can we heal and unite the people in our congregations and communities (and families)? We will not reach “unity”, but perhaps we can achieve a harmony that draws us all to a better and higher road, that we must walk together. What can we do to bring back a sense of “We the People” beyond this campaign, as together, we must find a way to unite and bring peace and justice to all the world…

“We the People” will work and walk and live side by side in days to come. How will we continue to reach for and hold out as a beacon, faith, hope, and love, that all may walk together. By the grace of God, and in freedom, yes we can!

Rev. Wallace Smith
Shawnee, KS

“Making this Hope Come True” by Rev. Kelli Driscoll

Rev. Kelli Driscoll

My name is Kelli and I am a 28 year old pastor living in Kansas City, MO. I grew up in a Southern city where people spoke about equality but lived in specific neighborhoods without crossing the racial line. Whether in my hometown or in Kansas City, we still live divided lives whether by race or class or a variety of labels and prejudices that only hold us back. This couldn’t be further from what God desires or what the promises of our country hold. In church as well as in our American neighborhoods (and around the world), I believe that true community is built among a variety of people all sharing the best of themselves, working together to make a just world. My husband and I moved into a diverse neighborhood with the hope that with one step we can make a difference in building up community where our faith and values are lived out. As modern people, we speak of justice in punitive ways, but the Biblical sense of justice is centered in the idea that all people will eat well, all people will live well. This is the type of country I desire, the type of justice I desire. I am voting for Barack Obama because he shares that value. He has not asked me to put anything before my faith. He has simply asked that people believe in their ability to make a difference in their country, wherever they may be starting. I start in my faith, and hope that the images of peace that I see in the Bible where people live in harmony may become more real under a Obama presidency. Whether my neighbor shares my faith or not, I know that many share a hope for a better America where the dignity of each individual is lifted up before the “rights” of corporate America. Come January, I look forward to working with Obama and all of the United States to make this hope come true.

Rev. Kelli Driscoll
Kansas City, MO

“Two Reasons” by Rev. Mandye Masden Yates

Rev. Mandye Masden Yates

I am voting for Barack Obama for two main reasons: universal healthcare and foreign policy. As Christians, it is moral responsibility to care for the poor and sick, especially children. It is also our moral responsibility to be peacemakers. When Jesus was confronted with ideas of capital punishment and vengence in his day, he encouraged empathy, compassion and self-examination in response. Barack Obama has said that he will make sure universal healthcare becomes a reality. Barack Obama has said that he will work for diplomatic solutions to global problems.

Rev. Mandye Masden Yates
Lawrenceburg, KY

“A Transformational Leader” by Jim Henderson

Colin Powell calls Obama a transformational leader.
 
I suspect he got that phrase from this  quote by Peter Drucker “Every few hundred years in Western culture there occurs a sharp transformation, within a few short decades society rearranges itself… we are currently living in such a time”
 
Powell and Drucker believe that American history is going through a  transformational shift. If they’re correct then this election is about something beyond politics.
 
Besides Americas international reputation jumping 50% overnight if Barack is elected, I also  believe this window is affording Christians an opportunity to transform a historic wrong.
 
The forced enslavement of millions of Africans 350 years ago and the subsequent economic advantage it provided our young country a.k.a.  Americas Holocaust  has never been addressed directly and concretely by any of our leaders.
 
While I wouldn’t vote for Barack just because he is a black man ( for example I would not have voted for either Alan Keyes or Jesse Jackson)
I am grateful that God (or history – you decide) is providing someone with bearing and character who happens to be a black man.
 
I believe that we have an opportunity to repent of our institutional racism and symbolically hand those whose history we stole the keys to the car.
 
I’m not certain whether you believe that you reap what you sow but perhaps one of the reasons our nation is currently $13 Trillion in debt is because of the sin of slavery that has never been repented of.
 
I see this as God’s mercy – as a way through this historic dilemma and one that will do for our national character what reparations never could.
 
Join me in voting for Barack Obama for President of the United States.

Jim Henderson
Director, Off The Map
Offthemap.com
Seattle, Washington

“Faithful Change” by Rev. Dr. Lisa W. Davison

Rev. Dr. Lisa Davison

This is the 7th Presidential Election in which I will have the privilege of voting, and I feel that it is certainly the most important one yet. Wiser people than I keep saying this is the worst period in the history that the US has seen in decades, and it is definitely the worst in my lifetime. All aspects of life in the US seem to be going in the wrong direction on both the domestic and international fronts. Looking at what’s going on around me, I keep thinking that something has to change and soon and for the better.

In this crucial time, a new leader has emerged who brings all the characteristics that we need. Senator Obama brings to this presidential race strength, integrity, courage, intelligence, experience, and leadership. No, he is not perfect; none of us are, but everything we have seen from Senator Obama shows him to be a discerning leader. He will bring honor back to the office of President and rebuild our image among our neighbors around the world. By favoring dialogue and negotiation over taunt and violence, Senator Obama will protect this country while also working the betterment of all people.

As a person of faith, I make political decisions not on whether or not a candidate shares my particular religious beliefs, but rather whether that candidate shares my core values. As a Christian, these values are based on the life and teachings of Jesus, which were rooted in the Jewish Scriptures (e.g., Torah, Prophets, and Writings). The key hermeneutic through which I view all of life is based on the two most important commandments as identified by Jesus: Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. The ideas, commitments, and policies of Senator Obama represent the essence of “loving your neighbor”, and that is how I understand “loving God”. He shows concern for the “least of these” and will work on behalf of those who have been abused or overlooked during the past 8 years.

Yes, this is a monumental election, and Senator Obama is a unique candidate for many reasons beyond the obvious. Casting my vote for Senator Obama on Nov 4th will not only be an honor but also an act for faithful change.

Rev. Dr. Lisa W. Davison
Lexington, KY

“The View from Morrocco” by Rev. Karen Thomas Smith

Rev. Karen Thomas Smith

In the Middle Atlas Mountains of Morocco, where there are more sheep than automobiles, you might think elections happening in America, half a world away, might hold little interest for ordinary people. But you would be wrong. I know more Moroccans than Americans here who got up at 3:00 in the morning our time to watch the last debate. Even shepherds in the village of Tarmilat (population 120) ask me who I’m voting for.

I recently took a group of visiting Americans to that village to see a women’s weaving project Americans and Moroccans worked together to create. The women graciously received their guests, displaying looms and rugs, serving tea and fried bread. As we looked out over the sheepfolds and the rolling hills, a car with a blaring loudspeaker passed below us on a dirt road. “Elections,” I explained, meaning local elections. One young man commented, derisively, “I bet these people are for Obama.”

His words angered me. They felt egocentric, assuming that ours were the elections in question, and prejudicial, assuming that “these people” would automatically prefer the same candidate, one he clearly disliked. Did he mean that Arabs wanted Obama because Obama has been accused of having terrorist links, and for him Arabs were terrorists? Was it because the shepherds are dark-skinned? Was it because they are poor? His scornful tone most disturbed me.

But he’s right about one thing: the vast majority of Moroccans hope that Obama will be America’s next president, but not because they are terrorists (they aren’t, just as Obama isn’t), and not even primarily because they are relatively dark-skinned and so many are poor. Moroccans want Obama to be president because they realize our world desperately needs change, and much depends on the course the US will now choose to take, for Morocco and the world.

Morocco was the first country to recognize the sovereignty of the United States in 1777. Morocco is still a significant ally of the United States in the Arab world. Morocco supported America’s war on terror from the start. But the war in Iraq and the death of countless Iraqi civilians, with subsequent images of Abu Ghraib and the revelation that the CIA operates secret prisons here, all this has caused America to lose all credibility in this part of the world and beyond. The radical change in the way America is viewed is hard for Americans in the USA to understand, but it is blatantly obvious to those of us who have lived overseas through the transition: America has become the occupying enemy, the oppressor, the evil empire in people’s minds.

Americans may ask, “Why should we care what they think about us?” 9-11 is one answer. Al-Qaeda may well have been carrying out its own suicide mission in 9-11, attacking the US knowing that America would respond precipitously with such overwhelming force as to, perhaps, annihilate the Al-Qaeda organization while at the same time creating a generation of bitterly angry and resentful young men and women around the world who will rise up to take up the mantle of anti-American hatred and violence. We squandered all the good will the world felt for us after 9-11 and turned it into a groundswell of malice.

This has hurt not only America, but also Morocco and other nations allied to the US who find their populations becoming less and less approving of their country’s support of the American agenda. Supporting the US provides fuel for the fire of radical elements internally and around the region. Unwise US foreign policy puts the security of its allies at risk.

If Moroccans support Obama, it is for the very same reason that I, as an American do: We see in Obama a chance for America to regain its integrity and stature on the world stage, to use its might and influence to lead the world as a member of the community of nations, to further America’s interests along with the interests of the rest of the world, not at the expense of the rest of the world.

A McCain presidency would only deepen the despair, resentment, and hostility the image of America currently evokes around the world. And we would all suffer the consequences.

But there is an alternative: Barack (which means “blessing”) Obama.

Karen Thomas Smith, a former resident of Decatur and graduate of Candler School of Theology, Emory University, serves as Christian Chaplain at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco