Posts tagged: obama
President-elect Obama and Secular America
One of the many reasons I voted for President-elect Obama (I love saying that). I wanted a president that understands secularism and its importance in American government.
President-elect Obama’s full ‘Call to Renewal’ speech.
An Open Letter to Senator Obama by Kate
I read this moving letter by Kate at The Radula and felt it needed to be shared. Remember, It’s not just election day that’s important but everyday after that matters too. Holding our politicians accountable to their word and promises is our responsibility.
Dear Senator Obama,
In a few hours I will be seeing you in Albuquerque NM. I have no hope what-so-ever that you will see me among the crowd of thousands, or that I will have the honor and privilege of speaking with you in person, but there are a few things I want you to know.
Now I’m no Joe the Plumber, and I don’t even hope to suddenly start earning a quarter of a million dollars and buy my own business. I’m a mom, and what I want is to be able to work, to keep a roof over my head, and clothes on my children’s back and food in their bellies. I want them to have a future they can be proud of.
It’s not the economy, sir. Or not just the economy. I’ve been working at odd jobs since I was five, been saving money, been paying taxes and had farm employment at the age of 11. I’ve gone to college, got a few degrees, and had a profession before chronic illness put an end to all that. And in all that time I’ve never begrudged a single tax penny that was spent on educating others and giving hope to the poor and disadvantaged, for the promotion of science and technology, and for keeping green spaces in America.
It’ isn’t just the economy. It’s education and health care. Without those, people like me cannot re-enter the job force, and the hope for the future of American economy is dim. Education, especially in the sciences, will allow our country to once again become competitive in the world market, create jobs, clean our environment, and provide needed advances in health care.
My daughter is a marine biologist in California, but her employment is in limbo because of the city hiring freeze. Her job is to provide educational opportunities for young children. The aquarium where she works will be cutting programs, freezing new requests for field trips, and has frozen hiring because of lack of funding. Not only does this mean that my daughter is not getting a paycheck, but it means that all of those children who go through that aquarium are not getting the exposure to marine biology and the positive encouragement and experiences in the sciences that our children need to keep them interested in their educations and engage them in science as a possible career path.
Sir, when I heard Senator McCain make that comment not once but repeatedly about the ‘overhead projector’, I nearly fell out of my seat laughing. Then I realized that there were so many people out there who did not understand what he was talking about, and perhaps had never had the opportunity or experience of visiting a quality planetarium as I had when I was younger. I remember the awe and excitement of seeing the night sky in the middle of the day, of seeing the stars and planets in their motion speeded up on the dome of the planetarium. It made such a profound impact on my life that I stayed with the planetarium astronomy club, then went on to college to pursue a degree in astrophysics.
If only other children could have the wonderful experience I have had!
I did go into the sciences as a career, and worked in engineering during the difficult economy of the 80s, then, when I became too ill to work, once again returned to college, got a degree in teaching, then got off social security until my illness progressed to the stage where I could no longer work. One of the problems I encountered in getting off social security and returning to the work force was that my health insurance would not cover existing conditions, and since my diagnosis is Lupus, that included an awful lot.
Now I hope to get into remission long enough to once again return to the work force, but in order to do so I will have to have an opportunity to have adequate health care. It’s my hope that I will be able to work long enough to pay my student loans, buy a home for myself and my children, and to put some money and security away for the day I am no longer able to work. Without adequate health care, that will be an impossibility.
Senator Obama, tonight I’ll be cheering for you, and having the audacity to hope that you will not only ascend to the presidency, but will make good on your promises to America, promises that will continue to give hope not only to myself, but to the millions of Americans who have lost hope, who have lost the opportunities to work, to provide for their families, to become educated, and to maintain their health.
Sincerely,
Kate
You know who I’m voting for? ‘That One’
Obama answers Science Debate 2008 questions
It seems pretty clear that Barack Obama is at least interested in bringing science back to the White House. Despite declining the actual debate, Obama has answered the 14 questions put forth by the team behind the Science Debate 2008.
I felt really good reading through his answers. I mean, the man actually thinks the public’s understanding of science is important for the future of our nation. Imagine that. He addresses stem cell research, health, energy space exploration as well as the importance of a president’s team of science advisers.
Scientific and technological information is of growing importance to a range of issues. I believe such information must be expert and uncolored by ideology.
I will restore the basic principle that government decisions should be based on the best- available, scientifically-valid evidence and not on the ideological predispositions of agency officials or political appointees.
Sounds good to me.
Via: ERV
There are atheists voting for McCain?
The Barna Group just released their latest survey on religious vs. non-religious voters. The atheosphere is buzzing with the results of a 55% to 17% swing for Obama in the Atheists and Agnostics category. What I’m wondering is who the 17% that are planning on voting for McCain are and what the hell they’re thinking.
Obama Winning The Non-Religious Vote
An interesting article at the Washington Post reveals that Obama has so far successfully won over non-religious voters in almost every state.
… of the 30 states where I could find comparable data, Obama won the “no religion” crowd an astonishing 26 times!
The author makes a good point regarding Obama’s seeming success with the non-religious minority while increasing the amount of religious rhetoric at the same time.
The secularists I speak with usually mention three arguments for ignoring his faith-based exuberance. The first–and most dubious–is that Obama is just pandering to crucial voting blocks and will regain his senses upon moving into the White House.
More plausibly, others suggest that his background as a student and scholar of constitutional law insures that he will never violate the sanctity of The Wall. Last, it is often remarked that Obama is a true liberal. Secularists, so I have been told, have little to fear from a true liberal.
You can throw me into the ’sanctity of The Wall’ group. While I don’t believe he’s just pandering to a religious crowd, I’m not that concerned with the increase in religious talk. The man can add injections of religious tonality to his speeches all day long for all I care as long as he doesn’t try to make the same injections into our legislature. And I don’t think he will. Which is why I, apparently like so many other non-religious people, support Obama.
Via: Washington Post
Obama Supports Evolution
Barack Obama did a short interview for the York Daily Record and was asked about his views on evolution. Until now, I wasn’t 100% sure where he stood on this very important issue. Now, I can rest assured that my candidate for president officially supports the teaching of scientific facts and not “… theories that frankly don’t hold up to scientific inquiry.” in our public science classrooms.
Q: York County was recently in the news for a lawsuit involving the teaching of intelligent design. What’s your attitude regarding the teaching of evolution in public schools?
A: “I’m a Christian, and I believe in parents being able to provide children with religious instruction without interference from the state. But I also believe our schools are there to teach worldly knowledge and science. I believe in evolution, and I believe there’s a difference between science and faith. That doesn’t make faith any less important than science. It just means they’re two different things. And I think it’s a mistake to try to cloud the teaching of science with theories that frankly don’t hold up to scientific inquiry.”
I’ve had that little button on side of my blog since I re-launched last month which pretty much spells out my support for Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election. Don’t worry. I’m not going to start pushing a ton of Obama down anyone’s throat. I probably won’t post too much in the political area at all unless it has to do with a politician’s views on science or religion. All that said, what I really want to see is…
