I don't want to hope. An open letter to Barack Obama. [View All]

[Bjorn Against]

Dear Senator Obama,

You have talked a lot about hope during this campaign, apparently if we vote for you we can hope everything goes OK. I don't want to hope though, I want to know.

I don't want to hope that you won't pander to homophobic bigots, I want to know that you will stand up and denounce bigotry.

I don't want to hope you will end the massacre in Iraq, I want to know you will end the massacre in Iraq.

I don't want to hope you will keep your religious beliefs separate from your political beliefs, I want to know you will honor the separation of church and state and keep your religion far away from your politics.

I don't want to hope you will work towards single-payer Universal Health Care, I want to know you will work to ensure that every American has health care and remove the insurance industry's seat at the table.

I don't want to hope that everything will go OK if you get elected, I want to know that you will stand up and do what is right even if it pisses some people off.

We have spent too many years witnessing politicians bring us into illegal wars, we have watched for too long as corporations were allowed to exploit us for their own profit, and we have seen religion have far too much influence on our government. This is not a time to bring about unity with those who are destroying this nation, this is a time to fight.

It is a time to fight against the homophobes who want to "cure" gays, it sure as hell is not a time to provide those homophobes with a microphone. As much as you want to claim your religious rally with your homophobic MC was meant to bring people together, you know damn well it did nothing but divide people in a very harmful way. Homophobia does not unite, it divides and for you to claim you are bringing people together by putting a homophobe on the stage is really telling the gay community that you are bringing people together to attack them.

When you allow religion to enter into your politics it does not unite us, it divides us. We do not want religious gospel concerts to be used as campaign rallies, because we have seen too much religion enter into the political sphere already and we want to keep religion as far away from our government as possible. Religion will never unite this nation, it will only divide it. Not everyone in this nation shares a religion, we are a nation of great religious diversity. There are those whose lives are guided completely by faith, there are those who celebrate religious holidays but do not feel that religion plays a big role in their lives, and there are those who hold no religious beliefs at all. There are Christians, there are Jews, there are Muslims, there are Hindus, there are Buddhists, and there are people from numerous other religions. And let's not even get into all the different denominations. No religion is going to bring the people of this country together, religion will only tear us apart and if you want to unite us you will not bring religion into your campaign.

I believe you are a very gifted man Senator, and if you were to use your gifts in the proper way you could bring about great change. You have the potential to be a great President, but before you get my support you need to show me that you are willing to stand up for what is right even if it pisses some people off. We don't want a campaign about hope, we want a campaign about action. If you want my support show me that you are willing to stand up and condemn the religious right. Show me that you are willing to denounce homophobia in the strongest of terms. Show me that you are willing to take on the big corporations. You can still win me over, but I don't get hope from simply hearing nice sounding words I get hope from people who are willing to stand up and speak out loudly.

So stand up Mr. Senator, stand up and not only tell the world that you are going to bring about change but show them exactly how you are going to bring about change. If you want to get us to unite behind you then you better not try to get the Republicans who are opposed to everything we stand for to unite behind you.

You can't unite the whole country, so you need to show us who you are going to unite. Do you unite those who working for peace and social justice, or do you unite those who are going to stick with the status quo that is destroying our nation? Your choice will determine whether or not I can ever be united behind your campaign.

Sincerely,
A Citizen