Do you recognize either of these guys? One is famous and one is not. One is wearing a yellow t-shirt and one is not. (the yellow t-shirt is significant to this story). One is my brother and one is not. If you are a friend or family member, you certainly know that my brother, Jason, is the good-looking chap on the right. So...do you know the other guy yet? If you listen to Christian music, you may recognize the song on my playlist player on the right. I love this song! Click it and give it a listen....i'll wait.....Did you figure out the mystery man? Obviously, you did because his name is on the player. It's Brandon Heath-one of the top Christian Music singers right now! Do you not love this song- Give Me Your Eyes? I most certainly love it! Leighton and I usually dance around to it in the kitchen about 3 times a day.
So, what in the world is my brother doing with Brandon Heath ?Well, he happened to be at his concert and ran into him afterwards. They had a friendly little conversation. (Have I mentioned on this blog already that my brother is really, really political? And that he's a fierce debater? And Brandon Heath's yellow shirt had the letters OBA peeking out?) Jason saw the letters peering out of the hoodie and asked him to zip it down. Yes, ladies and gents-he asked BRANDON HEATH to zip down his hoodie! Mr. Heath obliged and showed Jason his shirt.
And then they got into a heated, yet very friendly and peaceful presidential debate. According to Jason, he won and Brandon Heath didn't stand a chance. Of course Brandon Heath couldn't win- he was debating my brother! I have to say, I'm a bit surprised about the situation. Am I surprised that my brother got into a debate with a really, cool famous guy? Not in the least-that is expected. Am I surprised that a christian artist would promote a candidate who has so strongly supported abortion/pro-choice issues? Kind of....what do ya'll think?
6 comments:
Oh Shannon, you know I have to comment on this one! I don't think that just because you are Christian means you should focus only on one or two issues. There are so many other issues that impact us, people in other countries, lives and spirits. There are things that McCain stands for that don't sit right with me (corporal punishment - which in my mind is killing, war - which in my mind is killing) - he may be "against" abortion within his political party because every Republican president typically is, BUT each president stands for much more than one issue. I think we should vote for the president that will make the best changes for our country, changes that actually impact us. No republican president has ever and will ever be able to stop abortion. Bad things happen, people will keep doing bad things...I like to focus on which political things, decisions and stances affect me, my husband, my family, the homeless, the needy, the sick, the dying and the young the most.
Thanks for hearing me out:)
One more thing, how could a Christian so easily support a President who takes marriage so lightly?
I love that you left this open to discussion. Can't wait to hear what others have to say!!
Love ya
Leslie
Leslie,
I don't know you but you must know my sis, so I feel like I can address this with you. The reason I was so supprised by his tee-shirt is because as a christian its VERY hard to square everything Obama stands for with my Christian faith. One very big item is his past: I am not sure you fully realize his background, because if you did you must have some questions. Just to mention a few: 1.) His pastor. Obama sat in that church for 20 years. He preached venom towards this country and white people. These is hardly the sermons of a loving pastor in my humble opinion. 2.) His associations with a real domestic terrorist. This is not a made up story! Obama launched his political career in his living room. 3.) Luis Farakan: Obama counts him as one of his friends! Farakan is a known Anti-Semite, cut and dry. Keep in mind the Jews are Gods chosen people here on earth. I am not even going to get into his policies that are very contrictary to the bible, like abortion, and gay civil unions.
My point here is that Obama has very questionable judgement when it comes to picking his friends. I cannot recommend Barack Obama to any Christian. His associations are aligned with darkness. His discernment is atrocious.
Just a few things about your post that I would like to correct. To compare the death penalty with abortion is crazy. The bible is clear on this in my mind. A baby is not the same as a convicted murderer or rapist. By the way, corporal punishment is spanking not the death penalty, sorry had to do it... he he he.... You may think war is killing, well you are right there! BUT, you have your freedom to come on here and type your beliefs because people killed other people in war. War is never pretty, but it has beat back slavery, communism, nazism, facism, and it has freed millions and millions of the weak around the world. War is a neccassary part of freedom sometimes, because freedom is worth fighting for! The only other thing I will bring up is the marriage issue you mentioned. Divorce is never good, but it does not rise to the level of snorting concain as Obama himself said he did in his book(dreams of our fathers). I do not hold that against Obama, because I believe people change, as I do not hold the divorce issue against McCain.
I hope you don't find my response condescending, its truly not ment in that way. I just wanted to discuss some of the things you brought up, and point out a few others. Take care :)
Jason (shannon's bro)
Hey girl! Whoa, I am not going to get into this hot topic... I'm definitely pro McCain and I can't imagine a Christian supporting the alternative... but anyway. :)
I wanted to respond to your comment on my blog. Yes, I was the one who started the mamarazzi blog. :) Did you get my earlier comment about how to join our themes? We'd love to have you participate! I have detailed instructions if you use the "themes" drop down menu and select "join our theme". You basically just need to select 1-2 photos relating to the joy theme, post them on your personal blog, and then leave us your name & blog addy in the comments after the "join our theme" post. We'll link back to you publicly once all the contributors have posted their pictures.
I wish we could accept more contributors right now, but we already have 20 and we felt that was the maximum we should accept at this point in time. If we have anybody drop out, I'll let you know!!
Blessings,
Rebecca
Hi Jason!
You may not know me, but I know you. I met you at the wedding - I was one of the bridesmaids!
I do not think you are condescending...in fact, I was hoping you would respond. I would love to visit with you in person sometime. The way Shannon talks, you love to debate as much as me:)
First, you are right, I screwed up...I meant capital punishment, not corporal! Oops - big difference. Second, I will admit, I do not know a lot about the two Presidents' histories...I finally got cable a week ago. Me and my husband tried going without it for four months...my knowledge comes from hearsay, what I see online at work and the paper. Third, I do not, by any means, agree with abortion or gay rights - however, I still feel there are many more important issues to think about than these. Fourth, I do not think anyone is PRO abortion just like I would find it hard to believe that anyone was PRO war. Many believe war needed to happen to have freedom! I respect everything my family members and others did and still do for us to be free - however, the war in Iraq has nothing to do with my freedom. I strongly feel America meddles in other countries as we call ourselves "peacemakers". This concept seems great and honorable, BUT, when will it stop? Will we go to Africa next? Is our plan to stop all evil all over the world? Realistically, I do not think that will happen. In fact, I believe things will only get worse before they get better (end times?). I guess I just really want to see a passionate, down to earth, education focused, family oriented, empathetic, peace minded, middle class experienced man run this country. I want the economy to change. I want less of our men to be in Iraq especially when Irag was never a threat to our freedom. I want more middle class families to be helped. I want our health system to change dramatically so my 75 year old grandparents aren't in debt because of knee surgery. I want my kids to afford college. I want more monies to go to Social Service programs so we can help the homeless and the needy. I am ready for change and I think it is well needed.
It is hard for me to believe everything I have heard about these two candidates. A lot of it is rumor and childish cut downs to sway voting. McCain himself said Obama is not hooked to any terrorist and that he is a great guy. McCain also told his followers that we should not worry if he is the man elected to run the country because he is a great man!
Thanks again for the comments.
Leslie
Lesie,
Thanks for the nice reply! Its nice to be able to have these discussions and still be civil towards eachother.
I could literally go point by point and address everything you stated, but I will just hit a few of them. 1.) Iraq: The way we view the world changed after 9-11, we could no longer sit back and wait for a dictator to get a weapon and use it or pass it along to a terrorist group. If you don't think Iraq posed a threat to us thats your opinion. Others did and they acted. By the way most every other nation thought he had weapons. 2.)All your social projects: I believe your heart is in the right place here, but you are advocating SOCIALISM, plain and simple. Your upotian view of everybody being taken care of by the goverment is not the solution to our problems. Who will pay for this? The money has to come from somewhere, that means higher taxes, and that means you actually hurt the people you want to help (i.e. middle class). Do your grandparents not have medicare? As far as college goes, I dont have kids but I surely want my newphews and neices to be able to go to college, but I don't expect uncle Sam to pay their way. I would expect they will have to take loans and work and the family will help where they can. I guess I don't want my future kids to have to depend the gov't for everything they have or get, I want them to learn to do it for themselves and not rely on others. 3.) Obama was middle class? He has never been middle class. He was born into privledge. He and his wife attended the most prestigious schools in the country. He attended private school and an ivy league college. After college he was a lawyer, and community organizer. Hardly middle class.
I really feel your heart is in the right place here, and I by no means think Obama is evil or anything like that. I just really think you need to research more about him, it just might appall you. He just does not choose the right people to hang around with (please youtube Rev. Wright, luis Farakan, William Ayers). Are these the type of people you really want having his ear in office? You may choose not to believe that he had friends like this, but that does not change the fact that he did. The truth is the truth! I really hope you do some extra research and rethink this. I think your heart will tell you that something's not right here. Anyway, I could go on and on and on here, lol... If you want to continue this you can always email me at Jasonstevens77@hotmail.com. I would love to hear from you!
Jason
Youtube this: "burining down the house". This is how we got into the economic crisis. It's all fact.
Does life begin at conception? Obama answered that question last week by saying it's above his payscale. It's a black and white question. It's either life or death. No in between. There is no grey area when it comes to life/death. You are either alive or dead. His answer is scary to me. It reminds me of the new song called "Slow Fade" by Jeremy Camp. Our country has been on a slow fade for years. No more prayer in schools, freedom of "choice" to take an unborn life, and the deterioration of the family...
I want a president who stands for something instead of a president who stands for anything.......
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