I’ve called this blog “Pondering Principles” because I believe that God has given us general truths [principles] that apply to all of life. Naturally, I want to expound on those truths and call us back to being principled people.
We need to keep in mind, though, that there are other principles out there that are not from God. They also form the basis for what people think and do. If they don’t come from the heart and Word of God, however, they will do more harm than good.
I’m particularly distressed over people who use such “principles” for their own advancement. Such people and their principles are especially pernicious when they switch from God’s principles to ones of their own making just to get ahead. One person who epitomizes this switch is Jesse Jackson.
He’s in the news again. I’ll get back to his latest comments in a moment, but I want to highlight the major switch he made in principles that is most offensive to me and countless others.
In his early years, Jackson was a staunch defender of the rights of the unborn. He even wrote an article for National Right to Life News in 1977, in which he said, ”as a matter of conscience I must oppose the use of federal funds for a policy of killing infants.”
Jackson related how his mother had been advised by doctors to have him aborted. He was grateful she didn’t follow that advice. He even added:
Some argue, suppose the woman does not want to have the baby. They say the very fact that she does not want the baby means that the psychological damage to the child is enough to abort the baby. I disagree. The solution to that problem is not to kill the innocent baby but to deal with her values and her attitude toward life — that which has allowed her not to want the baby.
So Jackson understood that abortion was the taking of innocent human life. What changed? He ran for president in 1988. Knowing that he would never receive the nomination on the Democratic ticket with a pro-life stance, he did a complete 180, becoming a radical proponent of abortion on demand.
I can have no respect for a person who changes his views to attain political office, especially if the change encourages the murder of children.
Jackson also has developed a race-oriented approach that sees all things through that racial prism. The lengths to which he has gone in this respect was on display last week at a reception hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus. One member of the caucus, a representative from Alabama, had actually dared to vote against the House healthcare bill. Jackson decided to inject himself into the issue by declaring,
We even have blacks voting against the health care bill. You can’t vote against health care and call yourself a black man.
Oh, really? He’s tried to backtrack from that statement, saying he didn’t mention any names. Right. Jackson continually uses charges of racism to create white guilt. Now he’s saying that if a black representative disagrees with a certain bill, he, in effect, is not really black.
Is the color of one’s skin the most crucial factor in life? For Jackson, and many others like him, it is. If decisions are made based upon race, isn’t that a racist view of life? President Obama, for all his talk about transcending race, does his best impression of Jackson on a regular basis. If you listen to his administration, any disagreement with him is probably because of racist attitudes.
Whether it’s Obama or Jackson, the racist impulse in their words and actions is one of those pernicious principles that does not come from the heart of God.