Senator Obama and Me
I have been amused recently by all the attention Senator Barack Obama has been getting because his father was born in Africa.
Interestingly, I have two things in common with Senator Obama. Both of us are University of Chicago Law School alums. Both of our fathers were born in Africa.
My father was born in Cameroon, the son of two Norwegian Lutheran Brethren missionaries (my grandparents).
My grandparents, who were missionaries there for 50 years, found it very difficult to gain conversions among the Mundang people until they discovered the obstacle was the Bible was only translated in the trade language of the Fulani (who basically had gained political power over the Mundang people). So, my grandparents translated the Bible into Mundang as well as other local dialects. This led to many conversions and a lasting Christian presence in this area to this day - as well as an increase in literacy.
Anyway, I wanted to share that with our readers.
I have always had difficulty with the modern left's approach to race.
That being said. Maybe, my difficulty on the question is because American racism isn't part of my family history.
But, as I charitably reflect, the racist South is in fact part of our nation's history. So, as an American, I need to empathize with an historical view where slavery and its progeny and their elimination plays a central role. I do.
Why? Because it's the Christian and conservative thing to do.
But, of course, here is the problem.
The current civil rights movement has no use for my Christianity or my conservatism.
They hate me.
Interestingly, I have two things in common with Senator Obama. Both of us are University of Chicago Law School alums. Both of our fathers were born in Africa.
My father was born in Cameroon, the son of two Norwegian Lutheran Brethren missionaries (my grandparents).
My grandparents, who were missionaries there for 50 years, found it very difficult to gain conversions among the Mundang people until they discovered the obstacle was the Bible was only translated in the trade language of the Fulani (who basically had gained political power over the Mundang people). So, my grandparents translated the Bible into Mundang as well as other local dialects. This led to many conversions and a lasting Christian presence in this area to this day - as well as an increase in literacy.
Anyway, I wanted to share that with our readers.
I have always had difficulty with the modern left's approach to race.
That being said. Maybe, my difficulty on the question is because American racism isn't part of my family history.
But, as I charitably reflect, the racist South is in fact part of our nation's history. So, as an American, I need to empathize with an historical view where slavery and its progeny and their elimination plays a central role. I do.
Why? Because it's the Christian and conservative thing to do.
But, of course, here is the problem.
The current civil rights movement has no use for my Christianity or my conservatism.
They hate me.
posted by ssc | 9/24/2006 09:26:00 AM
It should be said, on behalf of the Society, that our African-American SSC has been well-accepted by all members. Not only accepted, he inspires us and is hailed as our perpetual leader.
SSC, I appreciate your post; that the current civil rights movement has no use for your Christianity or conservatism seems a sign of the times, applicable to popular culture as well.
A case in point:
When I was a young lad I liked to read Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, and the like. Such magazines with their coverage of science, the future, and invention appealed to the inquisitive me. I probably even assumed then that I was in the demographic targeted by these magazines. Times have changed. Now these magazines carry a lot of advertisements for Viagra and its generic knock offs. Kids today must wonder if they are even supposed to be reading these.
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