When Senator Obama’s preacher thundered about racism and injustice Obama suffered smear-by-association. But when my late father — Religious Right leader Francis Schaeffer — denounced America and even called for the violent overthrow of the US government, he was invited to lunch with presidents Ford, Reagan and Bush, Sr.

Every Sunday thousands of right wing white preachers (following in my father’s footsteps) rail against America’s sins from tens of thousands of pulpits. They tell us that America is complicit in the “murder of the unborn,” has become “Sodom” by coddling gays, and that our public schools are sinful places full of evolutionists and sex educators hell-bent on corrupting children. They say, as my dad often did, that we are, “under the judgment of God.” They call America evil and warn of immanent destruction. By comparison Obama’s minister’s shouted “controversial” comments were mild. All he said was that God should damn America for our racism and violence and that no one had ever used the N-word about Hillary Clinton.

Go to any religious right site, World Net Daily, World Magazine, or Republican sites and you see a lot of reactionary comments.   I like what Jon Stewart said tonight. I’m paraphasing because I didn’t write it down:  “A presidental candidate spoke to Americans as adults.”
Obama’s Minister Committed “Treason” But When My Father Said the Same Thing He Was a Republican Hero Frank Schaeffer at The Huffington Post

Joe Carter posted about the irony of Obama’s speech possibly being written by a 26 year old white guy. If it’s true his three speech writers (all under 31) put the words in his mouth, I don’t think it’s ironic at all, I think it’s terrific. A generation is turning a page.

Bill Kinnon at achievable ends has a different take, saying Obama wrote it. I didn’t see what Obama spoke about as being just about race, I think the speech addressed class, race and religion, in the perpetual political race in the US, it was one of the more memorable ones.