Disappointing

Barack Obama is using his considerable public voice to say these kinds of things about what Democrats should be doing.

His office is in receipt of the following strongly worded letter from yours truly:

Dear Senator Obama

I am an Illinois resident and a contributor to your campaign. I am a big supporter of yours, and I think you are doing a wonderful job representing Illinois in the US Senate.

I am writing, however, to express my concern with your recent comments regarding Democrats' sensitivity to people of faith. I find these comments troubling on a number of levels, most importantly, though, because they are not true.

Democrats, as you well know, come in all stripes, and a great many are people of faith. Our Democratic representatives in Congress, by and large, are very respectful of all types of believers, and our recent Presidential nominee is a lifelong Catholic and former altar boy who contemplated a career in the priesthood. The last 2 Democratic presidents were vocal Southern Baptists, and you yourself have an impressive record of connecting with church goers.

Your words reinforce a dangerous, right-wing-driven faslehood about our party: that we are a party that is hostile to religion. You know this is not true, and I suspect that you have seen first hand how Democratic values can advance the causes of the poor, hungry and marginalized people that mainstream religions work so earnestly to protect. I think it is misguided to state that, just because our party does not appeal to vocal fundamentalists who rail against abortion, homosexuals and birth control, that we are somehow not appealing to people of faith.

Finally, I am very troubled by the constant statements from our party leaders in Congress that always seems to start with the words "Democrats need to do...". If you believe this, Senator, then do it. At a time when our party is engaged in a struggle for the future of this country, we do not need to be critiquing other Democrats. If you believe that Democrats should be doing certain things, then don't talk about it, do them. As an influential member of of the party I would hope that you would work behind the scenes to make your views known, demonstrate those views through actions and restrict your public comments to those that positively promote the ideals of our party.

Thank you.

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