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Minister turns page for 'Greater Cause'
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - July 29, 2009)
Minister turns page for 'Greater Cause'
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
For Chardon resident Cheryl Bellamy, doing the Lord's work has been a way of life.
The attorney and ordained minister faced down a group of armed men when she and her contingent went on a mission to Africa to bring aid to the poor. It was one of many missions she went on to aid the poor.
And as a conservative Christian, she said, she supported the Republican Party ideas of less government, less taxes and less pork. She voted for George W. Bush twice to show that support, she said.
But what she saw in the last presidential election, Mrs. Bellamy said, caused her to question her beliefs as a conservative Christian. That wrestling with her conscience led her to produce a book titled "The Clashing of Swords, A Time of Change Reawakening to a Greater Cause." She said she likely will not be looked upon as a friend of conservative Christians after writing the book.
A description provided by the publisher, Xlibris, said, "Bellamy has seen racism all dressed up in religious clothes that were for sale. Its leaders imposed their interpretation of spiritual principles on many, walking on the runways of voters' minds, making every effort to garner converts on how they viewed Christianity during that election. While contemplating carefully their insensitivity and self-serving behavior -- the opposite teaching of the Golden Rule -- she was able to review all their ploys of looking sincere."
Mrs. Bellamy said the election made a mark on the country and history, producing for the first time an African-American, a woman and an elder candidate for the highest position in the land.
But what she heard from the party she had trusted and relied on for so long was a mix of hate, racism and fear, she said.
"Christianity fell into fear mongering and race," she said. "The issues they chose were abortion and same-sex marriage, and, while I do not like either, I am not a two-issue Christian. They left out many of the societal issues that America faces."
Mrs. Bellamy said the tone displayed by President Barack Obama was more in keeping with her Christian beliefs, a call to everyone to come together.
On the other hand, she said, those she had supported were surrounded by fear-mongering people who began to inject race into the election. People were stepping up to microphones at rallies, calling Mr. Obama a terrorist, she said, and she was disappointed when such slurs were not repudiated.
She said Republicans also clung to former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. "Palin professed to be a very conservative Christian adhering to their values, but, at the same time, her political rhetoric was like a whiplash of intolerance for other people unlike her. The sword of polarization was the weapon she used."
She said Republicans found a new hero in Mrs. Palin, and Christian leaders crowned her the next Esther, a queen from the Old Testament who ruled with kindness and saved her people. But, for Mrs. Bellamy, Mrs. Palin more represented Vasthi, a pugnacious ruler, who was overthrown by her people.
"She is like a shooting star," she said of Mrs. Palin. "A shooting star has beauty, but it doesn't last. She was like an attack dog."
Mrs. Bellamy said she knows that racism is alive and well in this country. She said it exists in religious institutions, where it becomes an elephant that people trip over but ignore. "When you ignore it, it gives it legs and power to increase its evil," she said.
She said one only has to look in the news in recent weeks to find Latino and African-American children who were turned away from a swimming pool and the plight of Harvard University scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., who accused a police officer in Cambridge, Mass., of being a racist, as evidence of its existence today.
Religious leaders who became more involved in the election demonized those who failed to accept their brand of Christianity, she said.
While she said she will not support abortion or same-sex marriage, it is time to stop demonizing those who do. Instead, she said, people need to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. "We should treat them as Jesus would -- with love," she said.
Rather than hate, she said, people need to pray for others unlike themselves. "No one has the right to be so self-righteous that they demonize people unlike themselves. That is not Christ-like."
She said morality as an issue should be taken away from politicians, who, like all imperfect human beings, are vulnerable to temptation and end up being hypocrites in many cases.
She said it's the religious institutions that need to step up to help those they now demonize. Rather than criticize those who choose abortion, she said, it is up to the churches to foster love by setting up homes for unwed mothers or provide foster care. "It's time to stop the rhetoric and do something," Mrs. Bellamy said.
She said, too often, politics has become a bipartisan food fight with both sides saying, like 2-year-olds, no to the other's ideas. "It doesn't do us any good as a nation. I believe the American people are losing out in this fight. If we don't stop it, we're going to fail as a nation," she said.
That would be a shame, she said, because she loves this country.
"I have hope for America," Mrs. Bellamy said. "America is a great country and is just going through another phase of the ongoing process of Democracy."
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