Comments on: President Obama Rewarded For Effort. No Injustice Here.

By: Leeann

Leeann — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 01:07:15 +0000

Yes, great points by Texas in Africa.

By: Leeann

Leeann — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 01:02:12 +0000

I’ve been an Obama supporter all along, but I was surprised by the prize as well. I like Jason’s perspective on it though: “Hopefully, this is a sign that the rest of the world sees the Pres of the US in a different light than before. A man of Peace. Hopefully.”

By: J.

J. — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:08:24 +0000

I think there is cause for alarm. The man has been given award with no actions behind it. We live in a weird 1984ish era where terms matter more than truth and beliefs matter more than action. I am not disgusted by President Obama’s award but I don’t think to highly of it either. Its a paper tiger award at best. Its a shame because there are people out there really struggling and risking it all for the sake of peace.

By: Carole Turner

Carole Turner — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:13:19 +0000

Shaun, I heard freaky outcries on Twitter about this from MOST of the people I worship with. It was very surreal and sad. I posted a blog post about that day on Twitter, Cuz’ I had to unfollow some people just to stay saved and not want to punch preachers.

http://www.thewardrobeandthewhitetree.com/2009/10/follow-unfollow-tales-of-twitter.html

By: Meredith

Meredith — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:02:43 +0000

I’m not disgusted by any means. Surprised? Sure. Confused? A little.

But really, I’m encouraged. Cause the way I see it this: anyone is elligable! I could totally win it next year!

By: Emily

Emily — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 11:38:38 +0000

Thanks for this post!

I have been an Obama supporter for a very long time. I didn’t expect him to be a messiah for our country, but I was thrilled to see him elected and continue to give him the benefit of the doubt. Yet, even I did a double (okay, triple) take when I saw the headline.

I was in a hotel lobby with several others who were attending a Christian leadership conference. I heard a LOT of negative, hateful comments from Christians, so I am feeling ya on the “outrage” and “injustice.”

I also heard an interesting view from a CNN analyst- they said that there was one thing Obama had already done that was a MAJOR change in the eyes of other countries. He admitted that the US has made mistakes, and he admitted that we have improvements to be made in the areas of national diplomacy. He brought a humility to the leadership that was absent in previous administrations.

Does that make him a shoo-in over other worthy candidates? No. But it does help me understand what the awarding committee might have been seeking to reward. At the conference I mentioned, leaders from Andy Stanley to Chuck Swindoll to Malcolm Gladwell to Rob Bell all impressed upon us the idea of humility and accountability in leadership. So I “get it” a little more now, although I still think it’s too early. I think Obama himself probably thinks so too.

BTW, everyone who doesn’t like Gore or An Inconvenient Truth loves to say that the Nobel lost its value with his award. And that could be. But I’ve seen him give the talk in person to people of faith, and he makes strong ties between global warming and food/water supplies in developing countries (and eventually war over resources). To those who believe in global warming, this is a very noteworthy effort. Again, I’d hate to say it trumps other worthy candidates, but that’s why I’m not a judge. I’d declare a 200-way tie and really blow the whole process!

Finally, Shaun, just wanted to tell you that we saw somewhere between 500 & 600 Compassion kids sponsored this week at Catalyst. (I’m waiting to hear the final number). I saw a program graduate meet his sponsor for the first time. WOW.

By: McNair

McNair — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 01:04:34 +0000

President Obama as man of peace: Let’s review. He “said” he would close the prisoner camp at Gitmo (it remains fully functioning). He “said” he would “get us out of Iraq, yet troop reductions are on a steady timetable negotiated by Pres. Bush. He “said” we will not use torture, or water boarding, or loud music on terrorists, yet we continues to use “rendition”—turning terrorists over to Egypt and other allies where water boarding would be a welcome relief from who-knows-what they use. This man of peace has also stepped up the use of un-manned predator drones to bomb remote areas of the war with terror.

The President of peaceful intentions and grand words was unable to talk down sea pirates and so he “said” to kill them, all three of them. Apparently this man of peace is the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Peace for his intentions and his words.

Maybe they should have given the Peace prize to President Obama’s speech writers or, just hung the Nobel medal on his teleprompter.

By: Talena

Talena — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 22:37:26 +0000

Shaun, thank you for this insightful analysis. You are so right–but it’s no surprise that the media has blown the unimportant out of proportion, while trivializing the actual issues that are debasing humanity in general. We hear about things like this. How often is a headline devoted to those Haitian slaves, anyway?

I haven’t actually been “standing here” for a while–I usually catch your stuff via Google Reader. I love love love the new look. Trés cool.

By: Shaun Groves

Shaun Groves — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:17:07 +0000

The words “outrage” and “injustice” are courtesy of Facebook “friends.” The insinuation of outrage and injustice are courtesy of the majority of the bloggers and media folks commentating yesterday morning.

Perhaps I shouldn’t be so specific. Let’s just say that if a person is ANGRY about Obama getting this or any award I suspect their perspective is a little skewed…meaning it’s not the same as mine ; )

By: FzxGkJssFrk

FzxGkJssFrk — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 17:51:47 +0000

Hey Shaun,
I totally agree that there’s no serious injustice perpetrated through this award. I’ve read a lot of online commentary on it, though, and I have yet to come across the words “outrage”, “disgust”, or “injustice”. To be fair, you’re probably looking in places I haven’t. I have read a lot of “shocked”, “ridiculous”, “joke”, and “for what?!”.

I also agree that surely there was someone else in the world more deserving of the award, as you pointed out.