Doubt

    In the wake of the banner-sized news of our president's long-form birth certificate disclosure, there is a question which harasses to the point of distraction: When does doubt morph into ignorance, or something worse?
       During an Easter 2 homily, Fr. Fabian Nworkorie, our priest in Maupin, OR drew a parallel between the doubts of Obama's origins and those expressed by the Apostle Thomas upon learning of Christ's resurrection.  No amount of persuading. even the authentic and verifiable short-form seemed to satisfy some of the former, just as no physical evidence short of touching the mortal wounds would convince the latter.
           As history tells us, after Thomas had his transcendental moment of belief, he was eventually canonized.  But the many, modern-day naysayers, who dismiss short-form summations, are definitely of a different stripe, and a worrisome one.  They have taken the argument to places where reasoned mortals, as well as angels, do not tread.  Fr. Fabian was gentle and forgiving in his account of this attitude.  We suspect he was according its underlying motivation the "benefit of the doubt."
             But the nagging suspicion continues that some in the forefront of media attention have crossed the line between doubt and something far darker.

   In an opinion piece, written by Goldie Taylor for Grio Magazine entitled "Why Obama shouldn't have had to show his papers", she writes: "This morning, as White House staffers released copies of the president's long-form birth certificate, I couldn't shake the feeling that something ugly was going on.  For the first time in recorded history, a sitting president of the United States found it necessary to produce his original birth certificate for public inspection.  Not once, in 235 years, have we ever demanded proof that our president was born on American soil."
                 She goes on to say, "When they tell you this isn't racial, don't believe them.  This controversy was constructed solely as a way to deligitimize the presidency of a black man.  Those who question the location of Barack Obama's birth are the very same people who would pack up, and move out of the neighborhood if someone like me moved in next door. 
                 When they say they want to take their country back, they mean from us."

                   
                 I want to believe that since our president has produced what was called for, by a distinct but vociferous minority, that this kind of clamoring will cease.
                I want to believe that, regardless of color, the office of president still commands a respectful attitude on the part of the electorate.
              I want to believe as Anne Frank did, that people are really good at heart.

              I want to believe.

               As the apostle Thomas might have implored.....perhaps more than once...."Help me in my unbelief".
                                      Amen