A Sincere Exercise in Futility

In a recent article in the Baptist Press, Dr. Frank Page, former President of the Southern Baptist Convention, expressed frustration with the policies of President Barack Obama. Page serves as an evangelical member of Obama's faith-based advisory council.

While disagreeing with Obama on abortion policy, Page is also concerned with Obama's lack of clarity on the cloning issue. Obama is on record as opposing reproductive cloning but was not clear on whether he would support therapeutic cloning. Therapeutic cloning is cloning for the purpose of harvesting stem cells and other medical purposes.

Page said:

"I am going to personally deal with that issue with the council, because [research cloning] simply was not mentioned by Obama. He was very specific in [opposing] reproductive cloning but not in research cloning. And I am going to assume at this point that he meant both, but I am going to seek clarification of that."

Page also expressed concern over the radical direction of Obama's abortion policy.

"At this point I would have to say I have been very frustrated that what little protections there are for the unborn have been quickly and systematically removed. So that has very discouraging."

Dr. Page is a solid conservative and is not a compromiser. In my opinion, neither is he naive. He took the opportunity to serve on Obama's faith-based council to provide an evangelical presence there. I'm sure he was under no illusions that he could have a major influence upon this liberal administration. Perhaps, he hoped that Obama would follow through on his campaign promises and bring all people to the table and to sincerely consider their concerns.

Page has discovered that, while Obama welcomes all people to the table, many are there only for window dressing so Obama can maintain his facade of openness. Barack Obama is a member of the radical left wing of the Democrat party and he governs as such. His policies should surprise no one who is familiar with the beliefs of that segment of our population.

Frank Page is to be applauded for his sincere, if futile, attempt to provide a conservative influence upon the President. Perhaps, the next service he should perform would be to publicly resign from this farce of a council and clearly state his reasons for doing so.