Presidential Qualifications

The Republicans are stepping up in droves to announce that they are forming exploratory committees to determine if they should run for president.

The Democrats, so far, have only Hillary Clinton, Barak Obama, and a couple of relative unknowns who are making moves in that direction. Hillary is a very divisive candidate, and both she and Obama have chosen to make their first conciliatory moves toward the religious right. (In that regard, Republican John McCain has gone so far as to be filmed courting Jerry Falwell and his followers.)

It is time for those of us who rely on reason more than on faith to make ourselves known and demand our right to be heard. There are millions of us out here, and our group consists of people of faith who also rely on reason, as well as those of us who may not subscribe to belief in a religious faith, but very strongly subscribe to the creation in which we find ourselves and the reverence it deserves.

There is no one I can think of who is better fitted than Al Gore. He has more qualifications than anyone else, having served in the Senate and as Vice President, as well as undoubtedly having won the presidency in 2000. But, of all his qualifications, I can think of no one who can contend with him on the most important issue of our time, the environment. Add to that, he is a man of faith as well as a man of reason.

If you are a person of faith, you must believe that the earth was created by a God in some form. If you are a person of reason but not a person of faith, you still must be unsure of creation, but in awe of this wondrous globe which we are riding through the heavens. What Man has been doing to it is obscene. We need a leader who can think beyond mere politics and into the future which none of us will see, but for which we will all be responsible.