To the Editor,
We want to let you know we are very concerned with the Edge life magazine endorsing one of the candidates for President.
We believe we all need to be involved with the future of our country and believe we all have our individual beliefs about who will do the best job.
Our concern is this…we feel as an advertiser and advocate of a Higher consciousness for all of us to create an enlightened life, we are implied members of the Edge Life family. We believe people will see our implied endorsement for the candidate the Edge Life is endorsing! This being said, many of our clients past present and future may see us endorsing a candidate they believe will not be the best choice. They may choose not to employ us because they see us at polar opposites of their goals!
As part of the Edge Life family, we are very upset we were not given a heads up about this drastic move! – Lori Palm & Wes Hamilton, New Hope, MN
To the Editor,
I am sorry to see Edge Life magazine endorse a candidate. It does not appear to me that the magazine has fulfilled the criteria necessary for the magazine to offer to its readers something as important as an endorsement. I believe that if magazines are going to fulfill their potential, they should establish strong editorial policies and be public about what they are.
More specifically to the article, I believe that for a human being to even attempt to judge the soul capacity of another human being, that person would need to actually spend a great deal of time in the physical presence of that other person. Beyond that, I believe it is the highest form of folly for one human to judge the soul capacity of another human for anything. Only God knows the soul’s capacity, and God seems to believe in the soul’s capacity to do almost anything, to meet the challenges of life and come out wiser and stronger.
We do not know all of the parts of the "Plan" and it is important that one use any power that one may have in the most responsible of ways. To attempt to direct the out-working of the plan, such as influencing who will be the President of the U.S.A., is a very big use of power. The more power and knowledge that we have the higher is the standard for its appropriate use, and the more difficult the discernment of the "right" use of it. As John F. Kennedy said, "To those that are given much, much is expected." – Lois B. Ichelson, Des Moines, IA
To the Editor,
I appreciate and applaud The Edge’s endorsement of Senator Obama for president of the United States. Like you, my last experience of real political hope and enthusiasm occurred when I heard Bobby Kennedy speak shortly before he was assassinated.
The sacrifice of so many leaders on the altar of American violence damaged my capacity for hope. I was 21 years old. My generation didn’t stop working for change, but many of us wrapped ourselves in the assumption that if we opened our hearts we would be struck down.
I agree with your evaluation of the candidates. Each could contribute in certain ways, but Barack Obama is the only one with the unique history, vision, courage and support to be our first leader on the national stage since the 60s who can make a fundamental difference in the way we behave domestically and internationally.
Some might think that a spiritually oriented publication shouldn’t endorse a candidate. But isn’t the purpose of incarnation to do what we can to enlighten ourselves through observation, consideration, decision, commitment and action, albeit without becoming attached to the fruit of our labor?
To say it doesn’t matter whom we choose to be our leaders, even if we’re personally insulated from the effects of government activity, is to say it doesn’t matter what happens to our neighbors, our brothers and sisters across the planet, our ecosystem. And surely that would be short-sighted, if not blind, to reality.
Spirit, in my opinion, is real. Soul is the distillation of spirit and personal history. I, too, believe Barack Obama has the soul to restore America to what it should be, to what the world desperately needs it to become. Thank you for your endorsement!
– Jay Bremyer, McPherson, Kansas
Editor’s Note: The intention of the column was to explore deeper reasons why Sen. Obama may be attracting so much
attention to his campaign. In light of the values that Sen. Obama has reflected on the campaign stump, endorsing him on behalf of this publication seemed to be the only choice to make. His recent speech on race relations in the country, "A More Perfect Union," demonstrates this candidate’s ability to bring utter transparency to an issue that continues to divide and separate us as a nation.His honesty – and determination to bring us together as a people – represent virtues that all Americans should applaud, because they transcend the game of politics as it is currently being played.
