What's your priority?

Well known minister Rev. T. D. Jakes made news this week for his praise of Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barrack Obama.

It makes perfect sense to me that Rev. Jakes, who happens to be African American, would be happy to see that a political party has for the first time in America's 200-plus year history nominated an African American for the office of president. I have no problem with Rev. Jakes on this point.

However, it bothers me that a powerful and influential minister would praise the nomination of anyone who:

*Voted against the Induced Infant Liability Act, which would have protected babies that survived late term abortions. The bill sought to give babies who survived late term abortions the same medical protections as "wanted" babies who were born prematurely and given life-saving medical attention. Even NARAL (http:www.naral.org) did not oppose this legislation.

*Has opposed measures to criminalize those who transport minors across state lines for the purpose of obtaining an abortion.

*Voted against prohibiting sex offenders from being given "good time" credit while sentenced to county jails in Illinois. (His was the only vote against this measure.)

*Voted against requiring school boards to install software on public computers accessible to minors to block sexually explicit material.

*Voted in favor of a bill allowing individuals to purchase 10 hypodermic needles from pharmacies without a prescription.

*Wrote an open letter to the Windy City Times, a publication targeted to the gay and lesbian community (www.windycitymediagroup.com) which contained these statements: "I opposed the DOMA [defense of marriage act] in 1996. It should be repealed, and I will vote for its repeal on the senate floor." He went on to say, "I will also oppose any proposal to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban gays and lesbians from marrying."

The fact that Rev. Jakes praised the nomination of this particular African American, with a voting record that places him in direct opposition to so many of the fundamental tenets of Christianity, got me started thinking about our priorities.

Have we gotten to the point that it's more important to vote for someone because of their skin color than their principles? And if so, then why is it a problem to be against someone because of their skin color rather than their principles?

I don't care what color (or gender, for that matter) our next president is. What I do care about is what he or she stands for. I hope most of our ministers feel the same. I respect Rev. Jakes enourmously. I hope he'll reconsider this issue.