Calling President Obama a "street thug" is unchristian

A religious-right organization that has called President Obama a "street thug" and says African Americans only vote Democratic because "the Democrat Party has gotten them addicted to welfare benefits" is about to simulcast a campaign rally into thousands of churches and living rooms across America.

They're billing the event as the "largest pre-election gathering of Christian voters," and the speakers include pastors who have suggested that the president might secretly be a Muslim, questioned whether he was actually born in the United States, and accused him of trying to wage a "campaign to de-Christianize America."

But one speaker on their lineup stands out. The Rev. Fred Luter Jr. is the first African American to serve as president of the Southern Baptist Convention. He helped get the denomination to formally apologize for its racist history and even rebuked a fellow Southern Baptist leader for making offensive comments about the killing of Trayvon Martin.

When Rev. Luter was elected this summer, he said that the racial rhetoric used to criticize President Obama shows "that we have a long, long, way to go in America as far as racial reconciliation." Now he has an opportunity to stand up and show real leadership by pulling out of this event and disavowing the hateful rhetoric of his fellow conservative evangelicals.