{"id":1963,"date":"2011-10-25T01:00:35","date_gmt":"2011-10-25T05:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=1963"},"modified":"2011-10-25T12:00:48","modified_gmt":"2011-10-25T16:00:48","slug":"the-problem-with-herman-cain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/10\/the-problem-with-herman-cain.html","title":{"rendered":"The Problem with Herman Cain"},"content":{"rendered":"

Understand, I like Herman Cain, the Georgia gentleman who is running for President.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I like that he is a Southern black man and that he speaks his mind. \u00a0I like that he doesn’t have a chip on his shoulder because of the way he has been treated by the world.<\/p>\n

I like that Cain is pro-life; and he wants to reduce the national debt. \u00a0I like that he has good, homespun values that have made him a successful businessman. \u00a0I like that he can laugh at himself. \u00a0His faith in Christ isn’t hidden but bold and free. \u00a0I think he and I would be good friends if I ever met him.<\/p>\n

Yet, most of the things I like about Herman Cain mean that Herman Cain has a problem. \u00a0And his problem is us.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>As Americans, we love to love the underdog, especially within the minority communities. \u00a0Herman Cain ain’t no underdog. He wasn’t raised a victim and he won’t ever allow himself to become a victim. \u00a0Cain’s father worked three jobs to ensure that his children would have more than he had. \u00a0Cain is the embodiment of most Southern black people. \u00a0There is more gump and gumpson in nearly all blacks raised in the South than any mule I ever heard about.<\/p>\n

While people from the North, West and Mid-west marveled at the movie “The Help,” \u00a0those of us raised in the South in the 1950’s merely smiled in recognition. \u00a0 I’ve met and loved all those women most of my life. \u00a0Spunky and humble. \u00a0Delightfully humorous, they go about their daily lives entertaining each other with their antics. \u00a0They interject just enough silliness into their daily routines to take the edge off the hard work and insults. \u00a0They love long and work hard. \u00a0Yet, through it all, these matrons carry themselves with a dignity that shouts, “You hit me and I’ll bounce right back up \u00a0in your face.” \u00a0Candidate Cain presents that determination to the world. \u00a0However, too much of our society confuses self-hatred with humility. \u00a0They may see \u00a0Cain’s strength as egocentric. \u00a0That becomes a deep concern.<\/p>\n

Cain’s type of \u00a0bold faith is a problem. \u00a0We must be careful about being too emotional in the areas of Christianity. \u00a0Zeal about a loving the God who freely \u00a0forgives sin can be explosive. \u00a0Dignified quietness should mark our church services and our worship. \u00a0Herman Cain could be a fire cracker in a church. \u00a0He would sing too loud and might even say “Amen” in response to the message. \u00a0 Yep, this is definitely a problem.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Additionally, Cain carries with him the embodiment of a culture on which most of our nation looks down. \u00a0And it isn’t because he is African-American. \u00a0It is because he is a Southern gentleman. \u00a0He says, “Yes, Ma’am” to most women because his mama taught him that it was the right thing to do. \u00a0He still says, “Yes, Sir,” to any older man–black, Hispanic, Asian or white, because as a child his daddy would have tanned his behind if he didn’t. \u00a0Cain is nobody’s servant; but he has a servant’s heart that desires to show respect to everyone. \u00a0 That’s a problem.<\/p>\n

Somewhere along the way, many of us–white, black, Latino, and Asian–have acquired a mentality that God put us on the earth so that others can work hard to take care of our needs and solve our problems. \u00a0Cain shakes up that assumption and stares down an entitlement mentality. \u00a0 Everything about Cain shouts, “Look at me! \u00a0I made it. \u00a0Try harder. \u00a0You can make it, too.” \u00a0That’s a problem.<\/p>\n

I’m pretty sure that Herman Cain won’t be our next president, even though his poll numbers are rising. \u00a0However, if Cain has his way, our nation will be molded into a stronger and more perfect union by his running for the highest office in the US. \u00a0I like Herman Cain and I especially like the problem he presents to our nation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Understand, I like Herman Cain, the Georgia gentleman who is running for President. I like that he is a Southern black man and that he speaks his mind. \u00a0I like that he doesn’t have a chip on his shoulder because of the way he has been treated by the world. I like that Cain is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,20,40,287,309,186,49,147],"tags":[699,726,732,310,715,701,692,311],"class_list":["post-1963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-church","category-faith","category-faiths","category-herman-cain","category-hope","category-inspiration","category-leadership","tag-faith","tag-faiths","tag-herman-cain","tag-herman-cain-for-president","tag-hope","tag-inspiration","tag-religion","tag-southern-culture"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Problem with Herman Cain - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/10\/the-problem-with-herman-cain.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Problem with Herman Cain - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Understand, I like Herman Cain, the Georgia gentleman who is running for President. I like that he is a Southern black man and that he speaks his mind. \u00a0I like that he doesn’t have a chip on his shoulder because of the way he has been treated by the world. I like that Cain is…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/10\/the-problem-with-herman-cain.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-10-25T05:00:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-10-25T16:00:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/10\/herman-cain-3-150x150.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda G. Howard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Problem with Herman Cain - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/10\/the-problem-with-herman-cain.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Problem with Herman Cain - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","og_description":"Understand, I like Herman Cain, the Georgia gentleman who is running for President. I like that he is a Southern black man and that he speaks his mind. \u00a0I like that he doesn’t have a chip on his shoulder because of the way he has been treated by the world. I like that Cain is…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/10\/the-problem-with-herman-cain.html","og_site_name":"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","article_published_time":"2011-10-25T05:00:35+00:00","article_modified_time":"2011-10-25T16:00:48+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/10\/herman-cain-3-150x150.jpg"}],"author":"Linda G. Howard","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/10\/the-problem-with-herman-cain.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/10\/the-problem-with-herman-cain.html","name":"The Problem with Herman Cain - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/10\/the-problem-with-herman-cain.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/10\/the-problem-with-herman-cain.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/10\/herman-cain-3-150x150.jpg","datePublished":"2011-10-25T05:00:35+00:00","dateModified":"2011-10-25T16:00:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/#\/schema\/person\/a10d3530d8432a656d648135fe6da739"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/10\/the-problem-with-herman-cain.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/10\/the-problem-with-herman-cain.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/10\/the-problem-with-herman-cain.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/10\/herman-cain-3-150x150.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/10\/herman-cain-3-150x150.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/10\/the-problem-with-herman-cain.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Problem with Herman Cain"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/","name":"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Linda Howard","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/#\/schema\/person\/a10d3530d8432a656d648135fe6da739","name":"Linda G. Howard","description":"Linda G. Howard is the best-selling and award-winning author of four books, including MOTHERS ARE PEOPLE, TOO and THE SECRET LIFE OF A HOUSEWIFE. Currently, she serves as area director of The Special Gathering, a ministry within the mentally challenged community. Additionally, she is the co-publisher and editor of CONNECTING POINT, the ministry newsletter. Her husband is a retired aerospace technologist who worked for NASA. They have three children and four grandchildren.","sameAs":["http:\/\/specialgathering.wordpress.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/author\/lhoward"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/387"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1963"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1963\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1968,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1963\/revisions\/1968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}