The Faith of Barack Obama

I don’t often blog about politics. The subject is a tangled web that brighter, more informed men than I may deal with as they please. I believe that a nation whose God is the Lord is happy, or blessed, regardless of what condition they find themselves in. (Keep in mind that according to Jesus, happy are men who are persecuted and hated for His name; blessedness does not go hand in hand with material good fortune!)

And because I don’t get too involved in political news, I sometimes leap before looking, so to speak, when I do blog. However, I just wanted to share a little bit about Mr. Barack Obama that I have learned. You’re free to do whatever you want with the information, if you want to do anything at all with it.

Barack Obama, Democratic hopeful for the office of President of the United States, is a man I have heard described as a Christian on numerous occasions and from numerous sources. In looking around for just what that means to him, I came across this excerpt from MensNewsDaily.com:

Obama the Christian is a devout believer in unlimited abortion rights. He denies the existence of Hell. He came to Christianity through social organizing with activist religious. His devout Christianity derives from the secular humanist “values” his atheist mother imbued him with. He believes, with all his heart, in the separation of church and state — except when he campaigns in black churches, in violation of that separation, and in violation of the tax code. (According to U.S. tax law, any house of worship that permits politicians to campaign within its walls, loses its tax-exempt status. But then, as another Chicago politician, Cong. Jesse Jackson Jr., announced on the radio talk show Nashville This Morning in October, 2000, the separation of church and state and the tax code simply don’t apply to blacks.) Obama wears his religion on his sleeve in black churches, but in dealing with the mainstream media, attacks the same behavior, at least as far as white, conservative Christians are concerned.

The only recognizably Christian position Obama takes is his opposition to same-sex marriage, due to the “religious connotations” of marriage. (“Religious connotations”? What about “civic religion”; the “separation of church and state”; the “enormous danger on the part of public figures to rationalize or justify their actions by claiming God’s mandate”? Don’t ask.) This is surely due to the fact that blacks are the racial/ethnic group most adamantly opposed to same-sex marriage, and Obama does not want to rile the one voter bloc on which his candidacy is most dependent. However, I would expect his position on same-sex marriage to begin “evolving” around, say, … November 3. Once Obama is safely ensconced in the U.S. Senate, he knows that his black base will stick by him, for richer or for poorer, for better or for worse. Then he will doubtless begin the sort of “education” of the Christian black electorate in matters of same-sex marriage, which black leaders earlier conducted in the matter of abortion.

Further, I’d like to invite you to visit the website of Trinity United Church of Christ. I was once told that churches with “united” in their names tend to be much more about man than Christ, and it is sorrowful that the trend continues with Mr. Obama’s church.

Go ahead and view the church’s about page if you do not believe me. Aside from the title of Christ in the church’s name, Jesus is surprisingly absent. That a supposedly Christian church can exist without being wholly immersed in the glory of Jesus Christ is idolatrous at best. Here is a church committed to the Black Family, which like the “White Family,” is a family tied together only by being a part of Adam’s sinful Human Family. Commitment to the Christian Family is apparently secondary (or ignored) as it is not even mentioned. (Indeed, if the Apostles’ Creed is any measure of orthodoxy, one could claim that the communion of the saints is partially a measure of orthodoxy.)

The ten point “vision” of the church amazes me. It describes a commitment to preaching salvation, but that isn’t the impression I get from browsing their website, which has yet to describe for me the gospel of Jesus Christ. The vision describes a commitment to reconciliation, but it does not say between who. A commitment to liberation, but they haven’t told us what we are in bondage to. A commitment to adoration, but to who? Yet another chance to extol Jesus is passed upon. And of the entire vision, only one is so important as to be labeled as “non-negotiable,” and that is the commitment to Africa. Not the preaching of the Gospel. Not the adoration of Christ. All of that we are left to wonder how sure the commitments are, but when it comes to Africa, the commitment is final.

I’m finished now. I have shared with you what I wanted since I doubt the mainstream media outlets care about such details. The church’s name has “Trinity” and “Christ” in the title, so that’s enough to assume it is Christian, I suppose. I can’t in good conscience tell you to vote for anyone who is not a true-blue Bible-believing, Christ-honoring, God-fearing Christian. In my limited experience with politics, having the “Christian” choice elected results in warmongering and endless bloodshed. So much for the “Christian” choice.

Perhaps you feel you must vote, regardless of whether there is a Christian on the ballot or not. To you, I offer this sage advice I once heard from I-dont-know-where: When presented with a choice between two evils, choose neither.