A Sincere Christian Faith?

by Francisco Gonzalez ~ September 16, 2008

Barack Obama began his Presidential campaign on a religious footing. He has stressed how he wants to be a different candidate, the candidate of “change” that we have become so accustomed to hearing about. With this idea of “change,” Obama also wanted to distinguish himself from his fellow Democrats and realign the political map. Part of this strategy is to win people of religious faith over to his side.

In more recent years, religion has been a deep divide in American politics. Polls show that voters who attend a religious service at least once a week are far more likely to vote for a Republican. In 2004, the media demonstrated this over and over again with the way that President George W. Bush and his political advisor, Karl Rove, focused on turning out the religious vote for the President, a self-described evangelical Christian.

On October 7, 2007, Obama told an audience of Sunday worshippers at the Redemption World Outreach Center, “I think it’s important, particularly for those of us in the Democratic Party, to not cede values and faith to any one party.” For a Christian of any political persuasion, this is certainly a welcome statement. But is it sincere? Is Barack Obama, like many politicians before him, simply trying to win over a constituency he so desperately needs to win not only his party’s nomination, but ultimately the White House?

Typically, the media portrays Christian politicians on the right, such as George W. Bush or Mike Huckabee, as anything from “intolerant” to “theocratic.” But Obama gets away with his use of religious references without the media questioning his religion or even his sincerity. Perhaps it is because he is okay with gay marriage, abortion, and an agenda which calls on government entitlement programs in the name of Christian charity. The kind of Christianity which Obama purports to believe is in line with his political prescriptions, and not necessarilty with actual religious doctrines.

A more detailed exploration to come in future posts.