WP, Dionne: Obama's Eloquent Faith

[DeepModem Mom]

Obama's Eloquent Faith
By E. J. Dionne Jr.
Friday, June 30, 2006; Page A27

....when a religious Democrat speaks seriously about the relationship of faith to politics, the understandable temptation is to see him as counting not his blessings but his votes. Thus did the Associated Press headline its early stories about Barack Obama's speech to religious progressives on Wednesday: "Obama: Democrats Must Court Evangelicals."

Well, yes, Obama, the senator from Illinois who causes all kinds of Democrats to swoon, did indeed criticize "liberals who dismiss religion in the public square as inherently irrational or intolerant." But a purely electoral reading of Obama's speech to the Call to Renewal conference here misses the point of what may be the most important pronouncement by a Democrat on faith and politics since John F. Kennedy's Houston speech in 1960 declaring his independence from the Vatican. (You can decide on Obama's speech yourself: The text can be found at http://www.obama.senate.gov/speech .)

Here's what stands out. First, Obama offers the first faith testimony I have heard from any politician that speaks honestly about the uncertainties of belief....On the matter of church-state separation, Obama doesn't propose some contrived balancing act but embraces religion's need for independence from government. In a direct challenge to "conservative leaders," he argued that "they need to understand the critical role that the separation of church and state has played in preserving not only our democracy, but the robustness of our religious practice."...

***

Like most liberals who are religious, Obama finds a powerful demand for social justice embedded in the great faith traditions....But he insisted that social improvement also requires individual transformation. When a gang member "shoots indiscriminately into a crowd . . . there's a hole in that young man's heart -- a hole that the government alone cannot fix." Contraception can reduce teen pregnancy rates, but so can "faith and guidance" which "help fortify a young woman's sense of self, a young man's sense of responsibility and a sense of reverence that all young people should have for the act of sexual intimacy."..."Our fear of getting 'preachy' may also lead us to discount the role that values and culture play in some of our most urgent social problems."...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/29/AR2006062901778.html

[Erika]

1. He sees the need to care for our poor as a Christian mandate

He sees the needs of our people and knows that W slashing social budgets while giving tax breaks for the rich, is indeed anything other than Christian.

W is blind to any needs or our poor or workers. He can't even imagine, in his wealth bubble, that they exist.

[checks-n-balances]

2. I love E.J. Dionne because he gives mainstream faith a rare understanding

He can discuss intelligently the difference between mainstream & fundamentalist religion in the U.S. and convey the idea that there are shades of grey within the different forms of faith.

It sounds like Barack Obama is trying to address that too. Maybe he is trying to give voice to a more moderate or progressive (and intelligent) stream of faith that takes the teachings of Jesus seriously. It's not an all-or-nothing thing. On one end of the spectrum are those who want to make religion and government totally intertwined. The other end seems to include a lot of people who hear the word "Christian" and "faith" and think it's always a bad thing. I don't blame them, since fundamentalism has given all of that a bad name. But that attitude portrays the entire subject awash with a dualistic black-and-white viewpoint that paints it all the same.

I hope more people at DU can relax a little about this and understand that "A Call to Renewal" is not a bad thing and I'm glad they had some democratic leaders there to address the crowd. Maybe the other leaders had some worthwhile things to say and I hope they got a chance to hear some things there too. In the past, I have attended such conferences and some day when I can afford it, I'll be able to attend some more. They are very worthwhile, educational, and are opportunities to give as well as receive support. Since religion (or at least people's claim to it) in the U.S. is not going to go away anytime soon, why not address it and deal with it rather than just surrender it to the right wing as it has been for over 25 years?

By the way, I like the way Dionne talks about religion & government being "independent."

[autorank]

3. self delete