2008 Election
Barack Obama on Religion
I’ve previously made known my stance on how the religion of a major election candidate should be treated. My goal now is to document where each major candidate stands on religion in the upcoming presidential election. This is not an exercise in reading between the lines. I am not talking about stances on abortion or gay marriage, strictly about religion. Hopefully there will be an election in my lifetime where this isn’t required knowledge before voting, but in today’s political (and religious) climate, it is required knowledge.
The following is Part 1 of a multi-part series on each candidates religious views, and how they fit into politics.
Barack Obama - Protestant
Quotes:
“I am a big believer in the separation of church and state. I am a big believer in our constitutional structure.”
“I think there is an enormous danger on the part of public figures to rationalize or justify their actions by claiming God’s mandate. I don’t think it’s healthy for public figures to wear religion on their sleeve as a means to insulate themselves from criticism, or dialogue with people who disagree with them.”
*****
“This is why, if we truly hope to speak to people where they’re at - to communicate our hopes and values in a way that’s relevant to their own - we cannot abandon the field of religious discourse.”
“Because when we ignore the debate about what it means to be a good Christian or Muslim or Jew; when we discuss religion only in the negative sense of where or how it should not be practiced, rather than in the positive sense of what it tells us about our obligations towards one another; when we shy away from religious venues and religious broadcasts because we assume that we will be unwelcome - others will fill the vacuum, those with the most insular views of faith, or those who cynically use religion to justify partisan ends.”
“In other words, if we don’t reach out to evangelical Christians and other religious Americans and tell them what we stand for, Jerry Falwell’s and Pat Robertson’s will continue to hold sway.”
*****
“But what I am suggesting is this - secularists are wrong when they ask believers to leave their religion at the door before entering into the public square. Frederick Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, Williams Jennings Bryant, Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King - indeed, the majority of great reformers in American history - were not only motivated by faith, but repeatedly used religious language to argue for their cause. So to say that men and women should not inject their “personal morality” into public policy debates is a practical absurdity. Our law is by definition a codification of morality, much of it grounded in the Judeo-Christian tradition.”
“Moreover, if we progressives shed some of these biases, we might recognize some overlapping values that both religious and secular people share when it comes to the moral and material direction of our country. We might recognize that the call to sacrifice on behalf of the next generation, the need to think in terms of “thou” and not just “I,” resonates in religious congregations all across the country. And we might realize that we have the ability to reach out to the evangelical community and engage millions of religious Americans in the larger project of American renewal.”
“But a sense of proportion should also guide those who police the boundaries between church and state. Not every mention of God in public is a breach to the wall of separation - context matters. It is doubtful that children reciting the Pledge of Allegiance feel oppressed or brainwashed as a consequence of muttering the phrase “under God.” I didn’t. Having voluntary student prayer groups use school property to meet should not be a threat, any more than its use by the High School Republicans should threaten Democrats. And one can envision certain faith-based programs - targeting ex-offenders or substance abusers - that offer a uniquely powerful way of solving problems.”
*****
“Doing the Lord’s work is a thread that runs through our politics since the very beginning, and it puts the lie to the notion that separation of church and state in America means somehow that faith should have no role in public life.”
*****
“I think it’s important, particularly for those of us in the Democratic Party, to not cede values and faith to any one party.”
“I think that what you’re seeing is a breaking down of the sharp divisions that existed maybe during the ’90s. At least in politics, the perception was that the Democrats were fearful of talking about faith, and on the other hand you had the Republicans who had a particular brand of faith that oftentimes seemed intolerant or pushed people away.”
“We’re going to keep on praising together. I am confident that we can create a Kingdom right here on Earth.”
*****
On climate change at an “interfaith forum on climate change”:
“We are not acting as good stewards of God’s earth when our bottom line puts the size of our profits before the future of our planet.”
“It is our responsibility to ensure that this planet remains clean and safe and livable for our children and for all of God’s children.”
*****
“I am a Christian, and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful. I didn’t ‘fall out in church’ as they say, but there was a very strong awakening in me of the importance of these issues in my life. I didn’t want to walk alone on this journey. Accepting Jesus Christ in my life has been a powerful guide for my conduct and my values and my ideals.”
“There is one thing that I want to mention that I think is important. Part of what we’ve been seeing during the course this campaign is some scurrilous e-mails that have been sent out, denying my faith, talking about me being a Muslim, suggesting that I got sworn in the U.S. Senate with a Quran in my hand or that I don’t pledge allegiance to the flag. I think it’s really important for your readers to know that I have been a member of the same church for almost 20 years, and I have never practiced Islam. I am respectful of the religion, but it’s not my own. One of the things that’s very important in this day and age is that we don’t use religion as a political tool and certainly that we don’t lie about religion as a way to score political points. I just thought it was important to get that in there to dispel rumors that have been over the Internet. We’ve done so repeatedly, but obviously it’s a political tactic of somebody to try to provide this misinformation.”
*****
“”I’m a Christian, and I believe in parents being able to provide children with religious instruction without interference from the state.
But I also believe our schools are there to teach worldly knowledge and science. I believe in evolution, and I believe there’s a difference between science and faith. That doesn’t make faith any less important than science.
It just means they’re two different things. And I think it’s a mistake to try to cloud the teaching of science with theories that frankly don’t hold up to scientific inquiry.”"
Source Sorry, dead link. But I promise it was once there and the quote is genuine…
*****
More on Obama and religion:
Obama Says Some Have `hijacked’ Faith
Obama Reaches Out to Religious Voters
*****
Summary:
Obama is clearly a religious man, privately. He seems to change his views on how much it should be a part of holding office depending on who he is speaking to. More often than not, he seems to take a non-invasive stance on religion, willing to possibly leave it in the church, rather than take it with him to the office.
Like many others in the campaign, Obama is not afraid to embrace religion when politics calls for it. His line about creating a “Kingdom right here on Earth” was somewhat out of place for him in other circumstances, but for a candidate on the trail, it’s becoming more and more normal to simply pander to the religious.
*****
This page will be continuously updated with new quotes, or news items to provide the most accurate portrait of Barack Obama’s religious viewpoints.
Categories
Atheist Blogroll
Resources
Discussion
No comments for “Barack Obama on Religion”
Post a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.