Posted by
PD Blogger on Monday, April 30, 2007 10:35:22 PM
The
NY Times had a very <ahem>
soft feature on Barck Obama's journey of faith in today's edition:
In the 16 years since Mr. Obama returned to Chicago from Harvard, Mr.
Wright has presided over his wedding ceremony, baptized his two
daughters and dedicated his house, while Mr. Obama has often spoken at
Trinity’s panels and debates. Though the Obamas drop in on other
congregations, they treat Trinity as their spiritual home, attending
services frequently. The church’s Afrocentric focus makes Mr. Obama a
figure of particular authenticity there, because he has the African
connections so many members have searched for.
There are some who will question whether Obama's faith is genuine or is simply a political tool. Unfortunately, because Obama's never talks in very many specifics about his fiath -- or anything for that matter -- it's hard to tell exactly where he's coming from.
From the sounds of it, the Trinity UCC under the leadership of Rev. Wright sounds like it's heavy on politics and light on faith, though I'm sure Wright and Obama would argue that in their community, the two are inseparable.
If you read about Obama's church
on their website, you can read all about their, "non-negotiable
COMMITMENT
TO AFRICA", their commitment to, "the
HISTORICAL
EDUCATION OF AFRICAN PEOPLE IN DIASPORA," and their work towards, "ECONOMIC
PARITY." However, nowhere on the site do I see a statement of faith that tells me what they believe about Jesus Christ, his resurrection, the Holy Spirit, salvation, or any other of those pesky things that would actually place the church in the midst of the historic Christian faith.
Despite all of the good work that Obama has done in the name of his faith, until he takes some time to answer hard questions about what he really believes, for him to claim that he's trying to reach out to evangelicals seems a little disingenuous.