My brother Devin is on a roll today. Below I have posted an email he sent out to our family this afternoon concerning an article he read about Barack Obama's personal religious views. Keep in mind that this is not a political exposé, but rather some commentary on Obama's own description of his personal faith. Here is what Devin had to say:

Hello all. I was just reading an article titled "I have faith that Obama has faith" that was written in the Chicago Sun Times today. You can read it here.

Essentially, the premise of the article is that we have to believe Obama is a Christian because he says he is. The writer says that "...the level of scrutiny of Obama's faith has surpassed what is helpful and veered into dangerous territory. At the end of the day, no one really knows what transpires between a person and his God. We must depend in large part - trust, really - what the man says about his beliefs." True enough I suppose, though I believe a person's actions say a lot about his beliefs.

Anyway, I think the writer of the article is missing a key point. Obama was asked if he is a born again Christian. If he had simply answered, "Yes, I believe that Jesus is the Son of God and I have accepted Him as my Savior," then a lot of the skepticism and confusion about his faith might have been put to rest. After all, contrary to popular belief there are some really decent people out there who are Christians that are also Democrats. But if you really look at the answer he gave you begin to see why this is even an issue. Here is how he actually responded, "Yeah, although...I retain from my childhood and my experiences growing up a suspicion of dogma. And I'm not somebody who is always comfortable with that language that implies I've got a monopoly on the truth, or that my faith is automatically transferable to others" (emphasis added). Really? Could he have given a more wishy-washy answer? Let me translate: "Yeah...I have a relationship with Christ, but that doesn't mean he is for everyone. I mean, Buddah and Allah can do just the same for someone else that Jesus does for me." Obama goes on to say, "The difficult thing about any religion, including Christianity, is that at some level there is a call to evangelize and proselytize. There's the belief, certainly in some quarters, that if people haven't embraced Jesus Christ as their personal savior, they're going to hell" (emphasis added).

I don't think the writer understands the skepticism surrounding Obama's faith because she doesn't understand Christianity, and apparently Obama doesn't either. Jesus said, "I am way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). This won't make the politically correct crowd happy, but Christians believe in absolute truth -- the truth that there is only one God, that Jesus is the Son of God, and apart from Him alone we have no salvation. While it's not a popular opinion in our society, in Jesus we do have "a monopoly on the truth" and a faith that "is automatically transferable to others." I don't pretend to know what is in Obama's heart. His faith may be sincere. But judging by his answer to perhaps the most fundamental question a Christian can answer, I can certainly see why there is a healthy amount of skepticism about his beliefs.

Thanks again, Devin, for your contribution to this blog. If nothing else, the commentary above, and the issue that is concerns, should cause us to evaluate what exactly faith is, especially the Christian faith.

What do you think?

Labels: politics