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Mike

Obama's Father in the Faith?

Writing for the New York Times, Jodi Kantor discusses Barack Obama's controversial relationship to his pastor, Rev. Jermiah A. Wright Jr. of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. Kantor begins:

Twenty years ago at Trinity, Mr. Obama, then a community organizer in poor Chicago neighborhoods, found the African-American community he had sought all his life, along with professional credibility as a community organizer and an education in how to inspire followers. He had sampled various faiths but adopted none until he met Mr. Wright, a dynamic pastor who preached Afrocentric theology, dabbled in radical politics and delivered music-and-profanity-spiked sermons.

As Obama continues to gain traction in his national campaign it seems right that the public know more about the man whom Obama has considered his pastor for the last twenty years. Does the good reverend have convictions about Christianity and the country that should give Americans pause when considering an Obama presidency or vice-presidency?

Apparently Obama is at least a bit concerned about his long-time association with Wright. According to the article, Obama cancelled a planned speaking engagement in March at a celebration of Wright's ministry in Chicago. And Wright is quoted as saying, “If Barack gets past the primary, he might have to publicly distance himself from me.” Both parties seem to agree that Obama's hopes for the White House are hindered if he is tied too closely to Rev. Wright. The question is, why?

Perhaps it has to do with Wright's liberation theology and "assertions of widespread white racism." Or his profanity laced sermons. Or, perhaps, it is Wright's anti-Americanism--what Kantor calls "his scorching remarks about American government"--heard in rhetorical questions like, “Which country do you think poses the greatest threat to global peace: Iraq or the U.S.?”

It would be unreasonable to think that after twenty years of sitting under Rev. Wright's teaching that Obama would not be significantly influenced. This is a relationship Americans need to probe--we are talking about the presidency of the United States. Meanwhile, watch closely as Obama tries to distance himself more and more from Rev. Wright. However, this won't be easy as Kantor concludes: "It is hard to imagine, though, how Mr. Obama can truly distance himself from Mr. Wright."

Being John Shelby Spong

Your own personal jesus
Someone to hear your prayers
Someone who cares
(Depeche Mode, 1989)

John Shelby Spong is living like it's 1989. According to Jason Lee Steorts at National Review, Spong's new book, Jesus for the Non-Religious, is a tribute to a "nontheistic God." Steorts explains:

The “theistic definition of God” is dead, he says. What he means is that he does not believe — and does not think anyone else should believe — in “a being, supernatural in power, dwelling outside this world and able to invade the world in miraculous ways to bless, to punish, to accomplish the divine will, to answer prayers and to come to the aid of frail, powerless human beings.” Our goal should be to “separate God understood theistically from the experience of God that we claim for Jesus.”

What does Spong's "personal Jesus" leave believers with? Steorts concludes: "So the nontheistic God is mute. It can say nothing about how we should live. Worse, it can say nothing about how we should die."

Fortunately, the 80s did not just give us Depeche Mode and their "Personal Jesus." The 80s also gave us Francis Shaeffer's work, He is There and He is Not Silent--a powerful antidote to Spong's muted, nontheistic God.

The Culture of Death Meets the Culture of Life

Writing for Newsweek magazine Ilene Jaroslaw laments the recent SCOTUS decision against partial-birth abortion. Ms. Jaroslaw, a mother of three, argues that "today the hard work of repealing the federal abortion ban must begin." For Jaroslaw the 5-4 decision last week was "a giant step backward" for modern women:

Last Wednesday was a dark day for women, and for the men in their lives who care about the health, autonomy, freedom and equality of women in 21st-century America. The high court took a giant step backward when it upheld the federal abortion ban, sweeping aside decades of its own constitutional precedent protecting women's health, in favor of ideology.

In contrast to a worldview that embraces the culture of death, Albert Mohler sees the decision as a victory for the culture of life:

April 18, 2007 will go down in history as a landmark day in the struggle to recover human dignity and the sanctity of human life. This ruling is an important step toward that recovery -- and we still have a very long way to go. There is reason to believe that this decision may be even more important than might first appear. After all, the majority opinion does recognize that for many citizens, any abortion is "a procedure laden with the power to devalue human life."

It is an indication of where we are as a culture when Newsweek publishes an op-ed with the aim of rallying people to begin "the hard work of repealing the federal abortion ban"--a ban that preserves life.

Support the Troops and Their Families

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