Obama accuses conservative religious leaders of 'hijacking' faith
Forgetting, it seems the photo ops in churches of Jesse "Reverend" Jackson, John Kerry and Bill Clinton during elections, the noteworthy and often articulated faith of President Jimmy Carter, and the amazing faith and life of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (never known as having been shy about his faith), Barack Obama has claimed there has been a hijacking of faith by conservatives. Some conservatives.
Obama spoke with intensity at a United Church of Christ. The United Church of Christ, as a denomination, is consider theologically and socially liberal, more than almost any other mainline Protestant denomination. It is considered part of the "social gospel" belief system by some.
Obama is a member of Trinity United Church of Christ, on Chicago's south side, where they teach liberation theology, a highly controversial mix of politics and religion.
Hillary Clinton's, on paper, a United Methodist, but her beliefs have never really made the news. When they do, you'll be able to read about it here.
3 comments:
Obama is completely right to point this out. It's no different from what's been pointed out by many for a long time now. Regardless of his making faith important in his life- and he's the first really viable candidate to do so since Carter, imo- the Right Wing has hijacked faith by claiming it belongs to them and them alone. All your religions are belong to us. That is the hijacking they're speaking of- and Jim Wallis, and Tony Campolo. You can and should bring your faith into every area of your life, including politics. You should not act as if you have the in on God, and He belongs to your party alone. That's what the right has done.
And, I think as the Sojourners forum made clear, Hillary's faith is quite weak in terms of application to her daily life. She had to really beat around the bush, take a walkabout, and never got to answering the question when Solodad asked her about it. She has some positives, but I'd be surprised to see much of her religious beliefs making the news.
Thanks for the post. I don't take his comments seriously as I don't respect his public faith. In the past I heard him say that faith is a private thing and I think that liberal candidates would agree (I heard Hillary recently talk about how she doesn't like the public expressions of faith). Also I do not agree with his church's liberal stances. This church wouldn't have the authority of the Bible on issues (and the confidence that God is on your side). There is nothing wrong with public expression of faith that doesn't break non sinful laws.
I think that the conservative Christian voters and leaders will naturally gravitate to conservative candidates based on values (pro-life, pro-family, and pro-religious freedom). To say that evangelical leaders have hijacked faith I believe is unfair and divisive.
FYI: Hillary talked about her faith recently: http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007/6/4/214149.shtml
David, you should read his book. He's very open, and very public, about his faith.
And to address the original article, I don't think liberation theology is all that controversial anymore, except in the conservative fringe. Certain kinds, sure- but remember, there are very different types of liberation theology. The liberation theology of Africa is something wholly different again from that of the more violent manifestation in S. America. And I'd hazard a guess that Obama's church goes along more with the former.
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