It seems that less than half those surveyed believe Obama is a Christian, and a fourth think he is a Muslim. The justification for believing he is a Muslim is mostly based on the fact that his father was a Muslim (though later in life, an apostate.) But Islam is like the Hotel California. You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave. And children are considered the same religion as their father in Islam. So there is some justification for saying Obama was born Muslim. But this is America, where we believe you can pick your own faith, and Obama selected Christianity. Right?
I commented on his questionable faith before the election, in the context of wondering how anyone could support infanticide, as he did while in the Illinois Senate when he repeatedly voted to deny abortion survivors medical care. The purpose of abortion, pro-choicers claim, is to terminate the pregnancy because women have a right not to be pregnant. At the point the baby is no longer inside the mother, the pregnancy is over, and there is no justification whatsoever for denying medical care to a surviving infant. So like many voters, I wondered how Obama could reconcile that position with his claimed Christianity. To say nothing of sitting still for the vile rhetoric spewed by Jeremiah Wright each week. That’s not Christianity, as I see it. YMMV. But put that speculation aside.
Obama denies the exclusivity of Christianity. That’s the real dealbreaker. The New Testament repeatedly asserts that Christ’s death on the cross provides the only possible avenue to heaven; that Jesus is THE way, THE truth, and THE life. If you don’t believe that, you’re really not a Christian. That’s pretty much the one point all the major denominations agree on, Catholics and Protestants alike. The point is the crucifixion, and the need for it, so we may be reconciled with God. And Obama says that he really doesn’t believe that.
What he believes: “I believe that there are many paths to the same place, and that is a belief that there is a higher power, a belief that we are connected as a people.”
On whether he considers himself born again: “Yeah, although I don’t, I retain from my childhood and my experiences growing up a suspicion of dogma. And I’m not somebody who is always comfortable with language that implies I’ve got a monopoly on the truth, or that my faith is automatically transferable to others.”
On who Jesus is to him: “Jesus is an historical figure for me, and he’s also a bridge between God and man, in the Christian faith, and one that I think is powerful precisely because he serves as that means of us reaching something higher. And he’s also a wonderful teacher.”
On who he looks to for guidance: “Well, my pastor [Jeremiah Wright] is certainly someone who I have an enormous amount of respect for. I have a number of friends who are ministers. Reverend [James] Meeks is a close friend and colleague of mine in the state Senate. Father Michael Pfleger is a dear friend, and somebody I interact with closely.”
On the existence of hell: “I find it hard to believe that my God would consign four-fifths of the world to hell. I can’t imagine that my God would allow some little Hindu kid in India who never interacts with the Christian faith to somehow burn for all eternity. That’s just not part of my religious makeup.”
On doctrine: “I think that each of us when we walk into our church or mosque or synagogue are interpreting that experience in different ways, are reading scriptures in different ways and are arriving at our own understanding at different ways and in different phases. I don’t know a healthy congregation or an effective minister who doesn’t recognize that. If all it took was someone proclaiming I believe Jesus Christ and that he died for my sins, and that was all there was to it, people wouldn’t have to keep coming to church, would they.”
On the existence of heaven: “What I believe in is that if I live my life as well as I can, that I will be rewarded. I don’t presume to have knowledge of what happens after I die. But I feel very strongly that whether the reward is in the here and now or in the hereafter, the aligning myself to my faith and my values is a good thing.”
On what sin is: “Being out of alignment with my values.”
On being aligned spiritually: “It’s when I’m being true to myself.”
He further commented,
It’s interesting, the most powerful political moments for me come when I feel like my actions are aligned with a certain truth. I can feel it. When I’m talking to a group and I’m saying something truthful, I can feel a power that comes out of those statements that is different than when I’m just being glib or clever.
FALSANI:
What’s that power? Is it the holy spirit? God?OBAMA:
Well, I think it’s the power of the recognition of God, or the recognition of a larger truth that is being shared between me and an audience.
However Obama’s beliefs can be classified, it doesn’t change a bit of the damage he’s done while in office. But in practice, he’s his own god, creating his own belief system and his own doctrine. He’s perfectly entitled to do so; whether that curious doctrine will get him into the heaven he’s not too sure even exists remains to be seen. But since the media seems so shocked and offended by the fact that the public is confused about what Obama believes, I think it’s worth pointing out that Obama doesn’t seem too sure, himself.
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