Church Of Obama

Much discussed over the past few days is which Church will Obama join. Obama’s failure to attend Church this past weekend was noted, but chalked up by some to the fact that he has yet to choose another Church after throwing Rev. Wright under the bus leaving Rev. Wright’s Church.

You might recall that I secretly uncovered Obama’s thoughts on the subject some months ago through some creative undercover work.

But what now? What Church will he join? I suspect, he won’t. That is actually the recommendation of Susan Jacoby at the WaPo On Faith Blog.

Obama is of course a Christian, but there are a number of excellent reasons why he should not join any particular church. There is also an important historical precedent: Abraham Lincoln refused to ally himself with any denomination or congregation, although he sometimes attended services at different churches in Washington. Lincoln, who was suspected by many of being (gasp!) a secret freethinker and religious skeptic, resisted considerable political pressure in his refusal to join a church. Obama, who is a believer, might choose to remain unaffiliated for different reasons.

Don’t you just love the smugness of the Jacoby extolling the virtues of freethinking skeptics. You understand of course that to be a freethinker requires skepticism? Leaving that aside, which church best fits Obama’s theological perspective? Well, Obama gave some hints in his answers in a 2004 interview.

GG: Do you believe in sin?

OBAMA: Yes.

GG: What is sin?

OBAMA: Being out of alignment with my values….

So you got yourself born again?

OBAMA: 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.

I’m a big believer in tolerance. I think that religion at it’s best comes with a big dose of doubt. I’m suspicious of too much certainty in the pursuit of understanding just because I think people are limited in their understanding.

I think that, particularly as somebody who’s now in the public realm and is a student of what brings people together and what drives them apart, there’s an enormous amount of damage done around the world in the name of religion and certainty.

Sin is violating Obama values, dogma is out and doubt is in. Certainty is a sin and truth is non-transferable. Welcome to the Church of Obama.

Honestly, I know that Obama isn’t the Antichrist. But I have a suspicion that one day in the future, the son of perdition will read of Obama and say to himself, “That man was good.”