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.”
November 26, 2008 at 5:00 am
“Being out of alignment with my values”
Well, he *is* the Messiah, after all.
November 26, 2008 at 11:01 am
I share his propensity to doubt. I seriously doubt the truth of the statement that there is no objective truth. You see if there is no such thing as objective truth then the statement that
Objective truth does not exist must be objectively true. If it is objectively true then it is an objective truth itself. However that contradicts the statement that there is no such thing as objective truth and I must self combust in a puff of logic. So the only logical thing you can say are
1) Objective truth exists and it is knowable
or
2) Objective truth exists and it is unknowable.
The problem with 2) is that again it is an objective truth to say that objective truth exists and it is unknowable. How do you know it is unknowable? How can you know it is unknowable. You simply can’t hold 2) without contradicting yourself.
So, all Obama can say is that I have no clue what is true or false. I can only go by my own judgment. His judgment tells him that his truth is subjective and non-transferable. Well, fair enough. So long as he recognises the need for tolerance which he says he does. However look at the last paragraph. Let’s summaries his truth:-
The greatest good is “bringing people together”. Religions set up divisions which does not “bring people together”. Therefore Religion is damaging.
Well, since when has bringing people together been a good itself. Gangs bring people together, cults, perversions etc. If only Obama would follow his own creed he could be less certain that his dogma that “bringing people together” is true. This is his contradiction.
Sin is violating Obama values, the only dogma is Obama’s dogma. Since the only thing he expresses certainty about is his own perspective then we must doubt all other except his. I sincerely hope that his tolerance is deeply held. If not America is in for a rough ride.
November 26, 2008 at 11:49 am
“Honestly, I know that Obama isn’t the Antichrist. “
Honestly Patrick — how can you be so sure?
November 26, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Or was his statement to George Stephanopolis, “my Muslim faith,” just a Fruedian slip?
November 26, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Just because he’s not THE Antichrist doesn’t mean he can’t be AN Antichrist….
Really, given the churches in Hyde Park, he’s always stuck me as a Unitarian or a Church of Christ type. Both are pretty wishy-washy-feel-good-about-our-communist-leanings type of places, and at least in his neighborhood, both are where the “right” sort of people go to make sure their children learn about relativism and open-mindedness.
November 26, 2008 at 2:29 pm
I think, in all fairness to Mr. Obama, that it is rather clear that he meant “being out of alignment with [his] values” was a sin for him and not necessarily a sin for other people. I suppose, in accord with the rest of what he says here, that he would say that sin in general is being out of alignment with the values of the person sinning.
If he truly did mean what Patrick seems to imply he meant, then this man is far more of a monster and egomaniac than we all thought…
~cmpt
November 26, 2008 at 2:57 pm
I know many people who would agree with his definitions. Western civilisation is self-destructing; this is not really a surprise. That so many people seem to be missing it, however, is a bit of one… but then again, I’ve read Raspail’s The Camp of the Saints…
November 26, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Who needs a church when you are one?
The “Church of Obama” all we hoped for! There are congregations across America and the world. Sermons on Obama scripture can be seen on ABC, CBS, NBS, MSNBC, CNN, PBS, BBC, etc, etc… There are online collect baskets where you can deposit your change (hoping you have any). And for the traditionalists there is chanting… obama, obama, obama…
Obama bless us ;p
November 27, 2008 at 12:16 am
This sounds like ajobb for “Belief-O-Matic”
http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx
Punch in your well-researched, best-guesses for what Obama would answer and then we’ll all know.
My friends and I have found it to wbe a fairly accurate indicator of what we practice.
Check it out and let us know the results.
November 27, 2008 at 3:43 am
C.O.G – PLEASE do NOT direct ANYONE over to that affront to Catholicism known as Beliefnet. The site is run by some corpulant (see: pig-like) new-ager who claims to be Episcopalian (well, one and the same I guess) and takes every opportunity to belittle, malign and undermine Catholicism.
The site should be avoided at all costs by Catholics.
November 28, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Very good article and funny.