Friday Finds

Chuck Baldwin preaches to the choir again and though this piece is tainted with patriotic theology, it nonetheless expresses what many Americans are seeing or refusing to see.

The Worst Tragedy of the Bush Presidency

It is no hyperbole to say that George W. Bush has done more to demean and mitigate the positive influence of genuine Christianity than any single person in American history. And I do not say that lightly.

Because George W. Bush successfully portrayed himself as the ultimate Christian president, his life and policies are indelibly linked to the very definition of what it means to be a Christian in public office. The Religious Right also share in this perception, as they almost universally and totally gave their allegiance to Bush. Hence, as far as most Americans are concerned, George W. Bush is a Christian, and, therefore, his philosophies and ideas are assumed to be Christian as well. THIS IS A TRAGEDY OF UTMOST PROPORTIONS!

Plus, I came across Senator Barack Obama's testimony of receiving Christ.

"He introduced me to someone named Jesus Christ," said Obama. "I learned that my sins could be redeemed. I learned that those things I was too weak to accomplish myself, He would accomplish with me if I placed my trust in Him. And in time, I came to see faith as more than just a comfort to the weary or a hedge against death, but rather as an active, palpable agent in the world and in my own life.

"It was because of these newfound understandings that I was finally able to walk down the aisle ... and affirm my Christian faith. It came about as a choice, and not an epiphany. I didn't fall out in church, like folks sometimes do. The questions I had didn't magically disappear. ... But kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side, I felt I heard God's spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to His will, and dedicated myself to discovering His truths and carrying out His works."

The juxtaposition of these two stories ought to be plain; President Bush, who has potentially done irreparable harm to Christianity in America and a presidential hopeful, who claims to also know Jesus personally, is unafraid to talk about faith despite the current administration's wholesale claim on it. Perhaps Obama seeks to capitalize upon Bush's tragic outworking and mishandling of faith or maybe he is sincere. Perhaps the President has not squelched sincere dialogue about faith and its practical outworkings in policy decisions. Perhaps.

Remarking on Obama's testimony, CBN commentator David Brody said, "That, ladies and gentlemen, is called a conversion experience." Conversion experience or not, Obama was preaching to the liberal choir, and has made no qualms about being a member of one of the most excruciatingly liberal Protestant denominations, the UCC. Granted, this will not harbor even any condolences from the right, and my curiosity has been piqued if his statements regarding the right's hijacking of the faith will stir any Democratic sympathizing.

Obama clearly seems to be more fluent on religious issues than other Democratic candidates. How will this benefit him? Only time will tell but this much is certain; he will not reach a broad religious base, only those on the left.

Obama, "Hope-monger"

I have been asked a time or two which political candidate I am favoring for 2008. I must say I am leaning toward Ron Paul, though I am not sold on him yet. I am not thrilled with any of the Republican contenders. I will say though--I like Obama.

He jokingly refers to himself as a hope-monger--something I think the American people are lacking right now given the current political scene. In The Nation, blogger David Corn chronicled Tuesday evening's "Take Back America" conference in which Obama and Edwards delivered back-to-back speeches. Corn's summary:

But his appeal was not his policy shopping list. He was promoting himself foremost as an agent of change who can bring about "a new kind of politics." He offered the crowd "a simple truth, a truth I learned all those years ago as an organizer in Chicago...that in the face of impossible odds, people who love their country can change it."

Obama wowed the audience. Touching on all the right policy points--health care, education, greenhouse emissions, minimum wage, Iraq, and even torture, he connected. Obama knows how to weave personal stories in with policy promises and how his policy will personally touch your life and make it better. "I am your man," he proclaimed.

I don't know if I can get behind Obama but I sure do like him.

Barack Obama's Father's Day Message

Speaking to an invitation-only crowd at Mount Moriah Baptist Church in my hometown of Spartanburg, SC, presidential hopeful Barack Obama shared a stirring testimony couched in economic disparity.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Friday that fathers have to share the responsibility for raising children and caring for families because their role doesn't end at conception.

Days before Father's Day, the first-term Illinois senator and father of two daughters delivered his life message as well as an assessment of what government needs to do in remarks at a Baptist church.

"It's about to be Father's Day," he said. "Let's admit to ourselves that there are a lot of men out there that need to stop acting like boys; who need to realize that responsibility does not end at conception; who need to know that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child but the courage to raise a child."

He recalled his own upbringing as the son of a Kenyan father and a mother from Kansas. Obama said he grew up with a father he know only through letters and stories told by his mothers and the relatives who raised him.

He didn't share any original thoughts as far as I can tell, but he does seem solid on parenting and fatherhood.