Obama's Unsurprising Support for Faith Based Initiatives

For almost a year now, many of Obama's progressive supporters have been trying to convince people that Obama is a Christian and not a Muslim . Yet now that Obama has announced his support of faith based initiatives, many of those same progressive supporters seem shocked that Obama really is a devout Christian.

Barack Obama's faith is not political window dressing but, in fact, deeply held convictions. He is not an Easter/Christmas-only parishioner. If you've read his autobiography, Dreams of My Father, you would know that most of his "community organizing" involved church outreach. He clearly believes that churches are the largest and best organized institutions in low-income neighborhoods. Given his history of working with churches to support progressive change, no one on the left should be shocked by his support for expanding faith based initiatives.

Rev. Wright’s Stupidity May Ironically Help Obama

Rev. Wright is an idiot on two counts. First, if your friend is a black man running for office don't use the term "rich white people," and especially don't use it as part of an analogy which compares politicians to the Roman authorities who crucified Christ. Second, anyone who honestly studied both the Bible and history should know that Jesus was a Middle Eastern Semitic Jew. The idea that Jesus was "black" is equally as foolish is the idea that Jesus was blonde-haired and blue-eyed.

Despite the foolishness of Rev. Wright's comments, Americans seem to be fairly forgiving to Christian spiritual leaders who make insane statements. Rev. Wright implied that American foreign policy was partly responsible for 9/11; Jerry Falwell implied it was the fault of the "pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays." Pat Robertson thinks Hinduism is "demonic." John Hagee called the Roman Catholic Church the "great whore." And as AIDS destroys Africa, the Catholic Church is only thinking about maybe letting married couples use condoms, only if one of the spouses is HIV positive.

What is the possible benefit of people learning that Obama's former pastor is kind of crazy? People are learning that Obama had a pastor. The most recent NBC/WSJ national poll shows that 13% of respondents think Obama is a Muslim. Sad as it may be, in presidential politics it is better to be seen as Christian with some strange views than to not be seen as a Christian at all.