Barack Obama: Man of Faith

Men's News Daily ^ | 23 August 2004 | Nicholas Stix

[mrustow]

"I am a Christian.... So, I have a deep faith. I'm rooted in the Christian tradition. 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.

"That there are values that transcend race or culture, that move us forward, and there's an obligation for all of us individually as well as collectively to take responsibility to make those values lived."

Thus, U.S. Senate candidate for Illinois Barack Obama in a campaign contribution by Chicago Sun-Times columnist Cathleen Falsani.

Obama's supporters include not only constituents and corporations giving him monetary contributions, but scores of alleged journalists who see their job as doing everything in their power to get him elected. As Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass observed, "A conservative Ditka candidacy would also have forced Barack Obama, the anointed one, to actually campaign for the Senate rather than wait for more air kisses from Hollywood liberals and the Eastern press, the Midwestern press, the Western press."

Obama, an Illinois state senator representing the South Side of Chicago, is in fact a far-left politician who -- as I've previously shown -- seeks to force ever more socialist and racist laws and programs on the American people.

Meanwhile, Obama's media devotees have launched such a successful crusade on his behalf, that in what took on the airs of a coronation, just before the late July Democratic National Convention in Boston, he was chosen by the Kerry campaign to be a keynote speaker. And he acquitted himself stupendously. Between the lines, one can read Obama's media cadres going from touting the biracial (half-white, half-black) candidate as potentially "only the third African-American to take a seat in the Senate since Reconstruction" (the New York Times' Bob Herbert), to seeing in him potentially the nation's second "black" president. It is worth examining the spiritual world of this rising national player.

After emphasizing the transcendence of Obama's Christianity, Cathleen Falsani would appear to contradict herself, by claiming that "Obama's theological point of view was shaped by his uniquely multicultural upbringing."

Since his mother was a secular humanist -- and between the lines, sounds like an atheist -- and his stepfather was a Moslem (the late Barack Obama Sr., a Moslem-raised but non-religious Kenyan economist, deserted his family when his son was only two years old), how would that shape the faith of someone who, according to Falsani, "is unapologetic in saying he has a 'personal relationship with Jesus Christ.'"

I say, appears to contradict herself, since Falsani's column makes a gruel of Christianity. But on one point, she is clear:

"Alongside my own deep personal faith, I am a follower, as well, of our civic religion," he says. "I am a big believer in the separation of church and state. I am a big believer in our constitutional structure. I mean, I'm a law professor at the University of Chicago teaching constitutional law. [Actually, Obama is not a law professor, but a "senior lecturer." As Chicago Sun-Times columnist Lynn Sweet has pointed out, and I know from six-and-a-half years as a full-time, college adjunct lecturer, "In academia, there is a vast difference between the two titles." As Sweet also notes, however, Obama's misrepresentation of his academic position is the least of his credibility problems.]

"I am a great admirer of our founding charter and its resolve to prevent theocracies from forming and its resolve to prevent disruptive strains of fundamentalism from taking root in this country.

"I think there is an enormous danger on the part of public figures to rationalize or justify their actions by claiming God's mandate. I don't think it's healthy for public figures to wear religion on their sleeve as a means to insulate themselves from criticism, or dialogue with people who disagree with them."

Falsani quotes lefty activist, Roman Catholic Fr. Michael Pfleger, of St. Sabina Church on Chicago’s South Side, "I always have felt in [Obama] this consciousness that, at the end of the day, with all of us, you've got to face God. Faith is key to his life, no question about it. [It is] central to who he is, and not just in his work in the political field, but as a man, as a black man, as a husband, as a father.... I don't think he could easily divorce his faith from who he is."

(Martin Luther King Jr. would appear to have been the greatest spiritual influence on Fr. Pfleger, who is obsessed with what he perceives to be white racism, but blind to the very real black variety. Logic is also not Fr. Pfleger's strong suit, witness the following statement on whites and MLK: "Their anger came from the fact that he would not react to their anger and hatred.")

So, Obama's religious faith is and is not transcendent. Thank you, Cathleen Falsani.

Obama the Christian is a devout believer in unlimited abortion rights. He denies the existence of Hell. He came to Christianity through social organizing with activist religious. His devout Christianity derives from the secular humanist "values" his atheist mother imbued him with. He believes, with all his heart, in the separation of church and state -- except when he campaigns in black churches, in violation of that separation, and in violation of the tax code. (According to U.S. tax law, any house of worship that permits politicians to campaign within its walls, loses its tax-exempt status. But then, as another Chicago politician, Cong. Jesse Jackson Jr., announced on the radio talk show Nashville This Morning in October, 2000, the separation of church and state and the tax code simply don't apply to blacks.) Obama wears his religion on his sleeve in black churches, but in dealing with the mainstream media, attacks the same behavior, at least as far as white, conservative Christians are concerned.

The only recognizably Christian position Obama takes is his opposition to same-sex marriage, due to the "religious connotations" of marriage. ("Religious connotations"? What about "civic religion"; the "separation of church and state"; the "enormous danger on the part of public figures to rationalize or justify their actions by claiming God's mandate"? Don't ask.) This is surely due to the fact that blacks are the racial/ethnic group most adamantly opposed to same-sex marriage, and Obama does not want to rile the one voter bloc on which his candidacy is most dependent. However, I would expect his position on same-sex marriage to begin "evolving" around, say, ... November 3. Once Obama is safely ensconced in the U.S. Senate, he knows that his black base will stick by him, for richer or for poorer, for better or for worse. Then he will doubtless begin the sort of "education" of the Christian black electorate in matters of same-sex marriage, which black leaders earlier conducted in the matter of abortion.

Regarding Obama's religiosity, which appeared out of nowhere during his social activist work, following his graduation from law school, a line from Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass comes to mind, when the latter explained why Mike Ditka was not prepared for political life. "Ditka doesn't need a political life. And he hasn't spent decades planning for the scrutiny."

Obama's closest religious advisers -- Fr. Pfleger, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ, and Illinois State Sen. James Meeks, who moonlights as the pastor of Chicago's Salem Baptist Church -- may have quotes from Scripture always handy, but are theologically closer to Karl Marx and black nationalism, than to Christianity. (Union Theological Seminary theologian James H. Cone, who is credited with having founded liberation theology, is a black nationalist who speaks the lingo of Marxian dialectic. And as white Marxists have over the past 40 years adopted the language of race war, socialism and black supremacy have increasingly come to resemble each other. I call the common movement, which is more typically referred to as "multiculturalism," racial socialism.)

The transcendent-non-transcendent motto the Rev. Wright has given Trinity is, "Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian."

According to State Sen./Rev. James Meeks' humble, personal church Web page, "Meeks' practical and charismatic style of instruction motivates the hearer to take action and has resulted in accomplishments of miraculous proportions." When the good Senator/Reverend is not accomplishing miracles and other feats "never before documented in history," he serves as the executive vice president of Jesse Jackson Sr.'s National Rainbow-Push Coalition. Why a man of God would want to be identified with Jackson's personal den of iniquity is a question only the Rev. Meeks can answer.

Keep in mind the parallels between Obama, his black constituency, and the Democrat party. As black Chicagoans have suffered less and less under racism, they have become increasingly racist. Conversely, once the Democrat party gave up its role as a pillar of Jim Crow, it increasingly has come to trade in race hoaxes. And as leading black preacher-politicians (witness Jesse Jackson Sr.'s former opposition to abortion) and white Democrat pols alike have made "Christianity" indistinguishable from the program of the left wing of the Democrat party, so too have millions of black Christians "revised" their Bibles. And so, just as "rights" have become merely a euphemism for whatever black, "progressive," or homosexual Democrats desire, so too has Christianity.

Apparently, the only thing that the "Christianity" of Barack Obama, Fr. Pfleger, the Rev. Wright and the Rev. Meeks forbids, is voting Republican.

Now that Obama has a Republican opponent in Alan Keyes, Obama's media acolytes are working hard to discredit Keyes, a talk-show host who is a former ambassador, and presidential and senatorial candidate. Meanwhile, Obama, who when Jack Ryan was his opponent wanted six debates, has no desire to debate Keyes. Obama & Co. had better stick to their new script or Keyes, a brilliant man who knows the Constitution better than "Professor" Obama does, and whose own Christian faith comes not from Karl Marx or black nationalism (or possibly Unitarian Universalism), but from Christianity, might put some hard questions to Barack Obama.

Nicholas Stix

---

New York-based freelancer Nicholas Stix has written for Toogood Reports, Middle American News, the New York Post, Daily News, American Enterprise, Insight, Chronicles, Newsday and many other publications. His recent work is collected at www.geocities.com/nstix and http://www.thecriticalcritic.blogspot.com.

[MEGoody]

"I am a Christian.... So, I have a deep faith. I'm rooted in the Christian tradition. 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."

Sorry, Obama, but if you don't believe Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life, you are not, by definition, a Christian.

[My2Cents]

I'm rooted in the Christian tradition. 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.

Whenever you hear someone talk about being "rooted in the Christian tradition," that's a pretty good sign they're a Christian on the outside only. And whenever you hear someone talk about "many paths to the same place," that's a really good sign they're not a believer in Christ at all.

[sr4402]

"That there are values that transcend race or culture, that move us forward, and there's an obligation for all of us individually as well as collectively to take responsibility to make those values lived."

Nice words, but do they add up to anything? Nice liberal Pap, Obama. Looks a bit new ageish. Won't help you to take a stand when the going gets tough.

[exnavy]

I had the same thought, "many paths" , I don't think so.

[stainlessbanner]

I believe that there are many paths to the same place

There's only one way to Heaven.

[Slump Tester]

John 1:1 - You beat me to it.

Satan believes there is a higher power too!

[mrustow]

"That there are values that transcend race or culture, that move us forward,

As in, "progressive" values.

[Dogbert41]

I just don't see how anyone who follows Jesus could possibly vote for a Democrat. They are just so anti-Christian.

But that does not mean that the Republican party is Godly by any means. Just less evil.

[Right_Handed_Writer]

Ping.

Deeply rooted in Christian faith? An atheist mother and Moslem father?

He's just teeing them up for Keyes!

[NH Liberty]

"Whenever you hear someone talk about being "rooted in the Christian tradition," that's a pretty good sign they're a Christian on the outside only. And whenever you hear someone talk about "many paths to the same place," that's a really good sign they're not a believer in Christ at all."

Spot-on, My2Cents. And people like Obama haven't a clue about how transparent they are to genuine Christians.

[taxesareforever]

I'm rooted in the Christian tradition. 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.

Whenever you hear someone talk about being "rooted in the Christian tradition," that's a pretty good sign they're a Christian on the outside only. And whenever you hear someone talk about "many paths to the same place," that's a really good sign they're not a believer in Christ at all.

How true. Typical liberal spill to appeal to the masses and make the unbeliever fill secure in his unbelief. Sad.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

"I am a Christian.... So, I have a deep faith. I'm rooted in the Christian tradition. 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."

Mr. Obama seems to have a little conceptual problem.

(Somebody send him back to Chritianity 101. Sheesh.)

[presidentbowen]

Nobody can be considered a "man of faith" if he is pro-abortion.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

I don't care about his parents - I just wish he knew the definition of "Christian" before running around calling himself one.

[4CJ]

"I think there is an enormous danger on the part of public figures to rationalize or justify their actions by claiming God's mandate. I don't think it's healthy for public figures to wear religion on their sleeve...

He means that Washington, Adams, Patrick Henry, Witherspoon et al were wrong?

And Obama doesn't believe in Hell? One way or another, he will find out the veracity of that belief.

[tame]

Barack Obama: Man of Faith

Nicholas Stix may as well do an article titled--

"Adolph Hitler: Man of Faith"

[tame]

ping

[Search4Truth]

That pseudo Christian babble from a faux Christian is intended to appeal to the masses of Americas who are also faux Christians; not to those who have genuinely repented and have given their life to the Lord Jesus Christ; which are the minority of those who call themselves Christians.

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

Whenever you hear someone talk about being "rooted in the Christian tradition," that's a pretty good sign they're a Christian on the outside only. And whenever you hear someone talk about "many paths to the same place," that's a really good sign they're not a believer in Christ at all.

Liberals join churches to use and destroy them. They do not believe the Bible. They do not believe in God's moral laws. Nothing. Why are they there, it leaves you wondering.

Liberals love to accuse conservatives of trying to change our gov't into a theocracy just because we think killing babies should be illegal, forcing Boy Scouts to allow homosexual scoutmasters is bad, and demanding that an unapproving public elevate and endorse homosexual activity, right down to teaching it to their children, is NOT a constitutional must that should be enforced by our courts.

Liberals believe leftists should be free to rule and righties should have to foot the bill.

Also, liberals believe that morality should be closeted and immorality should be flaunted. It's about separation of church and state you know. Morality, with its strong tie to religion, must stay hidden, and any public display should be stigmatized and even illegal. Immorality, on the other hand, is a fabulous display of freedom and liberty, and it deserves to be celebrated and taught to children.

If conservatives were looking to establish a theocracy then we would be pushing for baptism laws and things like that. All we want is a place at the table of reason and a right to help shape the culture and laws.

Liberals are pathological liars. That's their biggest problem. They can say they are Catholic while trying to destroy the Catholic Church; Christian while standing against everything Christ valued; and liberty warriors while regulating political speech, religious expression, and the democratic process of our republican gov't.

[loboinok]

He may not believe in Hell now, but he will after he debates Keyes.

[My2Cents]

Bears repeating:

Liberals love to accuse conservatives of trying to change our gov't into a theocracy just because we think killing babies should be illegal, forcing Boy Scouts to allow homosexual scoutmasters is bad, and demanding that an unapproving public elevate and endorse homosexual activity, right down to teaching it to their children, is NOT a constitutional must that should be enforced by our courts.

[John O]

John O's easy guide to spotting who is NOT a Christian in politics.

If he claims to be democrat, he is not a Christian. The two are mutually exclusive

[proudpapa]

How do you really feel about Obama? Don't be shy. Just come on out and express your real feelings.

[BushisTheMan]

I found something earlier that said his step-father was a Muslim. His mother was secular.

I'm not buying this story.

[BushisTheMan]

I found something earlier that said his step-father was a Muslim. His mother was secular.

I'm not buying this story.

[aruanan]

So, Obama's religious faith is and is not transcendent. Thank you, Cathleen Falsani.

Hey, she's a product of her Garrett Theological Seminary environment.

[swheats]

Apparently, the only thing that the "Christianity" of Barack Obama, Fr. Pfleger, the Rev. Wright and the Rev. Meeks forbids, is voting Republican.

Abortion by live birth-that's good, Adultery and fornication with illegitimate child-that's good, scamming millions from unsuspecting citizens-that's good and the list goes on...just don't even think about voting republican-that's bad.

[mrustow]

You guys don’t know what you’re talkin’ about. “Everybody loves Obama”! I got it straight from the source. Get with the program!

Everybody Loves Obama

n a remote East African village, an old woman in a tin-roof hut spoke recently of "welo mang'eny maok ang'eyo" - that's Luo, her tribal language, for "many strange visitors." Yes, the media have descended on the farm of Sarah Hussein Onyango Obama, the 80-something grandmother of Barack Obama, the new star of the Democratic Party, front-runner for the United States Senate seat from Illinois, the Hawaii-born, Harvard-educated son of a Kenyan and a Kansan. Will she be traveling to her grandson's victory bash in Chicago in November? "If he invites me," she told Reuters.

Obamania is sweeping Kenya. The Kenyan press, rapturous after Mr. Obama's keynote address at the Democratic convention, speculates on a future presidential bid. Parents are naming their newborns Obama, following a tradition to honor great Africans that produced an earlier generation of Kenyans named Lumumba and Nkrumah. Bar patrons in Nairobi reportedly ask for "Obamas" when ordering the barley beer called "Senator," while tribal elders are planning to slaughter bulls for a celebratory feast after the election.

As John F. Kennedy was to Ireland, Mr. Obama is to Kenya, living proof to a nation that its children have it within themselves to achieve great things. The melancholic note is that Kenya itself is no longer a land of opportunity. Heralded a generation ago as a model for post-colonial Africa, Kenya is today locked in a desperate struggle against poverty and corruption.

People of all nations are proud when their kin thrive elsewhere, but for many Kenyans, it must often seem as if elsewhere is the only place to thrive. That accounts in part for Obamania. Kenyans understand, perhaps better than Americans, what Mr. Obama meant when he spoke of "the audacity of hope."

[mrustow]

Oops -- the link somehow got lost in the sauce.

Everybody Loves Obama

[unspun]

We all thought it was Raymond. Now it's Obama. I don't know, I think I'd prefer Raymond in the Senate.

[JustPiper]

BumPING! Get up to date with Alan Keyes, his schedule and campaign.
Be an Obama fan! 8-o Encourage our Socialist Rock Star Barack to do those 6 Lincoln/Douglas style debates with that 'right-winger' Alan Keyes!: info@obamaforillinois.com & bobama@aol.com and For Full Events Calendar

[EternalVigilance]

Barack Obama: "I believe that there are many paths to the same place...

Jesus Christ: "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no man comes to the Father except by Me."

Someone is wrong here.

[EternalVigilance]

He may not believe in Hell now, but he will after he debates Keyes.

That, my friend, is 'Quote of the Day' material, fer sure...

[mhking]

Black conservative ping

If you want on (or off) of my black conservative ping list, please let me know via FREEPmail. (And no, you don't have to be black to be on the list!)

Extra warning: this is a high-volume ping list.

[mrustow]

Apparently, someone saw fit to "unlock" the thread.

[mrustow]

Barack Obama: "I believe that there are many paths to the same place...

Jesus Christ: "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no man comes to the Father except by Me."

Someone is wrong here.

Responses we will be seeing a lot of this election season:

"Only a racist would say that!"

"Isn't it interesting, that white conservatives attack Barack Obama with such fury? Does seeing a brilliant, qualified black man succeed, in spite of them, drive them insane?"

"Alan Keyes isn't really black. Hell, he's whiter than Bush!"

(Jesse) "Don't give Alan the keyes."

[RedCobra]

Many "paths"? Jesus said he was THE PATH! There is no way to the father but through Jesus Christ. Obama can call himself anything he wants, but he'd better get it straight on this point, or quit calling himself a Christian. Jesus is either Lord of ALL, or Lord OF NOTHING. This is what makes a Christian so different from all other religions, in that there is no comprimising about Jesus as Lord.

[TheRightGuy]

Sarah Hussein Onyango Obama, the 80-something grandmother of Barack Obama, the new star of the Democratic Party, front-runner for the United States Senate seat from Illinois, the Hawaii-born, Harvard-educated son of a Kenyan and a Kansan.

And the press labels keyes as a carpetbagger???

[Aquinasfan]

Obama the Christian is a devout believer in unlimited abortion rights. He denies the existence of Hell.

These positions are literally satanic.

[Theo]

There was really only one group of people that Jesus consitently came down against: Pharisees.

Pharisees were rooted in the Jewish tradition, having a form of godliness, but not having a changed heart. They were like white-washed tombs -- clean looking on the outside, but full of dead men's bones.

In other words, the most dangerous place to be is where Obama is -- having the appearance of faith, but not having a relationship with the faith-Giver.

[Onelifetogive]

"Alongside my own deep personal faith, I am a follower, as well, of our civic religion," he says......"I am a great admirer of our founding charter and its resolve to prevent theocracies.

NO, he just believes in a theocracy of HIS "civic religion."

[Protagoras]

I believe that there are many paths to the same place,

Lots of roads lead to hell.

[BushisTheMan]

Why would Obama's biography be on this Muslim American Society Web page?

http://www.masnet.org/prof_personality.asp?id=1508

[MEGoody]

"Lots of roads lead to hell."

As Jesus said, the road to destruction is wide and many pass thereby.

[mrustow]

Sarah Hussein Onyango Obama, the 80-something grandmother of Barack Obama, the new star of the Democratic Party, front-runner for the United States Senate seat from Illinois, the Hawaii-born, Harvard-educated son of a Kenyan and a Kansan.

And the press labels keyes as a carpetbagger???

But of course, Keyes is a carpetbagger; he's a Republican.

[mrustow]

Many "paths"? Jesus said he was THE PATH! There is no way to the father but through Jesus Christ. Obama can call himself anything he wants, but he'd better get it straight on this point, or quit calling himself a Christian. Jesus is either Lord of ALL, or Lord OF NOTHING. This is what makes a Christian so different from all other religions, in that there is no comprimising about Jesus as Lord.

In America's newsrooms, and increasingly her theology faculties, that is what today passes for Christianity.

[mrustow]

"Alongside my own deep personal faith, I am a follower, as well, of our civic religion," he says......"I am a great admirer of our founding charter and its resolve to prevent theocracies.

NO, he just believes in a theocracy of HIS "civic religion."

Bingo!

[mrustow]

Veddy interesting. Thanks for the link.

I noticed that they claim he came to the notice of the DNC due to his winning the primary. Right. He came to the DNC's attention due to the scorched earth campaign the media waged on his behalf.