I’m not sure what to think about this guy. He confuses me.
This is a 2004 interview on his religion. Afer reading his interview, it confirmed to me that he used Trinity church as a means to politically secure himself in Chicago. He appears have a new-age type of thinking. These are a few highlights:
When I tuck in my daughters at night and I feel like Ive been a good father to them, and I see in them that I am transferring values that I got from my mother and that theyre kind people and that theyre honest people, and theyre curious people, thats a little piece of heaven.
Obama: Part of the reason I think its always difficult for public figures to talk about this (religion) is that the nature of politics is that you want to have everybody like you and project the best possible traits onto you. Oftentimes thats by being as vague as possible, or appealing to the lowest commong denominators. The more specific and detailed you are on issues as personal and fundamental as your faith, the more potentially dangerous it is.
OBAMA:
Being out of alignment with my values.
GG:
What happens if you have sin in your life?
OBAMA:
I think its the same thing as the question about heaven. In the same way that if Im true to myself and my faith that that is its own reward, when Im not true to it, its its own punishment.
(He laughs nervously)
OBAMA:
Right.
Jesus is an historical figure for me, and hes also a bridge between God and man, in the Christian faith, and one that I think is powerful precisely because he serves as that means of us reaching something higher.
And hes also a wonderful teacher. I think its important for all of us, of whatever faith, to have teachers in the flesh and also teachers in history.
Islam does. That is not a Christian belief that's for sure.