Review – The Faith of Barack Obama
Please define the following – Christian Democrat.
Having a hard time? Then I would guess a read through The Faith of Barack Obama (by Stephen Mansfield) is something you should do before November 5. If you have ever read Senator Obama’s speech to the Democratic Convention in 2004, you may have noticed a line that was swallowed whole by the rest of his speech. “We worship an awesome God in the Blue States.” Mansfield grabbed onto this almost invisible and unheard line and turned it into an interesting book which has piqued my interest in Obama.
I haven’t shown a lot of interest in Obama so far in The Monday Nut, as is the wont of a blogger…I had mentioned in previous posts that his delivery technique was a well-rehearsed amalgamation of Bill Cosby and Christopher Walken…and I mentioned that he was the only Reaganesque character in the race (talk about how great America is, then talk about how to make it better). However, I’ve always seen Obama as just another liberal idealist who believes his moral compass always spins in the right direction (toward Valhalla). Mansfield made a music analogy in the book when he intimates that Obama (and much of his generation) does his faith “like jazz.” Mansfield is trying to get the point across that Obama’s faith is multi-faceted and takes inspiration from myriad sources…To get my point across as to why I haven’t paid much attention to Barack Obama, I’ll “sample that riff” and say Obama is like jazz in every way. It’s the same old standards being played over and over again…he’s just got a better saxophone, a nicer stage presence, and the guts to change a couple notes here and there. But, it has always still sounded like “Star Dust” to me.
Obama is a liberal, no questions asked, and though Mansfield seems to swoon at times in the book, he is smart enough to take on the tough issues that surround what he sees as an up-and-coming movement on the American Left to wrest Christianity from the Right. For instance, how can one claim to follow the teachings of Jesus in his private life, yet still fully support partial-birth abortion in the public arena? It is one of many instances in the book elucidating how Obama struggles to worship the God he came to accept as his savior and also worship the “state” itself, all while building a massive wall between the two.
Mansfield spends a considerable amount of time on Obama’s membership in the Trinity United Church of Christ, trying to explain why the Senator allowed himself to be mentored by the newly anointed fire-brand Jeremiah Wright. I like many others reacted negatively to the ideas purported by Reverend Wright, but at the same time, I have never supported any minister sullying the pulpit with politics regardless of his denomination or political leanings. The two chapters on Reverend Wright and Trinity United alone are worth the price of admission. Mansfield makes a valiant attempt to tell us “The Rest of the Story” and I found my opinions of Wright tempered. Every man has his failings, whether he is a “man of the cloth” or not. The list of positives attributed to Wright is long… I also understood why Obama struggled with his decision to distance himself from a church he had been a member of for 20 years. One does not make such a decision lightly (or at least shouldn’t).
It is clear that Obama is a man torn between many things. Mansfield has written the definitive book on the spiritual journey of this junior senator from Illinois, a man we hardly knew just two years ago. As he says in the opening of Chapter 3: Faith Fit for the Age, “Men find God in varying ways, even within the Christian fold. For most, faith comes in a progression, through a layering of truth over time. I have walked much of the same roads as Barack Obama, and much of this book contains personal truths. I would surmise this is true for almost every person of faith. There are many questions to be asked and many answers to be understood. I do not envy Obama as he tries to balance his faith with his political ambition. In the end, it could be his undoing…because as Mansfield points out, in some cases, he is fighting against both sides of the political spectrum simultaneously.
If for no other reason than to better understand the man who might be the next President of the United States, I highly suggest this book. It is well written and (gasp) for the most part, objective. As I mentioned earlier, Mansfield seems to swoon in parts, but still presents all the issues we’re thinking about in a frank and honest manner.
In his blog post about why a Christian publisher (Thomas Nelson) decided to publish this book, Mike Hyatt (President & CEO) claimed the agenda of the book was: “to explain Obama’s faith, to put it in historical context, and to explore what it might mean for our collective future.” Mission accomplished, and more.
Love Da Rossie, Hate Da Rossie
Every weekend, when I am out of Mountain Dew and I’m stumbling around looking for something to get my blood running, a quick look at a David Rossie Opinion piece in the Binghamton Press and Some Bullinit is usually just the ticket. No one can get my blood boiling faster (except my wife. Hi Honey! Like my Blog?…please note my wife wants to make sure you know that she makes my blood boil in the “good way” wink wink nod nod) than Mr. Rossie’s Rants on everything from how much he hates George Bush to…well, how much he hates George Bush.
Anyway. I consider David Rossie to be about the craziest left nut you can ever find. But, I find his writing style to be excellent and I respect the snot out of his prose. What kills me is that some of his articles about fishing, hunting, and life in general show me that we could probably be pals…as long as we never, ever talked about politics. Then everybody would be Kung-Fu fighting and I’ve watched a lot of Walker, Texas Ranger in my time so it would just be unfair, and I would find myself riddled with guilt and it would be messy, and…
So, the other day, I was chatting with a co-worker who knows and worked with Mr. Rossie for quite a few years. After I stopped complaining about what a Commie he is, I said, “At least he is a hell of a writer. Better than the rest of the fungi they put over as truffles in the paper.”
Come to find out, Mr. Rossie ain’t thrilled with them either. Word on the street (or Route 12 as the case was) is that Mr. Rossie railed for years against the mediocrity of the writing in the Press and Sun. Now, I am not sitting here and saying what he thinks… But, since he is a great writer (IMHO) I would suppose that reading the paper that employed him was probably some sort of karmic punishment. Now that he is retired and only submits once a week, his debt must have been paid. I wonder if he has a subscription?
In the end, I was impressed to hear that he ENJOYS good writing; HATES bad writing; and he has judged his former employer as a publisher of crap. I’ll still hate his drivel, but I’ll enjoy his wordsmithing even more than before. I will miss him when he stops, and God knows, I’ll never forget him or his writing.
The Difference Between Creek and Crick
When I was a kid, I used to go with my family to visit my grandparents and uncle in Addison, NY. Now, for the uninitiated, Addison is about 20 minutes past Corning and it was the closest, most civilized town to where my relatives lived. They actually lived in a place called Borden, which believe it or not…has yet to be mapped by Google Earth. Anyway, this place was as close to East Bumf**k as you possibly can find. I once saw an East Bumf**kian up off Hurd Hill Road, but I never had the guts to strike up a conversation and I wasn’t sure if my Bumf**knese was up to snuff.
Right up Hurd Hill Road, not 200 yards away from the homestead was a crick. It’s most amazing feature was the massive 20′ diameter pipe underneath Hurd Hill Road that was put in to shepherd the crick from one place to another. Many good times were spent in that pipe, swimming and fishing in that crick. I even got my first “not a cousin” kiss in that crick.
Now, for those of you who have never heard of a crick… One of my favorite writers; Patrick McManus provides the perfect definition in his article “How to Fish a Crick.” One of the easiest ways to understand the difference is summed up in one line:
“A single cow equipped only with determination and fairly good aim can in a mater of hours transform a perfectly good creek into a crick.”
If you’ve ever had a coffee can full of worms and a place to use them, this is your Shakespeare. If you’ve never had a coffee can full of worms or a place to use them…I am sorry for you. You have missed out on some of the best experiences life can offer.
