Obama Chastizes Dems on Religion

Democratic Illinois Senator Barak Obama chastised fellow Democrats for not taking seriously the role of religion in the lives of Americans:

"Not every mention of God in public is a breach to the wall of separation. Context matters,'' the Illinois Democrat said in remarks prepared for delivery to a conference of Call to Renewal, a faith-based movement to overcome poverty.

''It is doubtful that children reciting the Pledge of Allegiance feel oppressed or brainwashed as a consequence of muttering the phrase `under God,''' he said. ''Having voluntary student prayer groups using school property to meet should not be a threat, any more than its use by the High School Republicans should threaten Democrats.''

Obama talked about the role of faith in his own life:

''Kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side of Chicago, I felt I heard God's spirit beckoning me,'' he said of his walk down the aisle of the Trinity United Church of Christ. ''I submitted myself to his will and dedicated myself to discovering his truth.''

I see nothing wrong with politicians talking about the role of faith in their lives if it authentic, and I have heard nothing about Obama to suggest inauthenticity. But the really important conversation we need to be having isn't whether politicians can talk about God and connect with voters who believe in God; it's what kind of legislative votes does that translate into; how does it affect the way the politician governs. Tom DeLay and Ralph Reed can talk easily about their personal relationship with Jesus all the while they are scamming Native Americans and working for political interests that are diametrically opposed to anything remotely resembling Christianity.

We need politicians like Obama and Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter who can talk easily and authentically about their faith and the way it influences their values. And we need politicians like John Kerry and Al Gore, who are regular church-goers but who cannot talk easily about their faith, to not worry about it and not try to do what doesn't come naturally. Most of all we need to educate religious people about the real tenets of their faith. In no scripture or religious tradition that I know of is espousing economic policies that favor the rich and wars of choice sanctioned.