On a recent episode of Morning Joe, Franklin Graham perplexed a panel of talking heads by dodging around a simple question: Does he consider President Obama to be a Christian? From Media-ite
“I asked him when he was running… how he came to faith in Christ. He said that he was working in the South Side of Chicago in the community and they asked him — the community — asked him what church he went to, and he said ‘I don’t go to church.’ They said, ‘If you’re going to work in the community, you have to join one of our churches.’ And of course, he joined Reverend Jeremiah’s church. So that’s what his answer to my question was.”
“So therefore, by your definition, he’s not a Christian,” Geist said.
“You have to ask him,” Graham said. “I cannot answer that question for anybody.”
Mike Barnicle then asked why Graham couldn’t just say, “Yeah, I believe he’s a Christian,” in light of him saying he is, going to church, and practicing his faith.“I accept him as what he says. If he says he’s a Christian, I accept that, I’m not going to say he’s not,” Graham said. “All I know is what Jesus Christ has done in my heart and how he’s changed my life.”
I’m not looking forward to another round of “crypto-muslim” insinuations, but judging from Franklin’s performance that’s what we have to expect. My guess is that the slight uptick in the economy means that Republicans will scream about jobs less and about “values” more.
This whole argument is a hot mess. Graham knows good and well that Obama is a Christian. Yet if he admits that, he’s likely to be lynched by his own followers.
The modern American Evangelical sub-culture is a strange thing. Speaking in terms of denominations, it’s a very broad tent. During the colonial period, the Reformed churches would freak out about the presence of Lutherans in the neighborhood. Nowadays, few people make a big deal out of such differences. Politics is the new litmus test.
Consider what’s happening with historian John Fea, blogger at The Way of Improvement Leads Home and columnist here at Patheos. Fea recently posted a column in which he mused that, “Obama may be the most explicitly Christian president in American history.”
That column got a response on The Blaze, a site somehow connected to Glenn Beck. [warning: last time I went there I got hit with three pop-ups.] The response itself isn’t really an attack, – it’s mainly just large block-quotes – but the comments are intensely negative. Apparently, Fea is now a target for Beck fans. According to his most recent statement:
In the last 24 hours I have been called a lot of names. I have been compared to Hitler, Louis Farrakhan, and Woodrow Wilson (yes, you read that last one correctly). Several expressed wishes that I be cast into perdition. A few demanded that the administration at the college where I teach fire me immediately. The culture wars are real.
The ridiculous part is that Fea is not that far from Franklin Graham (by our standards). His column contains head-shaking about Obama’s failure to “articulate the faith-based political vision.” But he suggested that Obama might be a Christian, so here come the torches and pitchforks.
Do you think Graham’s statement is accurate: Did Obama joined a church because it was prudent to his community work? Does he lack that conversional, life-transforming religious emotional life of many evangelicals?
I personally don’t care what Obama’s religion is. And I think most people convert to a religion for reasons they themselves are unaware. And I really don’t know anything about Obama’s religious journey (nor doubt I ever will). But I was curious if you thought Graham was wrong in sending a signal that “Obama is certainly the type of confessional Christian “We” like”.
Personally what I found irritating about Graham’s hesitance was that it had nothing to do with him actually being principled, i.e. ““You have to ask him[...]I cannot answer that question for anybody.”” Because he was perfectly willing to emphatically opine that Santorum is a Christian from stem-to-stern.
I HOPE that he got involved in religious fol-de-rol because it was necessary for gaining people’s trust. It’s kind of like when you’re trying to convince your Grandmother to go see a doctor and she won’t get in your car until you dress “nicely.” You sigh and go get the sweater vest.
That site was really depressing. I thought the right-wing comments on the Huffington Post were bad, but The Blaze is an entirely different level of crazy.
Obama can’t win with those kinds of people, it doesn’t matter what he says or does. It’s a bit sad, but it rather makes me want to try and get their attention and piss them off in some way. Hate mail from that sort is a great compliment.
Shouldn’t the only answer to the question whether Obama is a christian be, who the fu*k give a rodent’s behind?
Wake up and realize this isn’t the dream world where people make rational decisions but the version of America in which ~40% (according to the recent palls I been seeing) of the population think that it’s a good idea to have he who shell not be googled as president.
“Shouldn’t the only answer to the question whether Obama is a christian be, who the fu*k give a rodent’s behind?”
No it shouldn’t. If a candidate’s religion drives policy positions we should fully examine what his religious beliefs are. For instance, Obama has expanded Bush’s “faith based initiatives” program, which blurs the lines between church and state. I think that position is based in part on his religious beliefs. That may not be as important as the economy, but it is a valid policy question for voters to be asking, and at requires some examination of his religious beliefs.
For some candidates on the right it seems as if religion drive most policy decisions.
Speaking of pop-ups, this here site routinely pop ups with an annoying ad, even on my phone where I almost never get pop-ups.
As his religion doesn’t seem to be influencing his policies, I’m in the who cares camp. That some Xians don’t think he’s Xian enough is as ridiculous as the whole being born in Hawaii isn’t American enough bit.
Surely whatever type of sky fairy the USP may subscribe to has nothing to do with the man’s ability to govern. From a distance, the lack of worshipful tosh falling from Obama’s mouth is a positive.
How many people consider Franklin Graham to be a fucking ASS-HOLE????
He can’t help it, its genetic in his case.
Someday, all the news will be reruns.
I have no idea if Obama is a Christian or not and couldn’t care less. There is no idea any more stupidly dangerous than the belief that the worlds problems can be washed away by imposing religion on it. Any religion. I know of no book that has caused more bloodshed and human misery than the bible and people continue to offer it up as a solution to mankind’s problems.