{"id":52,"date":"2010-10-01T11:41:26","date_gmt":"2010-10-01T15:41:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/philosophicalfragments\/?p=52"},"modified":"2010-10-01T11:41:26","modified_gmt":"2010-10-01T15:41:26","slug":"is-barack-obama-a-christian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/2010\/10\/01\/is-barack-obama-a-christian\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Barack Obama a Christian?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I am tempted to make this the shortest entry yet at Philosophical Fragments <\/em>and simply answer: \u201cYes.\u201d \u00a0But I want to explain (1) some of the complexities of the problem and (2) several reasons why conservatives have answered in the negative.<\/p>\n

By now we are all familiar with the background<\/a>. \u00a0In three Pew surveys from March of 2008 to March of 2009, roughly half of Americans identified Obama as a Christian, 11-12% as Muslim, and 32-36% replied that they did not know. \u00a0Yet in a survey conducted in August, only 34% identified Obama as Christian, 18% as Muslim, and 43% said they do not know.<\/p>\n

Shortly after the poll results were reported, the Obama family, for the first time, took a very public Sunday stroll from the White House to a house of worship. \u00a0And Obama has spoken openly about his faith in several public appearances. \u00a0When Obama was recently asked about his faith, he affirmed (as President Bush always did, and as all responsible Presidents should do in a religiously pluralistic nation) that \u201cpart of the bedrock strength of this country is that it embraces people of many faiths and of no faith.\u2019\u2019 \u00a0But he also expounded on his own faith<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a Christian by choice. \u00a0My family, frankly, they weren\u2019t folks who went to church every week\u2026I came to my Christian faith later in life and it was because the precepts of Jesus Christ spoke to me in terms of the kind of life that I would want to lead. Being my brothers and sisters\u2019 keeper, treating others as they would treat me, and I think also understanding that Jesus Christ dying for my sins spoke to the humility we all have to have as human beings, that we\u2019re sinful and we\u2019re flawed and we make mistakes and we achieve salvation through the grace of God.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what we can do, as flawed as we are, is still see God in other people, and do our best to help them find their own grace. That\u2019s what I strive to do, that\u2019s what I pray to do every day.\u2019\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So much for background. \u00a0The two key points in the statistics are that about a third of Republicans see President Obama as a Muslim<\/strong> and only 46% <\/strong>of Democrats<\/strong> see Obama as a Christian<\/strong>. \u00a0Several observations:<\/p>\n

FIRST, to begin with the latter statistic, it\u2019s hard to believe that 46% of Democrats would be unaware that President Obama claims to be a Christian. \u00a0A number of media bigwigs responded to the survey by saying, \u201cObama tells us that he is a Christian. \u00a0Case closed.\u201d \u00a0But is it really so simple? \u00a0What does it mean to be a Christian \u2014 and how can one person identify whether another person is one? \u00a0Is everyone who claims to be a Christian therefore actually a Christian? \u00a0Of course not. \u00a0In other words, people are not simply unaware that Obama claims to be a Christian; they are running up against what philosophers call the problem of other minds.<\/p>\n

Christianity is essentially defined by what S\u00f8ren Kierkegaard called \u201cinwardness\u201d: an interior relationship of surrender to, and trust in, God. \u00a0This inwardness, given time and opportunity, turns outward. \u00a0Because Christian faith is faith in Christ, and Christ calls his followers to imitation, over time there will be\u00a0necessary <\/em>outward marks of being a Christian (a person is not<\/strong> a Christian if he does not<\/strong> do certain observable things), but there are no sufficient <\/em>outward marks (a person definitely is<\/strong> a Christian if he does<\/strong> do certain observable things). \u00a0So, strictly speaking, when the New York Times writes that 18% \u201cbelieve, erroneously, that he is a Muslim,\u201d we may well ask them how they really know. \u00a0And the 46% of Democrats (and whatever percentage of Republicans) that said \u201cI do not know\u201d are\u2013again, strictly speaking\u2013giving a correct answer. \u00a0While they were on the phone with the poll-takers, they probably did not think of \u201cthe problem of other minds\u201d explicitly; but they may well have thought it: \u201cWell, after all, who really knows?\u201d<\/p>\n

SECOND, it may still be regarded as unreasonably skeptical or simply unkind to doubt the word of the President. \u00a0Consider the words of the prominent Christian scholar and blogger Ben Witherington<\/a>: \u201cI am in no position to judge what is in the man\u2019s heart so I must take what he says, and what various of his friends like Rick Warren, say as the truth unless there is compelling evidence to the contrary, which there definitely is not.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, while we cannot know for certain what is in another person\u2019s heart, it is generally the practice \u2014 and a reasonable and charitable practice \u2014 to grant that a person who claims to be Christian actually is a Christian, unless that person gives us strong reason to believe otherwise. \u00a0This shifts the burden of proof to those who would show he is not a Christian. \u00a0There are generally two ways in which this has been approached:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Outward actions<\/strong>. \u00a0A tree is known by its fruits. \u00a0Some conservatives argue that Obama\u2019s defense of the legality of abortion, and his advancement of the abortion \u201crights\u201d agenda, are strong reason to believe that he is not a believer. \u00a0You cannot protect a practice that has killed millions of babies, they would say, if you are truly a follower of Christ. \u00a0They would also argue that Obama has repeatedly lied to the American people, that he has disregarded the clear deliverance of scripture in regards to homosexuality, and so on.<\/li>\n
  2. Inward beliefs<\/strong>. \u00a0Let us grant that Obama believes what he says he believes\u2013but what he says he believes is not Christianity<\/em>. \u00a0In other words, some conservatives do not believe that Obama\u2019s version of Christianity is actually in accord with historic, orthodox Christianity. \u00a0Obama attended a church for twenty years that preached a variation on liberation theology, which many conservatives consider a counterfeit of Christianity, and Obama\u2019s public explanations of his faith (and his written account of his conversion) leave much to be desired. \u00a0He focuses on the general moral precepts, but rarely affirms the fundamental theology of Christianity. \u00a0The statement quoted above goes further than most; he mentions Christ and grace. \u00a0But even there, \u201cJesus Christ dying for my sins\u201d is explained mostly in terms of the \u201chumility\u201d we are supposed to have. \u00a0Does he believe that Jesus Christ is \u201ctrue God from true God,\u201d and that the work of Christ upon the cross accomplishes the salvation of those who believe?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I am not convinced by either of these lines of argument, because (contra 1) I know too many people who share the President\u2019s policy preferences and are also people of profound faith, and (contra 2) I don\u2019t know that the President has ever been tasked with explaining in full what he means by Christianity. \u00a0Most of his public comments are not intended to be a full-orbed description of the faith in which he believes, but are narrow in scope, and shaped by the desire to articulate his faith in a manner that is public and inclusive. \u00a0Even if he ascribes to some form of liberation theology, while I believe that theology is wrong, I do not believe it is incompatible with having a personal relationship with God through faith in Christ.<\/p>\n

    In fact, I will go one step further. \u00a0I have more reason to doubt the faith of prosperity gospel peddlers like Eddie Long and Creflo Dollar \u2014 or, for that matter, more reason to doubt the faith of pastors who betray their faith and betray their congregations, like Ted Haggard \u2014 than I do to doubt the faith of Barack Obama. <\/strong>But that does not mean that I cannot understand those conservatives who believe that Obama\u2019s actions, policy preferences, and public explanations of his faith are incompatible with orthodox Christianity. \u00a0Their objections are not unreasonable, but they are, I think, incorrect.<\/p>\n

    THIRD, and finally, it is astonishing that 18% believe Obama is a Muslim. \u00a0Of course, you can find 10% of Americans who will believe that pigs can fly if they\u2019re sufficiently gassy. \u00a0You get some \u201cnoise\u201d in every poll from people who are saying something silly for the fun of it, but the increase from 11% to 18% shows that some Americans, especially conservatives, have concluded that Obama really is a Muslim, whether by virtue of descent from a Muslim father or by virtue of his own inward beliefs. \u00a0And it is amazing that some believe Obama would be so thoroughly deceptive.<\/p>\n

    To be sure, Obama has earned Americans\u2019 distrust with a slew of false statements and broken promises. \u00a0But it requires a conspiratorial bent far stronger than my own to believe that Obama would play the part of the Christian for over two decades, and even raise his children as such, in order to win power and serve the interests of Islam.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I am tempted to make this the shortest entry yet at Philosophical Fragments and simply answer: \u201cYes.\u201d \u00a0But I want to explain (1) some of the complexities of the problem and (2) several reasons why conservatives have answered in the negative. By now we are all familiar with the background. \u00a0In three Pew surveys from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-obama-presidency"],"yoast_head":"\nIs Barack Obama a Christian? - Philosophical Fragments<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I am tempted to make this the shortest entry yet at Philosophical Fragments and simply answer: "Yes." \u00a0But I want to explain (1) some of the complexities\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/2010\/10\/01\/is-barack-obama-a-christian\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is Barack Obama a Christian? - Philosophical Fragments\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I am tempted to make this the shortest entry yet at Philosophical Fragments and simply answer: "Yes." \u00a0But I want to explain (1) some of the complexities\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/2010\/10\/01\/is-barack-obama-a-christian\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Philosophical Fragments\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-10-01T15:41:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Timothy Dalrymple\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Timothy Dalrymple\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/2010\/10\/01\/is-barack-obama-a-christian\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/2010\/10\/01\/is-barack-obama-a-christian\/\",\"name\":\"Is Barack Obama a Christian? - Philosophical Fragments\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-10-01T15:41:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-10-01T15:41:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/#\/schema\/person\/de8c9a4caf0177191808914f83826310\"},\"description\":\"I am tempted to make this the shortest entry yet at Philosophical Fragments and simply answer: \\\"Yes.\\\" \u00a0But I want to explain (1) some of the complexities\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/2010\/10\/01\/is-barack-obama-a-christian\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/2010\/10\/01\/is-barack-obama-a-christian\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/2010\/10\/01\/is-barack-obama-a-christian\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Is Barack Obama a Christian?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/\",\"name\":\"Philosophical Fragments\",\"description\":\"Daily Thoughts on Faith, Culture and Politics from Timothy Dalrymple\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/#\/schema\/person\/de8c9a4caf0177191808914f83826310\",\"name\":\"Timothy Dalrymple\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53a368bbc8d116657d6af168549f2add?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53a368bbc8d116657d6af168549f2add?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Timothy Dalrymple\"},\"description\":\"Timothy Dalrymple was raised in non-denominational evangelical congregations in California. 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