Why Are Some People So Angry About the National Prayer Breakfast Remarks?

The latest outrage storm has hit, and it has to do with President Obama’s remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast.

Before reading my thoughts on the speech, I want to encourage you to go read the President’s remarks in full. That way, even if you still disagree with the President, you will not do so merely based on a soundbite. That seems only fair, doesn’t it?

Ok, are you back from reading?

Here are four things I want to say about the speech:

1. The President praised the way faith–including specifically Christian faith–can work good in the world and condemned religious persecution–including persecution of Christians.

As we speak, around the world, we see faith inspiring people to lift up one another — to feed the hungry and care for the poor, and comfort the afflicted and make peace where there is strife.  We heard the good work that Sister has done in Philadelphia, and the incredible work that Dr. Brantly and his colleagues have done.  We see faith driving us to do right.

Later, he goes on to reference those who are persecuted for their faith and even to mention that there is a new Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, Rabbi David Saperstein, who is now headed to Iraq to help work on issues of religious freedom. He mentioned Pastor Saeed Abedini, who has been imprisoned, beaten, and deprived of medical care because of his Christian faith in Iran. He mentioned the release of Christian missionary Kenneth Bae as well. He went on to talk about Pope Francis’s example and more about Dr. Brantly’s faith shown in action to care for the suffering. So claims that the President cares nothing about religious persecution and only puts down Christians are untrue. He praised Christians and he showed action by appointing a new Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. Now, we justly should be concerned if this will be mere words or if there will actually be some follow-through to the extent that it is possible. It’s fair to try to hold the White House accountable to its professed commitments in this area. But it’s also important, as Christians, not to bear false witness and claim that the President’s remarks only pointed out negative things in Christian history. Even when we disagree with the President, we must frame our disagreement around that which is true, not on the latest ratings-seeking headlines of our favorite cable news channel.

2. The President encouraged humility even as we confront the evils of ISIS.

I cannot get my head around why people are so angry that the President named some things in past Christian history that were evil. When I read the Bible, I see it teaching us that all have sinned. I see it pointing to the way sin is found in the heart. I see it warning us that we can easily fall if we don’t watch over ourselves.

So when the President says, “And lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ.  In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often was justified in the name of Christ,” I hear a helpful corrective. Some Christians hear that and think, “well, he just hates America and is a secret Muslim.” And I want to say, “Come on. Is that really fair?”

Look, I don’t know the President’s heart. I disagree with him on a lot of things. But let’s just stop for one moment and listen just to these words. Just these words. He is telling us true history. He is saying that it’s important to maintain humility even in the midst of justifiably fighting great evil (which fully describes what ISIS is).

I’m not even going to claim the President has always maintained this humility. He probably hasn’t. But his reminder to us is appropriate and true and right.

I would argue that the most just war of all American wars was probably World War II. Evil was rising in the world, and it had to be stamped out by force. But even in that time, we placed innocent Japanese-Americans in internment camps. Even when we were working hard to fight evil, we still had some evil in our own hearts that led to grave abuse. It could happen again. We need to watch over ourselves and never think we are beyond the evil misuse of power. It is when we think we are beyond this that the real danger comes.

And so when the President says, “There is a tendency in us, a sinful tendency that can pervert and distort our faith,” I hear a statement that resonates with the reality of original sin.

Be humble. That doesn’t mean we hold back from war when it is necessary. But it means we hold to a very important attitude when we have to do so.

3. The President did make one statement that should concern us as Christians, but it wasn’t one I have heard any Christians report on or speak against yet.

In his speech, the President made one statement that did give me pause. I agree with some of it, but find some of it problematic for Christian theology:

 I believe that the starting point of faith is some doubt — not being so full of yourself and so confident that you are right and that God speaks only to us, and doesn’t speak to others, that God only cares about us and doesn’t care about others, that somehow we alone are in possession of the truth.

I actually do think doubt can be a healthy part of faith for Christians. There are lots of things in the Bible that Christians disagree about. I have my conclusions about these things, but I recognize other Christians may see it very differently, and I might be wrong. I also believe God cares about everybody in the world and not just me and my religious group. So I’m with the President that far.

But I also do hear a tendency in that statement to equate Christianity with just one other way of seeking truth, a tendency to treat each faith like that old story of the blind men who all felt different parts of an elephant and reported back on just that part. The storyteller says they were all describing the same elephant, but just different portions of the elephant. This story is often used to convey the idea that any religion is equally as good as another. It’s all the same thing anyway! It only seems different because we’re only experiencing a fragment of the truth.

I disagree with this assessment. For Christians, we believe Christ is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6).

We do believe that other religions are in fact wrong about what they say about Jesus in particular. That doesn’t mean we dislike the people in these other religions, but we believe truth is by nature exclusive. Religions make contradictory claims. Jewish faith says Jesus is not the Messiah. Muslims claim he was just a prophet. Christians say He was the Son of God and the Savior. They can’t all be right.

I don’t think the President should try to proselytize for his particular faith, but the tendency to minimize the distinctions between religions should give us pause. Better to stay silent on this matter than to suggest they are all equally true.

I do get it. I always work to find common ground with people too. But sometimes there isn’t common ground. This doesn’t mean we should reject people with whom we disagree. And there is some common ground to be found with people in other religions. There are some truths to be found in virtually any world religion. But that common ground does not include the central matters of Christ and salvation.

I could be wrong about the intent of his words, but I do hear the President dipping his toe into problematic theological waters here.

So where are the blog posts and Fox News appearances on this matter? Perhaps I missed some Christian leader’s concern about this part of the President’s remarks, but at the very least, there is not the level of “concern” in regards to this as there is in regards to the idea that Christians or Americans may actually have done some bad things in the name of God in their past. American Christians are way too fond of being handled with kid gloves, and when someone won’t treat us that way, that’s what really offends us. This makes me ask, “Are we really concerned about being godly Americans? Or are we just concerned about image and power and privilege?”

4. Speaking the truth about our own issues as Christians and Americans is important.

It’s very easy to point the finger at other people who have issues. But Americans in general–and often Christians in particular–are positively allergic to publicly admitting fault. This makes no sense. Particularly for Christians. Our entire faith is built around the fact that we need salvation. This means we are imperfect people. Why do we think, then, that our country simply cannot make mistakes and why do we just want to sweep past mistakes of Christians in world history under the rug? Because it’s painful to face our faults, that’s why!

Sometimes I have also heard it suggested that we should not air our dirty linen to the world, that any public critique of our community is a betrayal of that community. I understand this to a point. Many feel that Americans are under assault in the wider world (and feel that the world is rapidly becoming post-Christian), and they are concerned about giving even an inch of advantage or propaganda opportunity. They don’t want to undermine communities that are most valuable to them, whether their country or their Christian community.

But, folks, we live in the information age. This stuff is out there. That’s what I really want people to understand. The information is there. It is already being misused by bad people. Those bad people are going to be bad no matter what we do. They are going to use our words for propaganda reasons no matter what we do. But there is a group of moderate folks in the middle who are fair-minded. These are the ones we can truly influence. And do you know what will influence them? Truth. Not lying or sweeping our faults under the rug. Truth. Confessing where we have sinned. Asking for forgiveness. Even making it right where necessary and appropriate. If we play into the worst caricature–whether of Christians or of Americans–those are the people who will be pushed further away. And understandably so.

I have a rule for commenters here on this one. Before commenting, you must go and read the entire speech. It will take you five minutes. If all you’re operating on is a media report, I don’t want you to participate in this conversation. We need to avoid bearing false witness. So read the whole speech, and then let me know what you think. If you disagree with the speech, that’s totally fine, and your opinion is still welcome! Maybe you’ll see something I didn’t recognize. I just want to avoid soundbite discussion. Thanks.

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