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{"id":10257,"date":"2012-10-22T22:12:36","date_gmt":"2012-10-23T02:12:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?p=10257"},"modified":"2012-10-22T22:12:36","modified_gmt":"2012-10-23T02:12:36","slug":"president-obama-is-a-christian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/10\/president-obama-is-a-christian.html","title":{"rendered":"President Obama is a Christian"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

It is incredibly frustrating to see American after American say that Barack Obama<\/a> is not a Christian. This sign<\/a> from a church in Texas has been getting a lot of attention<\/a> today:<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a>\u00a00<\/p>\n

The only way I can make sense of such statements is to conclude that many Americans<\/a> are deeply<\/a> confused<\/a> about what a Christian is. They have listened to the voices of politicians<\/a> and self-proclaimed pundits<\/a> who have raised a Christian flag and hoodwinked many Christians into losing sight of what the Bible actually says and<\/a> replacing it<\/a> with another set of values<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This image seems to me to make this point that I often try to make, more clearly and powerfully than I manage to make it:<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

The crucial point is this:\u00a0Just because you consider yourself a Christian does not mean that, if someone disagrees<\/a> with you<\/a>, then either (1) that the other person is not a Christian, or (2) the other person\u2019s view is less Christian than yours, or (3) the other person\u2019s view is wrong<\/em>. It could be<\/a> that you\u00a0<\/em>are wrong. And unless you engage the person openly, you might miss an opportunity to gain much-needed correction<\/a>.<\/p>\n

CNN has a nice treatment<\/a> of how some who\u2019ve expanded the Gospel to include certain political and economic policies conclude that Barack Obama is the \u201cwrong kind of Christian.\u201d To which The Lead has added its observation<\/a> that if Barack Obama is the wrong kind of Christian, then so are most of us.<\/p>\n

Let me also\u00a0 link to an article at Religion Dispatches<\/em><\/a> which offers the provocative suggestion that Barack Obama is a pro-life hero.<\/p>\n

Let me conclude by emphasizing that my saying that Barack Obama is a Christian doesn\u2019t mean that every view he holds or every policy stance he adopts is Christian. Conservative Christians regularly forgive their own for scandal after scandal without ever concluding that the fallen individual in question is necessarily not a Christian. Remember that the same applies to other Christians \u2013 the question of whether he is right, and the question of whether this or that policy reflects Christian values, is not the same as the question of whether he is a person with a deep personal commitment to his own Christian faith. But that so many American Christians fail to see that some<\/em> of his stances on some<\/em> issues have deeper roots in the Bible and Christianity than\u00a0some<\/em> stances on\u00a0some\u00a0<\/em>issues Republican Christians adopt is not evidence that Barack Obama is not a Christian, but evidence of the rampant Biblical illiteracy in the United States, even among Christian who pay lip service to the Bible\u2019s importance and authority.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

$\"\"$ Content Director\u2019s Note<\/em><\/strong>: This post is a part of our Election Month at Patheos<\/a> feature. Patheos was designed to present the world\u2019s most compelling conversations on life\u2019s most important questions. Please join the Facebook following<\/a> for our new News and Politics Channel<\/a> \u2014 and check back throughout the month for more commentary on Election 2012. Please use hashtag #PatheosElection on Twitter.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"