About one in five citizens in the US think President Obama is a Muslim and a bunch more figure he isn't the right kind of Christian, which probably means just like them. In Canada we know next to nothing about the religion of our leaders and some would say this is the proper separation of church and state.
Obama was asked a direct question about his faith in a Q&A in New Mexico a couple of days ago and he gave a frank and thoughtful answer. It seems to me that he took the right tone at Albuquerque (sorry, I couldn't resist.) He reveals himself as what has been called a Golden Rule Christian, one who does to others what he would want done to him.
“I’m a Christian by choice,” the president said. “My family, frankly, they weren’t folks who went to church every week. My mother was one of the most spiritual people I knew but she didn’t raise me in the church, so I 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’ 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’re sinful and we’re flawed and we make mistakes and we achieve salvation through the grace of God.”
Mr. Obama went on: “But 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’s what I strive to do, that’s what I pray to do every day.’’ Yet he said that as president, he also “deeply believes that part of the bedrock strength of this country is that it embraces people of many faiths and of no faith.’’
Does all or part of this work for you? Could you give a ready answer about your faith, or would you be tongue-tied? Has your definition of your faith, Christian or otherwise, altered with time?
I wonder if finding one"s faith later in life makes one clearer in defining it? One could then recall the life before faith and after.
ReplyDeleteFor me, growing up going to church just always made my faith part of who I was, somewhat intrinsic and hard to define.
(Being a career speaker (Obama), and having professional speech writers nearby can't hurt his final product either, but I don't doubt his authenticity.)
I would be tongue tied at times to put my faith into words, because it can't be oversimplified, and so much of it is bigger, deeper, beyond words, and definitely ever changing. But I keep trying.
I'm a Christian.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Jesus died on the cross for me sins.
Further definition is where we get so many different denominations, and it gets confusing.
I like to paint with a broad brush.