In 2004 Barack Obama sat down with Chicago Sun-Times religion reporter (now columnist) Cathleen Falsani for a one hour interview on Obama's spirituality. She subsequently wrote up the interview for the Sun Times. Now she has published the complete transcript of that interview on her blog. Anyone interested in knowing the extent and depth (or shallowness) of Barack Obama's religious convictions would do well to read the unedited interview. (HT: Mark Hemingway at The Corner) Update: Drawing on that transcript, Cal Thomas wrote a column: Barack Obama is Not a Christian.
A theologian Barack Obama is not. A well-instructed, informed Christian? I can't imagine anyone thinking so. He has chosen to affiliate with what he calls the "Christian tradition" but if you read the interview, you will see how slim and shallow and wanting in substance is his grasp of the Faith. It explains how he could make the outlandish statement he made back in March that the Sermon on the Mount justified his support for legal recognition of same-sex unions. I wonder what Bible passage he employs to justify his role as the King [my designation] of abortion supporters?
Today Stanley Kurtz examined Obama's faith for what it says about his leftist politics. Kurtz highlights a 1995 background piece from the Chicago Reader, "What Makes Obama Run?" Wow. Read Kurtz's piece and you get a glimpse, more than that -- a revelation-- of the real Obama and his energizing vision. Kurtz writes near the end of his piece:
So it would appear that Obama’s own writings solve the mystery of why he stayed at Trinity for 20 years. Obama’s long-held and decidedly audacious hope has been to spread Wright’s radical spirit by linking it to a viable, left-leaning political program, with Obama himself at the center. The revolutionizing power of a politically awakened black church is not some side issue, or merely a personal matter, but has been the signature theme of Obama’s grand political strategy.
Lucky for Obama, this political background is unfamiliar to most Americans. There are others who share Obama’s approach, however. Take a look at this piece by Manhattan Institute scholar Steven Malanga on “The Rise of the Religious Left,” and you will see exactly where Obama is coming from. . .