Louisville Process Theology Network

Obama's Religion, I

Feb 02, 2009

We?’ve heard a number of stories about Barak Obama?’s religious education and experiences many times. His maternal grandparents were raised in mainline Protestant churches in Kansas but didn?’t take to formal religion as adults. Grandmother was the practical one, more interested in the real world and the present, while Grandfather was the rebellious dreamer.

Obama?’s mother ?“viewed religion through the eyes of the anthropologist that she would become: it was a phenomenon to be treated with suitable respect, but with suitable detachment as well?… And yet for all her secularism, my mother was in many ways the most spiritually awakened person that I?’ve ever known?” (Page 204 of ?“The Audacity of Hope?”). His father was raised a Muslim but considered himself an atheist.

Obama writes that his personal conversion to Christian religion came during his work as a community organizer in Chicago (Page 206). He was around 23 or 24.

?“But, my experiences in Chicago also forced me to confront a dilemma that my mother never fully resolved in her own life: the fact that I had no community or shared tradition in which to ground my most deeply held beliefs. The Christians with whom I worked recognized themselves in me; they saw that I knew the Book and shared their values and sang their songs. But they sensed that part of me remained removed, detached as an observer among them.

I came to realize that without a vessel for my beliefs, without an unequivocal commitment to my community of faith, I would be consigned to some level to always remain apart, free in the way my mother was free, but also alone in the same way she was ultimately alone.?”

(Page 224) "When I read the Bible, I do so with the belief that it is not a static text but the Living Word and that I must be continually open to new revelations ?– whether they come from a lesbian friend or a doctor opposed to abortion.

This is not to say that I?’m unanchored in my faith. There are some things that I?’m absolutely sure about --- the Golden Rule, the need to battle cruelty in all forms, the value of love and charity, humility and grace."


Re-reading Obama?’s book, it seems to us his personal religion is sort of like Lincoln?’s. Obama?’s religious beliefs are reasoned and deeply felt but do not always conform to the traditional theology. On the other hand, Lincoln never formally joined a congregation. See our page about Lincoln?’s religion.


To be continued in the next post.