More on “Faith of Barack Obama”
Author Stephen Mansfield (pictured at right) had much to say about his new book “The Faith of Barack Obama.”
As promised in today’s edition of The Oklahoman, here is more of my Q&A interview with Mansfield:
Q: In a brief synopsis about your book, you said that you think Obama will continue some of Bush’s faith-based initiatives and that he would probably continue some of the policies oriented toward bringing faith in the public square. Can you talk about that?
A: Most Democrat politicians of the last few decades, even if they were people of faith themselves like Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, came into office, they said they had a faith, they talked about their faith publicly, but they also believed in separation of church and state, that they wouldn’t bring their faith to bear in the Oval Office, that they would simply do the will of the people.
Barack Obama is different. Barack Obama absolutely says ‘I am a Christian of a certain kind and I am going to bring my faith to bear in the Oval Office. I’m going to welcome clergy in. I’m going to make a case for some policies from the basis of my faith.’ For example, he says he’s going to continue Bush’s faith-based initiatives. So that’s the difference with Barack Obama. He’s a Democrat and a left-leaning politician who is not saying I’m going to be secular about my approach to public policy. He’s saying I’m going to bring my theological liberalism and my Christianity to bear on what’s going on in the Oval Office and the policies of my administration. He’s going to be as faith-based as George (W.) Bush is, but it’s going to be coming from a different kind of Christian theology, a very liberal form of Christian theology.
Q: Can you think of anything else you would like to add?
A: I think the big thing that people need to be watching is what happens at the inaugural service and the church that Obama chooses. I think the inaugural service is when the president sort of gets to give his theological stamp. There will be some sort of prayer and there will probably be allusions to faith in his speeches. And of course, sometime soon he’s going to have to choose a church in
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
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