A few disclaimers before I begin the news about James Dobson, the director of Focus on the Family, and Barack Obama. First, my candidate didn’t make it past the primaries. As for which of the two viable candidates I am leaning towards, I think it makes little difference to this discussion.
CNN has an article regarding some things James Dobson has said about Obama. Personally, it sounds to me like Dobson is raving. His arguments and jabs are half-baked at best. That works for Ice Cream, but not so much for logical discussion. I try to keep politics off of my blog. But I really can’t stand aside at this point.
First, James Dobson criticizes Obama for saying that we can’t use the Bible as the sole document regarding how we govern. As evidence for this Obama puts forth Leviticus and Deuteronomy. To be sure these are some tired arguments. Obviously, a proper understanding of those two books makes them far less offensive than they might appear at first glance. But that is neither here nor there. Obama is right we can’t govern based solely on the Bible. Our world is not the Ancient Near East. It’s not even the modern middle east. Obama is also right when he says, “So before we get carried away, let’s read our Bible now. Folks haven’t been reading their Bible.”
James Dobson's response to this? According to CNN, “Dobson said Obama should not be referencing antiquated dietary codes and passages from the Old Testament that are no longer relevant to the teachings of the New Testament.” Now, this isn’t a direct quote. So one must be careful. But I really, really hope that Dobson didn’t say anything remotely close to “[certain Old Testament books] are no longer relevant to the teachings of the New Testament.” If that’s the case then I don’t think it is Obama who has no clue about how to read and interpret the Bible. CNN also reports that Dobson said the following (direct quote): “‘I think he’s deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own world view, his own confused theology,’ Dobson said, later adding that Obama is “dragging biblical understanding through the gutter.’” Again, I don’t think Dobson has any clue here, nor does he have any business being the arbiter of what is or isn’t “biblical understanding” or “confused theology.”
CNN reports that Obama also asked a, in my view, legitimate question concerning what brand of Christianity one might govern by. In this case the Senator from Illinois actually mentions Dobson, “Even if we did have only Christians in our midst, if we expelled every non-Christian from the United States of America, whose Christianity would we teach in the schools? Would we go with James Dobson’s, or Al Sharpton’s?” I think that is exactly the issue. Now, of course, Focus on the Family came back with some argument that Obama was calling Dobson a racist. I don’t think that’s what Obama was doing at all. I think he was legitimately pointing out that we have Dobson on one extreme and Sharpton on another, and they will probably never agree on which brand of Christianity should be taught in schools, or which brand should be used to determine policy. He wasn’t comparing the two of them, he was contrasting the two of them. It’s a common practice, in rhetoric.
The solution? Christianity should stay out of politics and instead focus on helping the poor, blind and lame. After all, what could be more pleasing to God than taking care of widows and orphans? I hardly agree with everything Obama has ever said about faith, but I certainly find myself agreeing more with him than the self-appointed arbiter of Evangelicalism.
Source: This story is reported by Random Bloggins http://randombloggings.wordpress.com/
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Comments
#1 Obama.
We've all heard the phrase, "God works in mysterious ways". I find it interesting, given America's history on race relations the situation we are in today. I'm a man of faith, so I believe that God has given the American people a choice. You can save yourself, but in order to do so you have to vote for a black man named Barack who has true and direct African decent OR hold onto your racism, vote McCain and perish under 4 more years of Republican rule. We have seen first hand the damage that 8 years of Republican rule can do. Logic should tell us that 4 more years of these policies will only make matters worse if youre capable of imagining being worse off than we are today.
So..we have to decide. Vote for a black guy or destroy ourselves under McBush. Wow.
#2 Obama Courting the Evangelicals
From a political standpoint, what Obama is doing is very clever. However, I think it goes deeper than just seeking votes and support and has a lot more to do with his leadership style. He is letting the new generation of Christian leaders (the ones only now breaking away from the Dobsons) know that even if they don't agree with him 100% on all issues, he still shares many of their concerns and wants to work with them.
This is something to think about when we wonder what sort of a leader he will be. He strikes me as the type who would tell evangelicals, "Look, a woman's right to choose is not negotiable. Instead, I would like to hear your ideas about how we can get this nation back onto a moral compass, so that abortions are a less common choice. How can we transform our values so that cut the number of abortions while respecting a woman's right to choose?"
If Obama is the sort of leader I hope he is, this is one of the many dialogues that will open up.
#3 Dobson gave an unworthy cheap political shot!
It's shameful that Dobson will use the Bible to score political points. He is dissappointed that Obama is making progress amongs evangelicals without passing through him. He is for protecting the rights on unborn babies to supporting the killing of innocent Iraqis through the Bush war in iraq.
#4 Obama is not a christian
Obama is a radical and his interpretation of the Bible is from a liberal point of view. I do not believe that Obama know Jesus as his savior and he does not believe that Jesus is the only way to get to heaven. He wants to discredit the Bible so that the Christian Church in America cannot question his so call belief in Christ.