Obama's Religious Views: Exaggerated by the Right?!!
Offline Is it possible that the political religious right has been pulling the wool over our eyes about Obama? I mean, they've made Palin out to be an experienced and capable leader while tarring Obama with accusations of inexperience. This, despite the fact that on paper, Obama has years more experience and several more advanced degrees in Constitutional Law.
Should we not expect the same kind of reversal when it comes to religion? I'm coming to believe that Obama is not particularly "personally" religious. I'm ok with any politician making a show of religion to get elected in America right now. It's suicide not to.
Anyway, for your consideration, I offer Obama's own words regarding religion:
Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin
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1) Why would the religious right exaroate his religious views? I anything wouldn't they tone them down.
2) That video didn't indicate that he didn't hold a belief.
And some more Obama on religion from YouTube, from one of my favorite YouTube vloggers Liberalviewer:
And the Bill Maher question that I've allready posted in Sexo Grammaticus thread: 10 reasons Why Atheists Should still Vote for Obama, Even Though He Has Been Christianing It Up:
Well I was born an original sinner
I was spawned from original sin
And if I had a dollar bill for all the things I've done
There'd be a mountain of money piled up to my chin
He's running for office in the United States. Religious zealots are big in this country.
"I am that I am." - Proof that the writers of the bible were beyond stoned.
I think Obama is very politically ambitious, and he knew that he'd need a track record of religiousness in order to keep all doors open to him. I dont think he's personally very religious at all, regardless of what his book says, or what he claims in public.
"The powerful have always created false images of the weak."
I'm really surprised the religious right hasn't latched onto this sentence,
"In our household the Bible, the Koran, and the Bhagavad Gita sat on the shelf alongside books of Greek and Norse and African mythology."
If I were religious I would take this to mean Obama equates the Bible with mythology and if I were running the McCain campaign I would tear Obama a new one with that.
My feeling is that he is not religious but has to play the game to avoid turning off the religious Dems.
"The Bible looks like it started out as a game of Mad Libs" - Bill Maher
Why is it so hard to think Obama is Christian?
It's just that on these boards we generally talk about dogmatic religious people, and so, when people say that they don't think he's religious it should be understood in the context, that he's not dogmatically religious.
And I think you know this perfectly well, so why the attitude?
Well I was born an original sinner
I was spawned from original sin
And if I had a dollar bill for all the things I've done
There'd be a mountain of money piled up to my chin
"Anyone can repress a woman, but you need 'dictated' scriptures to feel you're really right in repressing her. In the same way, homophobes thrive everywhere. But you must feel you've got scripture on your side to come up with the tedious 'Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve' style arguments instead of just recognising that some people are different." - Douglas Murray
What got me in was the title. I immediatly thought "That's the stupidest thing I read all day."
It can only go downhill from here
Gee, thanks.
I'm sorry you don't feel that it's worthwhile for me to speculate that this emphasis on his Christianity might just be playing into the hands of the Rethuglicans. I've dug well into Obama's voting record, and I can't find any indication that a dogmatic Christian agenda feeds his political stances. If anything, he seems to give more lip service to religion than actual dogmatic belief.
For what it's worth, I think he probably is a Christian in some sense of the word. Whether he believes that I'm going to burn in hell forever, I can't say. I'm not naive enough to think that a non-Christian could be elected president of the U.S. at this time. That's why, if you reread the stupidest thing you've heard all day, you'll see that I said, "exaggerated." Had I intended to say that Obama is not really a Christian, I'd have made the title something like "Obama's Religious Views: Completely made up by the right?!"
If you need some lotion for that sandy vagina, just let us know.
Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin
http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/
Books about atheism
Xlint videos. Thanks. Cool headed Obama is my favorite religiously wise, and intelligent politician to arrive since Pres Kennedy, who was killed when I was just 13. I actually liked Pres Carter. Clinton was way better than Reaganomics. I have never ever much liked a single republican of my lifetime. I do give Ron Paul some extra slack.
Generally speaking, I don't trust the government.
I'm emailing those vids.
Atheism Books.
If memory serves, Obama was raised essentially an atheist, and he became a christian on his own later on his life(college?). While I think he would claim to be a christian, i think it's more a career safeguard than anything else.
"The powerful have always created false images of the weak."
That reminds me, there's a beach somewhere with my fame on it.
But it still doesn't make sense. I mean the right would want a God fearin good ol Christian boy in the Whitehouse, so why would they exaggerate Obama's beliefs?
Ergo my thinking "That's the stupidest thing I've read all day."
Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin
http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/
Books about atheism
And also, when the Rev. Wright thing was at it's peak Hannity and the others were really trying to make a big deal out of Obama being a Christian in the sense of a "Black" Christian, since the general theology and practice of "black" churches is considered very different by the evangelicals.
I mean they were trying to paint Wright as a religious fanatic, and if they then went on to say that Obama isn't one, then why would he agree with Wright?
In order for the Wright thing to stick, Wright and Obama has to be on the same theological page, so to speak, and my impression from interviews and articles of people who have fallen for the Rev. Wright thing, is that they think Obama is some kind of "Black Christianity" radical.
So now every time Obama says he is Christian, these rightwingers will jump on it and say: "Yes he is! He is very Christian! He takes his Religion very seriously! ...and here's his minister (que the "God damn America"-tape of Rev. Wright) "
Well I was born an original sinner
I was spawned from original sin
And if I had a dollar bill for all the things I've done
There'd be a mountain of money piled up to my chin
But you keep saying that not being Christian is political sucide. I'm pretty sure that the religious right knows this and hence would want to downplay his religion.
Another thing is that whenever I hear about Obama's religion, it's from his own mouth, not from the right.