| | This past weekend I bought and read a new spiritual biography of Barack Obama called The Faith of Barack Obama. I was pleased with the author's treatment of Obama, since the author comes from a decidedly more conservative evangelical background. He had previously written The Faith of George W Bush and been commended for writing a fair treatment of his beliefs. Stephen Mansfield (the author) of course deals with Obama's more exotic aspects to his background, whether his having lived in Indonesia for several years, or his involvement with Trinity UCC in Chicago. Even in bringing up these more controversial aspects of Obama's past, Mansfield gives a generous, but not fawning, account of those places and events. Obama is a nuanced, complex person trying to communicate a message that likewise reflects a complex time which therefore needs nuanced, complex answers. I new alot already about Obama, but this helped me to see other angles that I hadn't previously considered. That has helped me to avoid the tendency to either idolize him or demonize him. A tendency that seems to run rampant in our day and age. I don't want him, or anyone else for that matter, to be the messiah. I just want a president that will be better than the idiotic criminal we have now. Is that too much to ask for?
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| | Posted 8/5/2008 9:58 PM - 25 Views - 2 eProps - 1 Comment
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