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obama: talks about his faith

By March 11, 2008Blog

A friend sent me this transcript of Barack’s comments regarding a question that he was asked regarding his faith and how it relates to gay marriage and abortion. (Which you know, are the only two issues that evangelicals care about.)

Anyway, here’s what he had to say:

In terms of my faith, you know, there’s been so much confusion that has been deliberately perpetrated through e-mails and so forth, so just here are the simple facts.

I am a Christian. I am a devout Christian. I have been a member of the same church for 20 years. Pray to Jesus every night and try to go to church as much as I can when they’re not working me. Used to go quite often. These days, you know, we haven’t been to the home church, I haven’t been home on Sunday for several months now.

So my faith is important to me.

It’s not something that I try to push on other people. But it’s something that helps to guide my life and my values.

My pastor is actually retiring this Sunday, Jeremiah Wright is retiring, and Otis Moss III, the son of Otis Moss of Cleveland, is the new pastor, and he’s a wonderful pastor. I don’t think my church is particularly controversial. It’s a member of the United Church of Christ. It’s got a choir. We read scriptures. You would feel at home if you were there. Jeremiah Wright has said some controversial things, calling for divestment of South Africa and things like that and he thinks it’s important for to us focus on what’s happening in Africa, and I agree with him on that.

I think what you may be referring to probably has to do with two issues, which is abortion and gay marriage.

Which has become, I think, how people measure faith in the evangelical community, and, you know, I think that there are genuine differences of opinion in this area.

I will tell you that I don’t believe in gay marriage.

But I do think that people who are gay and lesbian should be treated with dignity and respect and that the state should not discriminate against them. I believe in civil unions that allow a same-sex couple to visit each other in the hospital or transfer property to each other. I don’t think that it should be called marriage, but I think that it is a legal right that they should have that is recognized by the state.

If people find that controversial, then I would refer them to the Sermon on the Mount, which I think, you know, is in my mind, for my faith, more central than an obscure passage in Romans.

That’s my view. But we can have a respectful disagreement on that.

And on the issue of abortion, that’s always a tragic and painful issue, and I think that if the past, we’ve made some mistakes, I think, people who are pro-choice, in not focusing on the fact that there’s a real moral element to that. I think that’s how it’s experienced by women. It’s never an easy decision. And I don’t think women make those decisions casually.

I think it’s always tragic and we should prevent it as much as possible, by making sure that young people are engaging in responsible behavior and we are encouraging the kind of good decisions that prevent unwanted pregnancy, that we are encouraging adoption as an alternative.

But in the end, I think women in consultation with their pastors and their doctors and their families are in a better position to make these decisions than some bureaucrat in Washington.

That’s my view.

Again, I respect people who may disagree, but I certainly don’t think it makes me less Christian.

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Matthew Paul Turner

Author Matthew Paul Turner

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Join the discussion 9 Comments

  • Matt says:

    Very nice.

    Makes me like him even more.

    -M

  • Jordan says:

    “I think women in consultation with their pastors and their doctors and their families are in a better position to make these decisions than some bureaucrat in Washington.”

    Bureaucrats are going to make a decision in any case. It comes down to bureacrats deciding when one’s right to life starts.

    What if because of a woman’s own special situation or story she needs to get rid of her 1 or 2 year old baby? Some bureacrat in Washington, not even considering her story, decides that the baby has a right to life and the woman is charged with murder.
    So the decisions of bureacrats apply to every case.

  • Matt says:

    I’m supporting Obama, but it still amazes me to see anyone, especially an African-American make the case for a “Separate-but-Equal” policy on the gay marriage vs. civil union debate. I honestly think the state should give out “civil union” certificates and all the rights and privileges that includes to everyone instead of “marriage” certificates and leave the term “marriage” to the church’s sacrament.

  • Chris Hyde says:

    Thanks for posting this. I am a supporter of Obama and am asked by a lot of Christians how I can support him given “his views”. I think this is a great explanation. I am linking to this post from my blog so others can read it!

  • Anonymous says:

    I’m not sure what to think since you have not identified your source. A “friend” sent you the transcript? Hmm…

  • yeah, I totally made all of that up… this speech is all over the web… so I’m pretty sure you’ll be able to find it…

  • JVo says:

    anonymous comments suck, man. thanks for posting this and thanks for responding the way you did to the anonymous comment. i have a growing intolerance for unclaimed comments.

  • Obscure passage in romans? Humm. How about that obscure passage titled the ten commandments? Or maybe more directly, Thou shall not kill. Christians, do not sell yourselves and God out. Abortion is murder, no doubt. We need somebody, anybody to stop this. Homosexuality is not damaging to only those who practice it. Being a Christian is not “going to church and praying ever night.” You shall know them by there fruit.