As a blogged about earlier, I am reading this book for free in exchange for posting my thoughts and critiques of said book. To help get me started, the publisher emailed me the first two chapters. So, here goes....
The author, Stephen Mansfield, also wrote this book. What I'm impressed with so far with this book is the lack of any hint of bias. In fact, he stated in his introduction he doesn't intend to "press a political agenda" nor "rage against the realities of his life." Mansfield hasn't crafted a vehicle to submarine Obama's political ambitions. Rather, this book was written "in the belief that if a man's faith is sincere, it is the most important thing about him, and thus it is impossible to understand who he is and how he will lead without first understanding the religious vision that informs his life" (pg xxiii). I applaud Mansfield's objectivity.
Obama has stated he indeed has a Christian faith and this faith guides him daily. However, he is also quite liberal in his political agenda. He is unapologetically pro-choice and is a big supporter of gay rights. I'll admit, I'm having a difficult time reconciling the two - oil and water just don't mix.
Which begs the question: Can a Christ follower have liberal political philosophies, and not contradict God's Word?
Thoughts?
The author, Stephen Mansfield, also wrote this book. What I'm impressed with so far with this book is the lack of any hint of bias. In fact, he stated in his introduction he doesn't intend to "press a political agenda" nor "rage against the realities of his life." Mansfield hasn't crafted a vehicle to submarine Obama's political ambitions. Rather, this book was written "in the belief that if a man's faith is sincere, it is the most important thing about him, and thus it is impossible to understand who he is and how he will lead without first understanding the religious vision that informs his life" (pg xxiii). I applaud Mansfield's objectivity.
Obama has stated he indeed has a Christian faith and this faith guides him daily. However, he is also quite liberal in his political agenda. He is unapologetically pro-choice and is a big supporter of gay rights. I'll admit, I'm having a difficult time reconciling the two - oil and water just don't mix.
Which begs the question: Can a Christ follower have liberal political philosophies, and not contradict God's Word?
Thoughts?
Posts
2 comments:
im not sure about being christian and liberal, but you can be communist-socialist and liberal cause its pretty much the same...
but really. i think you can be, because there is no one group that all believe exactly the same thing. that's what makes everyone different. So really it all boils down to supporting people that actually DO things that aren't christian that is wrong
For the record, my title suggests a certain bias on my part. The intent is to attract people to my blog via search engine keyword searches.
Personally, I think one can be a "Liberal" and a Christian too. Jesus was definitely considered a "Liberal" in his day by the religious scholars. He loved the unlovable, he healed the untouchable, and he sacrificed the unthinkable.
What I'm trying to figure out - and I hope this book provides the answers to my questions - is Obama a Christian posturing himself as a "Liberal" or is a "Liberal" posturing himself as a Christian?
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