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The Politics Of Obama?s Religion

Mark Tooley, who directs the United Methodist Church program at the Institute on Religion and Democracy, asks, ?Where Will The Obamas Worship?? His answer seems to be, at the site that, ?after careful political contemplations,? sees the most politically efficacious.

Where will President Barack Obama attend church in Washington? Thanks to revelations about the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, his former pastor at Trinity United Church of Christ (UCC) in Chicago, Mr. Obama?s church shopping requires more careful political contemplation than a new president typically needs. But his ultimate choice likely will be a noncontroversial church, suitable for young children, with a brief commute and tightly scheduled worship that gets the president back home early on Sunday mornings.

Tooley does not make clear why the sort of church that apparently was ?suitable for young children? in Chicago would presumably not be suitable in Washington.

There were some other interesting observations. For example, after a discussions of Rev. Wright and the United Church of Christ, Tooley notes:

Mr. Obama?s early Chicago activism took him to Trinity. At an altar call, he professed faith in Christ. Trinity is a black congregation within the nearly all white 1.2 million United Church of Christ. Although it originated with New England?s Puritans, the UCC has mostly shed its strict Calvinism of past centuries and arguably is America?s most liberal mainline Protestant denomination.

A UCC church in Washington could be a comfortable fit for a former member of Chicago?s Trinity. Trinity?s social liberalism -- on issues of gay rights and abortion rights, for instance -- is more like that of other UCC congregations than of historically black denominations, which typically are theologically conservative. The 2.5 million member African Methodist Episcopal Church, for instance, voted unanimously in 2004 to prohibit same-sex unions. Pastor Wright?s flamboyant preaching style echoes that seen in many black churches. But his radicalized Social Gospel more resembles that of white mainline Protestants.

?All this suggests,? at least to Mr. Tooley, that

Mr. Obama could choose one of the UCC?s seven churches in the nation?s capital, two of which are predominantly black. Or, will he gravitate instead to one of the city?s historically black denominations in a majority black city? Whatever denomination attracts him, will he choose a white or racially diverse church?

This racial classification of churches gets pretty confusing, perhaps even to Mr. Tooley, who asks later on: but what ?[i]f Mr. Obama prefers a black congregation??

Does this mean that a white church with some blacks is not ?racially diverse? but a black church with some whites is? Is ?a black congregation? all black? If it?s not, is it then ?racially diverse??

Perhaps the most troubling item in Mr. Tooley?s discussion was a quote from a 2004 interview in which ?Mr. Obama defined sin as ?being out of alignment with my values.??

I confess: by that definition, I?m a sinner.

Full post as published by Discriminations on January 19, 2009 (boomark / email).