Obama and God

I've known a few Christians here and there who have been able to convey something to me about Christianity. These people have allowed me to see something in the theory that I found alluring and profoundly admirable. One of the many surprising things about Obama in my book is that he's managed to be one of those people though I've never, of course, met him in person, nor have I read anything extended or serious he's written about religion.

Acquaintance with certain Christians drove me away from the theory early in my life, because when they'd talk, roughly, about pulling back the curtain on the universe, what I'd glimpse back there was fire and brimstone and fear and anger and resentment and ignorance. The other set of Christians, who I didn't start meeting until after grad school, would pull back the curtain a bit to reveal a picture that was something more like an artful and moving expression of the kind of hopes that, independently of anything about Christianity, I am inclined to think should unify us all.

So, my Christian peeps, that's a powerful representative you've got there, that Barack Obama.