In the Life Magazine book of commemorative photographs titled The American Journal of Barack Obama, a set of essays in the back recount Obama’s life and triumphs. Time Senior Writer Nancy Gibbs, who recently compared Obama in Time to a prince born in a manger, championed Obama’s breaking the chains of religious conservatism in American life. His ascent marked "a growing consensus that something had gone wrong, that the phenomenon of politicians nailing campaign posters on the gates of heaven and laying exclusive claims to God’s designs was unwise, unfair, even unholy."
She even transformed Obama into a secular savior, leading "the kind of mass revivals that used to sweep across the prairie and set souls on fire... Obama was busy building a new church, looking for the seekers, those who had lost their faith in politics or never had any in the first place, and he invited them home."
In her article, titled "A Pilgrim's Progress," Gibbs briefly mentioned Reverend Wright’s "incendiary preaching" and Father Pfleger’s "political vamping" as a controversy that had to be overcome, much like the "Internet weeds" about his lack of patriotism or secret Muslim allegiance. But Wright just led a "raucous, restless family of faith," and like a Democratic strategist, Gibbs saw how Obama’s promise could close a "God gap" in the electorate:
The Reverend Jeremiah Wright would baptize Obama, perform his marriage to Michelle LaVaughn Robinson, baptize their daughters and draw him into the raucous, restless family of faith that Obama had never known before.
That all constituted a personal journey; but in the years that followed there was a public quest as well. Obama could see as clearly as anyone the role faith played on the American political stage, where all roles and gestures were exaggerated and extreme. The Repubicans were cast as the Party of God, Democrats as a bunch of sneering secular coastal elites. Republicans exploited faith voters. Democrats ignored them. Pollsters professed that the best predictor of voting behavior was not what you earned or where you lived but how often you went to church.
In all this, Obama saw an opportunity, and an obligation. The opportunity lay in a generational change, as old evangelical icons passed away and a new band of leaders wanted to talk about the poor and the planet as much as about gays and abortion. It lay in a growing consensus that something had gone wrong, that the phenomenon of politicians nailing campaign posters on the gates of heaven and laying exclusive claims to God’s designs was unwise, unfair, even unholy. It lay in the conviction that religious voters are a diverse and divided cohort, and many of them were more concerned with the instructions Jesus gave than the ones James Dobson broadcast.
Gibbs insisted Obama’s 2004 convention speech worshiping an awesome God in the blue states and having gay friends in the red states meant "It was time to push aside childish notions, reject false choices." Naturally for Gibbs, "The speech got an ecstatic reaction, propelling him overnight into the political pantheon." Then came the talk of Obama’s new secular church of faith in politics:
As soon as he launched his campaign for the White House, he recruited a full-time faith outreach team and lost no opportunity to discuss the central role faith played in his life and vision. Watching Obama soar out of Iowa, you had the feeling something epic had occurred, like the kind of mass revivals that used to sweep across the prairie and set souls on fire. Let others usher the party elders into mainline pews and preach about all their experience in a world that is being forfeited; Obama was busy building a new church, looking for the seekers, those who had lost their faith in politics or never had any in the first place, and he invited them home.
Gibbs concluded that Obama is leading America out of the wilderness of religious "certainty" and into a more inclusive and respectful sphere:
At a time when America grows ever more diverse, when ore than two-thirds believe that "many religions can lead to eternal life," Obama rejected "certainty theology" in favor of something more inquiring, more inclusive. Exotic though his biography may be, he is a pilgrim in a land founded by pilgrims and is resolved to restore some missing piece to the public square. If he manages to find a way for people of many faiths, or none at all, to address the moral dimensions of public life in a way that feels respectful and restrained, he will indeed have written a new chapter in a long American story.
The Life Magazine book described Gibbs as a Senior Writer for Time and "co-author of the acclaimed book The Preacher and The Presidents: Billy Graham In the White House."
—Tim Graham is Director of Media Analysis at the Media Research Center.
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you need the quote around
January 20, 2009 - 09:10 ET by notonmywatchyou need the quote around overcoming too. did he overcome [..] claims of the "right"? nope.
Too much foreplay
January 21, 2009 - 11:00 ET by bpjamCan she just could right out and ask him to have sex with her already? All this blathering is a waste of paper and not worth the trees which were killed to make it.
It's embarrassing for a woman of her age to be begging some younger guy to do her. And that she doesn't even have the decency to grovel privately just shows that she has no self-respect left and doesn't care who knows that she is desparately in need of getting laid.
It's either that or she has determined that her only path to Salvation is through The One and she is hoping to get 'saved'. Preferrably in person.
A god the left can worship
January 20, 2009 - 09:13 ET by The Smokin FrogOh you are so right, he is a secular savior. This is exactly what he has been doing, building a new church, one that redefines Christianity. But Christianity was not man made. Obama apparently doesn't believe that. He has a messiah complex. For a country that denigrates a person that believes in God, Obama has presented to them a god they can worship...himself.
Idolatry: Obama Worship
If these people were
January 20, 2009 - 09:24 ET by mattmIf these people were consistent I could possibly concede their point, but they're hypocrites.
They constantly invoke the idea that Jesus was a poor person in need of government help. (It was the government that killed him, y'know). They promote the idea that God's commandment to love your neighbor means pay more taxes and let government welfare programs solve everyone's problems for them, etc. etc. ad nauseum.
They mock and ridicule anyone of religious belief and conservative political views (like Sarah Palin) yet they try to claim God is on the side of big-government liberalism - with no scriptural backup for their erroneous views...
...and they're worshipping Mr. Hussein Obama Sotero as a god...what sickos!
And another thing... With
January 20, 2009 - 10:38 ET by mattmAnd another thing...
With Dobson coming out FOR Obama, and other Christian pundits (In various Christian publications) at least giving some level of credence to the Liberal "government as benefactor" ideology; you can hardly say Obama suffered an "unholy attack for the 'religious right'"
It's just another typical liberal lie...
While these journalists
January 20, 2009 - 09:25 ET by taterWhile these journalists are trying to prop up Obama to god-like status...I think most sane people realize what he is. A corrupt politician who's fruits so far have a 100% pro-abortion voting record.
By his fruits we will see what kind of leader he is.
www.theholyrosary.org
"There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we can not resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary." -Sister Lucia
That's a good resume builder, Nancy.
January 20, 2009 - 09:34 ET by Mike BrattonIt should counteract having actually written about Billy Graham in the past, and sets you up nicely when Obama gets comfortable enough to start appointing clergy for his personality cult.
And after he gets that annoying 22nd Amendment repealed, you'll be set for life.
--Mike
www.thebrattonreport...
Just wondering ...
January 20, 2009 - 09:34 ET by SentryDanJust wondering, what is it that the liberals don't understand about the First Commandment about "having no other gods before me(GOD) and about not making an idol (a god) for yourself."
Oh, that's right the liberals are secular and don't believe in God unless it suits their purposes. Then they are quick to dispose of God when He is no longer needed by them.
I believe God wasn't really please with this kind of treatment and brought down His rath on those who practiced this.
So, here's the question of the day. Aren't the liberals performing idol worship with regards to Obama?
Remember folks, Freedom isn't Free. It was bought with the blood and sacrifice of the men and women who are serving and who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces.
For those who fought for it, Freedom has a flavor that the protected will never know.
Another fine example of
January 20, 2009 - 09:42 ET by Nortonalecpeople putting all of their faith in a politician. With this man's resume one would hardly let him balance your checkbook or offer financial advice, much less lead the free world. This whole movement is not about what these people think, but what they feel, and how BO makes them feel.
"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever."~David St. Hubbins
They are their own gods.
January 20, 2009 - 09:43 ET by mattmThey are their own gods. Obama is just a little more of a god than they are.... This is why they are so ecstatic...and why they are so depressed and fearful when and anti-god like Bush seizes power (gets elected)....
The New Religion
January 20, 2009 - 09:40 ET by Doc_NavyNever was it more apparent to me that the worshipping of Obama has hit new heights than this morning on my drive into work.
I live in Pensacola, Fl. On my Drive in today and was listening to the; radio the radio announcer was talking about his experience with the local Fire Dept and how he got all dressed up and did some of the training that the Firemen do in the simulated building fire complex. Well, he's talking about how hot it was, and how NOW he's got all this respect for Firemen and all... then he said, and I kid you not, "It was so hot in there you'll feel... I swear, so help me OBAMA, I swear you will feel the heat coming out of your radio."
I just about puked in my lap. Needless to say I turned the radio off.
Doc
2008: The year that the great LIE died.
How we know that they know that they are Lying.
Friedrich Nietzsche summed up how I feel about the MSM in this quote:
"I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you."
After the nausea goes away, Doc...
January 20, 2009 - 09:49 ET by Mike Bratton...(and I know that might take awhile), you need to call that station and let them know how you feel.
Don't just get shunted to voice mail. Look up the station's website, know the name of their General Manager in advance (don't settle for their Program Director or Operations Manager if you can help it) and make sure that's the person to whom you speak.
If we tolerate this junk, it will never be addressed.
--Mike
www.thebrattonreport...
Counterpoint to Obama Worship
January 20, 2009 - 12:49 ET by Doc_NavyI find it interesting how the MSM and the liberal left can put up all the BS that want about how great Obama is, how wonderful his presidency is/will be, how "messiah like" his leadership is, Blah, Blah... only to have a child blast their rhetoric like a nuclear bomb without even trying.
It's about a year old, but VERY pertinent, Watch THIS:
MEET LOGAN
Doc
2008: The year that the great LIE died.
How we know that they know that they are Lying.
Friedrich Nietzsche summed up how I feel about the MSM in this quote:
"I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you."
Another left wing nutjob...
January 20, 2009 - 09:44 ET by rightwingchefUnholy Right? You Libs just don't get it do you. Its because of the Godless people on the far left that is making this country go down the toilet. Gibbs needs to keep her mouth shut on things that she does not understand.
Risible = causes laughter
January 20, 2009 - 09:54 ET by KC MulvilleCan you believe this nonsense?
This is agnosticism's version of Moses: obsessed with the romance of wandering in a desert, but rejecting "certainty theology," which is their arrogant description of any religious authority that makes definitive moral demands. God is frantically waving, but the "seekers" completely miss it, because they're too busy congratulating themselves for seeking.
Besides, the morality of civic life is philosophy, not theology. Philosophy assumes no common devotion except a commitment to reason. We oppose abortion on philosophical grounds, but the media and the Left portray it as parochial theology. Like the shallow sexual culture, they want the romance of philosophy without the commitment.
Straight and Narrow Gate
January 20, 2009 - 09:58 ET by wagreenShe kept mentioning how Obama was inclusive and would do away with the "certainty" of old Christian ideas. This is just another attempt by the liberals to re-write the bible to fit their needs. Be careful and be brave. The battle has just begun.
Matthew 7:13-14
13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way,
that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Obama and his followers are taking the wide gate. I, my friend, am going to walk the straight and narrow.
The question is...IS Obama the 1st Beast or the 2nd?
January 20, 2009 - 10:34 ET by c5thenBook of revelation seems to be highly appropriate reading right now.
Is today an inauguration or a coronation? Nancy Gibbs seems to think it's a beatification.
Hey, I got the wrong "CHANGE"!
Alan Keyes / Sarah Palin - 2012
gibbs
January 20, 2009 - 11:14 ET by east tennessee johnThroughout the campaign, not once was Sgt. Schuiltz asked about the impact on black liberation theolgy on his belief system or its development. 20 years in the pews and countless years before and the racial anger, Marxist social and economic beliefs of BLT never crossed Sgt. Schultz's consciousness. He's stated he believes in "collective salvation". that is definitely not a part of Christianity, where salvation is an individual concern. Of course, as we move more and more to the collective and away from the individual, I suppose, me not Ms. Gibbs will be the blasphemer. So much for the Commandments.
If the shoe fits...
January 20, 2009 - 13:04 ET by CobraMan"The Repubicans were cast as the Party of God, Democrats as a bunch of sneering secular coastal elites."
WHO is it again that is protesting Obama's invitation to Rick Warren? You know, the Pastor who holds "conservative theological and political views" according to Wikipedia.
Oh, that's right, those protestors are a bunch of sneering secular coastal elites. Humm, if the shoe fits...
Obama: My job is above my pay grade
Nowhere to go but down?
January 20, 2009 - 13:21 ET by BookinWeaselGeez Louise,
Where can Obama go but down? I mean he has been so exulted, redefining religion, calming the masses, parting the seas, refreezing the icecaps, smokin' a menthol....It's like taking your girlfriend to a 5 star restaurant on the first date, then in her mind, everything after that has to be a 5 star joint or it's a disappointment. As the wise sage once said, " I pity the fool....." - Lawrence Tero ~1982
Gibbs and the advocacy media are ignorant of the ways of God
January 20, 2009 - 13:35 ET by CKA in Red State USAWhat should we expect of these secualrists, these secular humanists, moral relativists, moral agnostics, even atheists? If they don't kow the real Messiah, how, then, can they identify a false one?
We who are Christians, regardless of our color, who see what has and is happening with ascendance of pretend-Christian Barack Hussein Obama, will not bend in we see or say.
And therein is the rub with the secular advocacy/adversary media and the Democrats, liberals and leftists.
So be it. It aint' gonna change. Could get a lot more intense. And that will be interesting, given we are now fully in the anti-Christian era in America.
Obama's apostasy, which he learned well through Jeremiah Wright and TUCC, will continue. And, yes, he will lead millions of Americans down that wrong path.
But, then, Obama's always had his own gospel. It's just now that enough of those ignorant of the ways and word of God -- and no, I do not mean Allah, but of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, of which Jesus the Messiah is -- will fall prey to the false prophet.
He, Gibbs, the advocacy median and those duped by their messages need prayer for a revelation of the real God.
But that God has allowed, through the votes of 63 million Americans and the abstentions of those did not vote -- as well as some calling themselves Chrisitan -- the abortionist-in-chief and this moral agnostic to now be the POTUS should raise lots of eyebrows.
Regardless, IMO, the Lord God is now shaking the tree of American Christianity to find who is with Him and who isn't.
It won't matter, either, to which, if any political party, you belong.
NO, Nancy
January 20, 2009 - 16:38 ET by NorthCoasterObama was promoted and supported by the ignorance of the Left. The MSM of the Left only wanted to talk "Happy Talk" about Obama and his agenda. This in direct contrast to the Bush Derangement rage, espoused by the MSM for the last 8 years, with the exception of about 2 weeks after 9/11.
words of wisdom
January 20, 2009 - 20:00 ET by lotr"many of them were more concerned with the instructions Jesus gave than the ones James Dobson broadcast."
You mean like....
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. -- John 14:6 ?
And one by one dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall. -- Edgar Allan Poe