A Brief Segue Into Politics . . .

I'm sure that everyone has heard about Barack Obama abandoning his membership at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. This move strikes me as somewhat gutless.



My logic here begins with a couple of premises. First, one's beliefs about God are more important than one's beliefs about anything else, as no other belief has the potential to inform and shape the entirety of one's life moreso than this one. Second, Obama was well aware of his pastor's views on race, America, etc. He attended services there for two decades. The reaction of the congregation to the now-famous clips shows no shock or incredulity on the part of the church-goers that their pastor could make such statements. To the contrary, they are in full-blown adoration. Ditto, by the way, for the reaction to Fr. Pfleger's recent embarassing display. Wright himself has said that Obama knew what his views were. All these things considered, I must think that Obama was well in this loop. He claims not to agree with these views, but that is irrelevant for my point here, as I can't fathom why anyone of faith would attend a single church for two decades without agreeing with the theological views of the pastor.



So we are left with Obama, who has apparently never taken issue with the political views expressed at his church in the past, abandoning the more important spiritual nourishment we can safely assume he felt he was getting there. Why so? Political expediency. Becoming president was more important than what he was getting spiritually, so the latte had to go.

Perhaps Sen. Obama should read some accounts of the ancient martyrs and the lengths that one should go to when the stakes pertain to one's natural vs. supernatural well-being. Again, if the politics hadn't bothered him before and he really was there to enhance his soul, then the detriment to his political ambitions for staying should be irrelevant.