Change, faith, obama and me.
It’s maybe symptomatic of modern politics that for all the high level discussions of the G20, Nato and other international bodies, which have been in our news over these last weeks - one man seems to have stood out. That man, of course is Barack Hussein Obama.
Lets take a moment to pray for a man upon whom so much responsibility for our world lies.
1. To pray for his decision making, particularly around Economics, Climate Change and Peacemaking.
2. To pray for the United States, for it's people and Government.
3. To pray for the impact his agenda of change has around the world.
CSM asked David Freeman, 18 year old Politics student from Reading, to share his perspectives on Obama’s faith and his politics. What would Obama's legacy be to the up and coming young politicians of the future ?
......
“I had written him off. I didn’t think Obama stood a chance as Democrat nominee, let alone President. Yet now here he is, one of the most high profile figures on the planet, and a man of faith.
As one of the most liberal Senators, and certainly the most Liberal in the primaries it is strange that Barack Obama is so openly associated with Christianity. He is a Christian himself, but acknowledges that Democrats can be portrayed as anti-religion, certainly anti-religious conservatism. In his mesmerising speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention calling for a united America he shouted “We worship an awesome God in the blue states!” to a standing ovation from the packed arena.
Obama made inroads into the ‘frequent churchgoer’ voting block, if only narrowing the gap to 12 percentage points (55%-43%) as opposed to 29 in 2004. Yet the fact of the matter was, that as a Pro-choice candidate, Obama was always going to struggle with the Christian vote, and McCain was always going to have the upper hand.
To get elected he needed to appeal to more than that, especially as a liberal Democrat, so as a result he seemingly downplayed elements of his faith. How as a Christian - let alone a politician - do you address this problem?
Obama himself put it aptly “Part of the reason I think it’s always difficult for public figures to talk about this [religion] is that the nature of politics is that you want to have everybody like you and project the best possible traits onto you...Oftentimes, that’s by being as vague as possible, or appealing to the lowest common denominators. The more specific and detailed you are on issues as personal and fundamental as your faith, the more potentially dangerous it is.”
In championing a different sort of campaign, I believe Obama made an important break politically from the traditional union between Christianity and the conservative end of the political spectrum. The hope encapsulated in the Obama campaign was amazing, he has become a figurehead for political renewal, and he is a Christian!
God has provided a prolific leader for these hard times, who is capable of so much. Desmond Tutu, in an article for the BBC last month said “Obama’s election has been an epoch-making event that filled the whole world with hope that change is possible”.
Tutu very astutely analysed how this US election will affect God’s plans for change and justice across the world and you can’t help but agree that Obama provides an interesting twist when it comes to the West’s relationship with third world countries. Of African descent, Obama provides a great expectancy of change in that continent, he has unrivalled freedom to, as Tutu argues, “come down hard on African dictators, especially because they cannot credibly charge him with being neo-colonialist” and he also takes over from one of the more generous US Presidents in terms of Development (despite what many say about Bush his presidency tripled aid to the continent) and Obama will be expected to expand upon this.
But Obama’s presidency also signals a global change.
It seems to be the most common headline or ‘buzzword’ coming from the campaign and moving into the inauguration - Change. He embodies huge words like hope, change, progress, but I wonder if he will ever live up to them, or if he already has?
In my opinion just his election has signalled massive change across the world. He’s not quite a socialist, nor is he anything close to a messiah, but this man will have a resounding impact upon the history books, and the future to come.
When I think of the Bush years, it often felt like America was the enemy, on issues like climate change, debt cancelation, peace in the middle east, it felt like The White House was a road block, sometimes even 10 Downing Street as well, but Obama has changed all that. Perhaps it’s because he’s new, he’s a fresh face, things have been reset, or maybe, just maybe Obama means a fresh effort on old problems. For me this is the best thing about this new administration, a fresh effort on old problems, old doors once barred are now open and America progressive once again."
Lets pray for David, and others like him who've been inspired to be a Christian involved in politics. Pray too for his generation, many of whom have stayed away from the Voting Booths in recent Elections. Would God inspire a new generation of change-makers. Amen
David Freeman is 18 and studying Politics at Highdown School, Reading. He hopes to continue his studies at University this Autumn. |
