Obama keeps his faith despite criticism of pastor

[babylonsister]

In case anyone wonders, this is an editorial.


http://www.mcall.com/news/opinion/anotherview/all-right_col-a.6317486mar18,0,4493401.story


Obama keeps his faith despite criticism of pastor

By Rick Daugherty
March 18, 2008


''When something is important to you -- your church, your neighborhood, your family, your political views -- you don't give up and run when times get difficult.''


Sen. Barack Obama and his wife Michelle should be commended for remaining true to their Chicago parish, Trinity United Church of Christ, for over two decades. Too many of us bolt from our parish family whenever we have a dispute or problem. When we don't agree with a sermon or don't like a new song or a new prayer, sometimes we just don't come back. When the new minister doesn't do things quite the same way as the former minister, we look for greener pastures. The Christian church seems to be forever splintering. And what good is that? What does it teach our children? If you don't like something -- get up and leave? Maybe it is better to stay and fight for change from within.

I have been a member of Saint Andrew's Episcopal Church in Allentown my whole life. Baptisms, confirmations, marriages and funerals for my family took place there. I don't always agree with our priest, nor would anybody expect that I should. The Episcopal Church has a strong tradition of encouraging independent thought within the context of the Anglican communion. Over the years I have seen many people leave my parish for reasons trivial and significant.

When something is important to you -- your church, your neighborhood, your family, your political views -- you don't give up and run when times get difficult. Those who stick it out are to be commended. That is a quality I want in our next president. By staying a member of his church, Sen. Obama showed that his Christian community is important to him.

snip//

A friend from the Lehigh Valley who recently moved to Chicago has attended a few services at Trinity United Church of Christ. He told me there are over 11,000 members. It is a racially mixed congregation, although predominately black. The parish is known for its work among the poor, lonely, hurting and needy of all races, which, if you even just glance through the Gospels, is a core message preached by Jesus.

We choose and stay with a parish family for a host of reasons. Friends we have met there, a service that we are comfortable with, continuity for our children's spiritual growth, community outreach that we enjoy being part of, and maybe even the guidance and support of a minister.

What this episode shows me is that Sen. Obama cares deeply about his Christian faith and is able to accept the best that people have to offer without being unduly influenced by their less redeeming qualities. Sen. Obama has a unique ability to connect with people from diverse backgrounds and to listen to various points of view. It is a quality that we desperately need in our leaders today.


Rick Daugherty is chairman of the Lehigh County Democratic Committee.

[izzie]

1. good job

'encouraging independent thought' does seem to be the words we should look at in that talk. Not all church people think like that. Since I am old and grew up in another time I was of the WASP group and we were told to stay in that group. Seems odd in this day and age but I could, very young, see where it came from. My father was brought up by his grandmother who was born in 1851. I loved both these people( I spent many hours with my great grandmother as a child) and thought they were great and they do not think like I ended up thinking. The men talking about this on TV seem to be very old thinkers . After seeing how SC voted for Obama I would hardly say that the young people think like my age people do. I just love this new thinking and believe it will make our country better. I will be sorry not to see Obama get to run but it will not shock me if it does not happen.