Presidential Candidates' Faith
Faith, Values and Religion of 2008 Candidates Obama and Edwards
Part two of speeches and commentary by Presidential candidates. Covers Barak Obama and John Edwards' religious faith and commitment to social justice issues
This is part two of a two-part article on the Faith of the Presidential front-runners. In part one, John McCain and Hillary Clinton are discussed.
Barak Obama(Dem. Sen-Illinois) United Church of Christ
Among all the candidates, Obama's faith appears to be the most interesting. His Muslim father (deceased) was from Kenya and Barak (his name is Arabic) spent at least two years in Muslim schools overseas as a child. When asked by reporters, he admits he is a nontraditional, nonevangelical Christian, and does question parts of the Bible. Although he converted to Christianity, under Islamic belief, Muslims might consider him one of their own since he is the son of a Muslim.
He gave a speech at the four-day National Action Network conference, a civil rights group founded by Reverend Al Sharpton in part to answer questions about his faith commitment but also to address his lack of experience since he had been a Senator for only two years. Unfortunately, he consistently referred to the organization as the "Urban Action Network" in the speech until corrected. During his discourse, he stated, "I think we make a mistake when we fail to acknowledge the power of faith in people's lives," most likely remembering that this takes into account those from all faiths worldwide.
Obama also made the trip to Alabama for the Civil Rights March Memorial, his first time to Selma. Unlike the Clintons for whom memories of the turmoil of the 60s South would have made an indelible impression, Obama was only four-years-old during the 1965 uprising between the police and demonstrators. Although his mother later remarried an Indonesian, he reminds the audience that "I am the fruits of your labor," referring of course to his success as a black candidate running for President in this country. In the Selma speech he appears completely relaxed and at ease, even quick with a joke, however his speech appeared to be centered more on his own personality rather than the future needs of the country.
John Edwards (Dem.-North Carolina) United Methodist
John Edwards spoke from the Riverside Church in Harlem to commemorate black history. He refers to the church setting as "this House of God" during his speech centered on social justice. He is currently a director of a Poverty Center and looked stunning in a black suit and bright blue tie and made reference to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Full force of conscience, conviction and love of peace." This set the tone that his speech was clearly more an anti-war argument than a civil rights remembrance. He spoke about "denouncing war which is dragging us down" and seems convinced the audience shares his views on the withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
He recently addressed the issues of labor law reform which is in keeping with moderate Democratic beliefs and the country was very taken aback by his struggle to go on with the campaign despite his wife's cancer diagnosis, which is commendable. Dem. John Kerry chose Edwards as his running-mate back in 2004, and the fact that John Kerry is a Roman Catholic did not seem to be an issue for Edwards. He has co-chaired the National Prayer Breakfasts and currently attends a Methodist Church in Raleigh as well as the more liberal Metropolitan Memorial United Methodist Church in Washington, D.C.
It is fortunate that we have such a diverse selection of candidates to choose from come 2008. Once the final polls are in, it will tell us more about ourselves and what we believe in as a country. We should be grateful the candidates this time around are not afraid to clearly share with us their faith commitments.
