Anybody know anything about Barack Obama? I mean, besides that he's this amazing speaker, a 'rising star' in the Democratic party? I caught a snipet of a book signing he was doing at B&N in NYC. Someone asked him how he reconciles his religion with politics. He had this very insightful response (I'm paraphrasing from memory):
Religious belief by its very nature is absolute. If I believe that Allah is God, then Allah is the only God - not Buddha or anyone else. If I believe that Jesus is my savior, then he is my savior, and no one else is my savior. But we live in a pluralistic world, and our political system is a pluralistic one in which people with opposing ideas and worldviews can come together in dialogue. This means there's a tension between the absolute of faith and the pluralism of American politics. Here's how I personally live with that tension: when I read scripture, my interpretation is subject to my own error, my own sinfulness. So I always approach it with an understanding that I could be wrong. I bring a sort of skepticism, like saying 'this is my interpretation, but what do you think about it?' That skepticism allows me to disagree with other politicians while at the same time listening to them to see if maybe I am wrong. It prevents me from preemptively shutting down all dialogue.
I've got to chew on what he said for a while. i'm interested in what his religious persuasion is.
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