Obama’s “Call to Renewal” 2006 Keynote Address is very important for Christians to look into. There, Obama lays out what I think is a very lucid and articulate view of religion (namely, Christianity) and politics.

A video of his entire speech can be watched here.

While I’m certainly not prepared to endorse him myself, I do think that he is grappling with these issues in a way that is critically reasonable yet bipartisan. In my opinion, he is heading the right direction, insofar as he’s being straightforward with us (with respect to what he says in his keynote address). I found lots of what the said to be insightful. I particularly found the following to be closely reflecting of my own conviction:

Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values. It requires that their proposals be subject to argument, and amenable to reason. I may be opposed to abortion for religious reasons, but if I seek to pass a law banning the practice, I cannot simply point to the teachings of my church or evoke God’s will. I have to explain why abortion violates some principle that is accessible to people of all faiths, including those with no faith at all.

Haha, he then sort of brings up Kierkegaard’s “suspension of the ethical” to support his point, though, sadly without giving credit! Obama gets extra brownie points from me for indirectly referring to Kierkegaard’s intuitions.

We all know the story of Abraham and Isaac. Abraham is ordered by God to offer up his only son, and without argument, he takes Isaac to the mountaintop, binds him to an altar, and raises his knife, prepared to act as God has commanded.

Of course, in the end God sends down an angel to intercede at the very last minute, and Abraham passes God’s test of devotion.

But it’s fair to say that if any of us leaving this church saw Abraham on a roof of a building raising his knife, we would, at the very least, call the police and expect the Department of Children and Family Services to take Isaac away from Abraham. We would do so because we do not hear what Abraham hears, do not see what Abraham sees, true as those experiences may be. So the best we can do is act in accordance with those things that we all see, and that we all hear, be it common laws or basic reason.

On a semi-different note, I want to simply record here what I think is a rather fascinating assessment by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, on the inevitable implementation of sharia law in England! His lecture is titled, “Civil and Religious Law in England: a Religious Perspective.” Recently, his lecture has caused quite an uproar!