Obama's Faith: Fascinating Interview Unearthed

Cathleen Falsani of the Chicago Sun-Times interviewed Barack Obama in 2004 on his faith and spirituality. She's now published the entire interview. Here are some highlights.

On prayer:

FALSANI: Do you pray often?

OBAMA:
Uh, yeah, I guess I do.

Its' not formal, me getting on my knees. I think I have an ongoing conversation with God. I think throughout the day, I'm constantly asking myself questions about what I'm doing, why am I doing it.

One of the interesting things about being in public life is there are constantly these pressures being placed on you from different sides. To be effective, you have to be able to listen to a variety of points of view, synthesize viewpoints. You also have to know when to be just a strong advocate, and push back against certain people or views that you think aren't right or don't serve your constituents.

And so, the biggest challenge, I think, is always maintaining your moral compass. Those are the conversations I'm having internally. I'm measuring my actions against that inner voice that for me at least is audible, is active, it tells me where I think I'm on track and where I think I'm off track. ...

Looking for, ... It's interesting, the most powerful political moments for me come when I feel like my actions are aligned with a certain truth. I can feel it. When I'm talking to a group and I'm saying something truthful, I can feel a power that comes out of those statements that is different than when I'm just being glib or clever.

FALSANI:
What's that power? Is it the holy spirit? God?

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OBAMA:
Well, I think it's the power of the recognition of God, or the recognition of a larger truth that is being shared between me and an audience.

On spiritual leaders:

FALSANI: Do you have people in your life that you look to for guidance?

OBAMA:
Well, my pastor [Jeremiah Wright] is certainly someone who I have an enormous amount of respect for.

I have a number of friends who are ministers. Reverend Meeks is a close friend and colleague of mine in the state Senate. Father Michael Pfleger is a dear friend, and somebody I interact with closely.

FALSANI:
Those two will keep you on your toes.

OBAMA:
And theyr'e good friends. Because both of them are in the public eye, there are ways we can all reflect on what's happening to each of us in ways that are useful.

I think they can help me, they can appreciate certain specific challenges that I go through as a public figure.

On his church:

FALSANI: Do you get questions about your faith?

OBAMA:
Obviously as an African American politician rooted in the African American community, I spend a lot of time in the black church. I have no qualms in those settings in participating fully in those services and celebrating my God in that wonderful community that is the black church.

(he pauses)
But I also try to be . . . Rarely in those settings do people come up to me and say, what are your beliefs. They are going to presume, and rightly so. Although they may presume a set of doctrines that I subscribe to that I don't necessarily subscribe to.

But I don't think that's unique to me. I think that each of us when we walk into our church or mosque or synagogue are interpreting that experience in different ways, are reading scriptures in different ways and are arriving at our own understanding at different ways and in different phases. ...

Nothing is more powerful than the black church experience. A good choir and a good sermon in the black church, it's pretty hard not to be move and be transported.

On spiritual inspiration:

OBAMA: As I said before, in my own sort of mental library, the Civil Rights movement has a powerful hold on me. It's a point in time where I think heaven and earth meet. Because it's a moment in which a collective faith transforms everything. So when I read Gandhi or I read King or I read certain passages of Abraham Lincoln and I think about those times where people's values are tested, I think those inspire me.

I can be transported by watching a good performance of Hamlet, or reading Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, or listening to Miles Davis.

On heaven:

OBAMA: What I believe in is that if I live my life as well as I can, that I will be rewarded. I don't presume to have knowledge of what happens after I die. But I feel very strongly that whether the reward is in the here and now or in the hereafter, the aligning myself to my faith and my values is a good thing.

When I tuck in my daughters at night and I feel like I've been a good father to them, and I see in them that I am transferring values that I got from my mother and that they're kind people and that they're honest people, and they're curious people, that's a little piece of heaven.

Read the whole thing.

Comments

[nanneyboat]

Give me one example of what obama said that would give any indication that he is in any way,shape or form a Christian and not what the world calls a "christian"!! And back it up with scripture, please. Not what you think, but what scripture says. The Bible would be the source for that if you are calling yourself a Christian. Then go check out Matt. 7: 21-23.

[reliant1]

On Obama’s website, he speaks of his decision to join Trinity:

” Obama said, “So one Sunday, I put on one of the few clean jackets I had, and went over to Trinity United Church of Christ on 95th Street on the South Side of Chicago. And I heard Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright deliver a sermon called “The Audacity of Hope.” And during the course of that sermon, he introduced me to someone named Jesus Christ. I learned that my sins could be redeemed. I learned that those things I was too weak to accomplish myself, He would accomplish with me if I placed my trust in Him.

And in time, I came to see faith as more than just a comfort to the weary or a hedge against death, but rather as an active, palpable agent in the world and in my own life. It was because of these newfound understandings that I was finally able to walk down the aisle of Trinity one day and affirm my Christian faith. It came about as a choice, and not an epiphany. I didn’t fall out in church, as folks sometimes do. The questions I had didn’t magically disappear. The skeptical bent of my mind didn’t suddenly vanish. But kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side, I felt I heard God’s spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to His will, and dedicated myself to discovering His truth and carrying out His works.”

[ThanksMatt]

I think he is a Christian and you are a fanatic. Thus spoke my conscience.

[nanneyboat]

And why do you think he is a Christian??

[Gma11]

Which bible? Whose interpretation?

No offense, but it sounds like you are a bibliolator rather than a Christian (one who worships the bible).

Most so-called Christians, I suspect, would reject Jesus if he really did come back in the flesh - as in the fifth chapter of the fifth book of The Brothers Karamozov.

This small-town 60-ish Wisconsinite woman imagines that if Jesus did come back right now, he might be joining in the demonstrations opposing the passing of Proposition 8 in California - struggling against our contemporary scribes and pharisees within the institutionalized church.

[nanneyboat]

Try the NASB. It is a literal translation. I worship the Lord Jesus Christ the one and only son of God. You don't have to wonder what Jesus would do if you knew your Bible. You would know. It's right there in print.

[StillIRise]

I agree. I've often said that if Jesus did come back in the flesh - the same flesh he left in - the so called Christians would take one look at his brown skin and Middle Eastern features, and execute him as a terrorist! Then he'd have to come back all over again so they can apologize for profiling him and for their mistaken identity.

I watched "Inherit the Wind" last night, and it reminded me of the so called Christians who thrive in their literal and self-righteous interpretation of their bible, and those who actually live in the spirit of Christ, regardless of what they call themselves.

[HarryMonster]

It is for God to decide, not you. Better for you to worry about your own salvation.

[nanneyboat]

My salvation is secure....­which you will interpret as me being pompous...­.but I am saved by the Grace of God through faith in Jesus. It is not so complicated. If you are going to call your self a Christian, do it according to the Bible. You wouldn't play football using the rules of basketball and call it football..­....

[LawDem]

Why are you assuming that some newspaper interview is the exclusive, complete, and accurate assessment of this man's spiritual life? It sounds like you want to hear Obama (and perhaps any christian whom you don't deem to be a "true" christian) mention some magic combination of buzz words thrown around by evangelical circles before you'll afford him the benefit of the doubt. How absurd -- Christ led and taught by example. I think there are a multitude of examples in Obama's speeches, dating back to one he gave as a law student to a small high school in Ohio (if I recall correctly) that clearly paralleled many of the teachings Jesus imparted in the Sermon on the Mount.

[nanneyboat]

Did you bother to read Matt. 7: 21-23?

[reliant1]

Don't be practical.

[knowBuddhaU]

Obama's a poet who knows IT!

"[The images not only of poetry and love but also of religion and patriotism, when effec­tive, are apprehended with actual physical responses: tears, sighs, interior aches, spontaneous groans, cries, bursts of laughter, wrath, and impulsive deeds. Human experience and human art, that is to say, have succeeded in creating for the human species an en­vironment of sign stimuli that release physical responses and direct them to ends no less effectively than do the signs of nature the instincts of the beasts....

"[T]he radical distinction here made by the poet Housman between images that act upon our nervous structure as energy releasers and those that serve, rather, for the transmission of thought," is clearly expressed by Obama in this interview.

"[S]ome ideas do, while others do not, lend themselves kindly to poetical expression; and that these receive from poetry an enhancement which glorifies and almost transfigures them, and which is not perceived to be a separate thing except by analysis.'­"

"[This is] the first axiom of all creative art--whether it be in poetry, music, dance, architecture, painting, or sculpture--which is, namely, that art is not, like science, a logic of references but a re­lease from reference and rendition of immediate experience: a presentation of forms, images, or ideas in such a way that they will communicate, not primarily a thought or even a feeling, but an

iMPACT." ((emphasis added)

Joseph Campbell. Masks of God: Primitive Mythology, 40-42. NY: Penguin.

[CeeCee]

OK, that does it for me. I was with him 100% but now I'm with him 1,000%. Because he listens to Miles Davis. I grew up on Miles Davis's music. I am now in middle age and still listen to Miles Davis.

Music: the great unifier.

[Invox]

True.

[sparafucilli]

Luke Skywalker would relate to this. "Feel the force, Luke". And I might add , "Be aware of it's dark side". This more than anything else will help in his interactions with Iran and its' ambitions. Search out those amongst your "enemies" with a similar awareness. They are always there, you only need to look. A place to start might be those influential among the farmers and herders within those nations. Without a respect for life they wouldn't succeed.

[fishgirl26]

You can believe in god but that doesn't mean that you have to attend church every sunday. You can be "spiritual". I was born into a mennonite family, who then became presbyterian, and then I chose to be confirmed Lutheran. I don't attend church but I have a son that has been in a methodist preschool and daycares. Everyone has a choice to believe what they want....to me, it says alot that he doesn't want to put his views of religion on others.

[GingersPawPaws]

Yes because he is not Force feeding people and he is not shoving it down the throats of those who do not agree!

[jmcallahan]

I'm glad that President-Elect Obama finds comfort and inspiration in his religion as he will certainly need that place of 'inner rejuevination' in the White House. I'm more impressed that his faith does not impede his ability to use Reason. This is a welcome change from the Bush years and Palin's bid for V.P. Having said that, I no longer want to linger on the 'sins' of the past, but focus my thoughts and energy on supporting creative, positive solutions for Iraq, the economy, environment, and the long, long list of Must Accomplish Objectives before us.

Peace & Prosperity!

[DosaHut]

Basically, he's agnostic, which is good.
But he gets inspiration and motivation from the attitude of the black church, not specifically from jesus.

So glad we have a prez who is open to so many viewpoints and faiths.

[reliant1]

On Obama’s website, he speaks of his decision to join Trinity:

” Obama said, “So one Sunday, I put on one of the few clean jackets I had, and went over to Trinity United Church of Christ on 95th Street on the South Side of Chicago. And I heard Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright deliver a sermon called “The Audacity of Hope.” And during the course of that sermon, he introduced me to someone named Jesus Christ. I learned that my sins could be redeemed. I learned that those things I was too weak to accomplish myself, He would accomplish with me if I placed my trust in Him. And in time, I came to see faith as more than just a comfort to the weary or a hedge against death, but rather as an active, palpable agent in the world and in my own life. It was because of these newfound understandings that I was finally able to walk down the aisle of Trinity one day and affirm my Christian faith. It came about as a choice, and not an epiphany. I didn’t fall out in church, as folks sometimes do. The questions I had didn’t magically disappear. The skeptical bent of my mind didn’t suddenly vanish. But kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side, I felt I heard God’s spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to His will, and dedicated myself to discovering His truth and carrying out His works.”

[getoffthecross]

As an atheist, something that impressed me when I first began to research Obama was his admissions of doubt. People are free to believe whatever they like, but it's those who feel most confident that their particular superstitions are more fundamentally sound than any others, or who show a tendency to never question themselves or their faith regardless of circumstances, that make me leary. Especially after 5 years of hearing "Stay the Course!"

A rational view of spirituality is just one more componant I like in my new president. It's the irrational flock that I'm most concerned about these next 4-8 years.

[Gma11]

The one thing Jesus criticized (according to the gospels) FAR more than anything else (people can count it for themselves) is self-righteousness - and the hypocrisy which attends it.

Shouldn't this be something Christians are far more concerned about?

[getoffthecross]

Should be, but they're usually too busy trying to square their anti-abortion and pro-war stances. I've often wondered how many abortions we've caused in Iraq in these last 5 years. Funny old world.

[tallcoolone47]

I am glad the truth of Baracks relationships with controvercial figures will now come out it will help ease the minds of millions, sad the media buried it all but what is past is past we must move on

[blog4um]

These relationships were in the media non stop for a few weeks. He even answered questions during the election. If you could have found something, you would have.
McCain NEVER explained his 2 "pastor" relationshipS.

But you are right, it makes no difference now.

[duchessdorleans]

I'm quite sure that Obama is hardly a WWJD Christian believer, and I'm glad of it. He may well be a full on athiest but has kown all along that any political aspirations he had would die if he didn't claim to adhere to the dominant religion. Athiests are as repressed and discriminated against as the LGBT community. It's as bad as people having to "pass" as white to get ahead or women having to dress up as men to pursue their dreams. Even if Obama is a true Christian believer I get the feeling, although he can't even say this in the Chrisitian fascist USA, that he respects my non-belief and would never support the idea of keeping athiests out of political office because of their religious beliefs.

[adampap]

i agree 100%. atheists are painted as arrogant and condemned by our overwhelmingly religious society. but what is more arrogant than believing that the universe was created specifically with you in mind, and that anyone who disagrees is stupid and will spend eternity in hell? from everything obama has said on the subject he seems like a closet atheist. hopefully he can help make this a less intensely religious country. how else can we move forward?

[Manchurian]

I've found atheists to oftentimes be as dogmatic as the religious. Agnosticism seems to be the most openminded avenue, as it leaves the door open to an evolving investigation and understanding of the mysteries of the universe.

[Minako]

Just to play Devil's Advocate here...

Is it more arrogant to presume to know how the universe was created, or to presume to know how it was NOT created? You cannot definitively prove that there is no God, just as religious people, despite their faith, cannot prove that there is one.

Atheists are painted as arrogant and condemned by religious society, for the same reason they paint religious people as "whack os" and condemn them.

[reliant1]

On Obama’s website, he speaks of his decision to join Trinity:

” Obama said, “So one Sunday, I put on one of the few clean jackets I had, and went over to Trinity United Church of Christ on 95th Street on the South Side of Chicago. And I heard Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright deliver a sermon called “The Audacity of Hope.” And during the course of that sermon, he introduced me to someone named Jesus Christ. I learned that my sins could be redeemed. I learned that those things I was too weak to accomplish myself, He would accomplish with me if I placed my trust in Him. And in time, I came to see faith as more than just a comfort to the weary or a hedge against death, but rather as an active, palpable agent in the world and in my own life. It was because of these newfound understandings that I was finally able to walk down the aisle of Trinity one day and affirm my Christian faith. It came about as a choice, and not an epiphany. I didn’t fall out in church, as folks sometimes do. The questions I had didn’t magically disappear. The skeptical bent of my mind didn’t suddenly vanish. But kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side, I felt I heard God’s spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to His will, and dedicated myself to discovering His truth and carrying out His works.”

[FanofPaine]

I spent a small time as an atheist and a bigger time as an agnostic before embracing a very liberal view of Christianity (I believe Jesus existed and I believe he taught amazing things to his followers but don't really celebrate Christmas except to give gifts to people), but I was very blessed to meet some amazing people who just don't see religion as plausible in any form and these people are amazing and smart and the most intellectually curious people you will find anywhere. I'm always offended when Christians bash atheists, but I'm equally offended when atheists bash Christians.

And as a Christian the uber WWJD places like Christian bookstores are mad creepy. There's something cultish about walking into one of them.

I believe Obama probably falls into liberal or progressive Christianity, which means he believes in evolution or theistic evolution (I believe he mentions this belief in the audacity of hope) and probably believes that the Bible shouldn't be taken literally, which is what us crazy liberal Christians seem to believe.

[cheferic]

If you "unearthed" a fascinating interview ,doesn't that mean you've been digging in the dirt? Gee,I wonder why they call them muckrakers?

[aphid]

"I think I have an ongoing conversation with God. I think throughout the day, I'm constantly asking myself questions about what I'm doing, why am I doing it."

I like that he doesn't say God tells him how to proceed in life.

[dctackett]

notice that he doesn't seem to indicate that there is a magical being that he's talking to... but himself.

[sunny555]

This was a very moving interview. This man just validates his election over and over again.

[Dupree]

I appreciate how Obama express his faith in God. I, as a born again Christian do embrace Christ as the one that died for the sins of mankind and was resurrected for the justification of the whole world ...for those that embrace this truth. But I feel equally compel to say that just as emphatically as I hold tightly these beliefs...­.I am confident I am grounded in the truth...I do not have to offend others who see life differently. I was never given a mandate from God to force people into the fold...but my only role is to share my faith in love with the profound understanding that each person has the right to reject my understanding of God. I am to share and then walk away loving that individual regardless of whether they accept or reject the message of the Gospel. Unfortunately in our modern day world, we have those who would have many jump through a long list of specialized hoops to ensure their salvation. I still believe it is a very personal journey. And if God himself does not FORCE anyone to follow him...what right do we his followers.­..has to take that position in arrogance. I will pray for Obama and his presidency and ask God for guidance for him and pray for our world that we would seek to love and not hate and that we would recognize the image of God upon all that walk this earth with us. Shilom.

[sonshine]

All due respect, Dupree, if you have to ask God for guidance, what is the point? Why doesn't God just do the right thing. I cannot understand this need to ask God to do things if she is so great. I cannot understand the limitations on God on the one hand while on the other hand followers say God is so powerful. When things go wrong, the faithful credit God, when things go well, God made it happen. How can that be?

[Minako]

Think of prayer as meditation, and maybe it would make more sense. Asking "God" is a way of searching into your deeper soul and finding out what is right in a primal part of yourself, just as meditating is a way of trying to reach peace and nirvana by shutting out outside sources to be one with oneself.

Does it make sense?

[Indy 44]

What is the point of asking God for guidance? Uh, for starters..­. because people need guidance?

[Mysticalman68]

When God is seen as the Other, as one removed from our very core of being, a deity outside our human experience, asking Him/Her for guidance is pointless, even dangerous. But when God is experienced as the best in us all, or as our own eternal consciousness, devoid of any egoic agendas or individual desires, asking him/her for guidance is a way to go beyond our automatic responses, our defense mechanisms and our sense of alienation from the Universe. It is to access a part of ourselves where heart and mind are one.

[ellawensmom]

I believe that we all have our free will. That's why bad stuff happens. When the bad happens, some people stop believing, and others get stronger because God is a comfort to them. When things go well, I think sometimes it's a result of our own choices, and sometimes, I believe it's divine intervention.

[FanofPaine]

I see God as a personal guide. He doesn't force you into any aspect of a journey, but he's there if you need him. Bad things happening doesn't mean you did anything bad but because all of mankind has freewill, bad things can happen because of someone else's disrespect to his fellow man.

God is always doing the right thing in my book, but other people aren't always doing the right thing. He allows all people to make their own choices. Consulting God, whatever form people may view God, may make the decision one makes good for all mankind instead of reinforcing a selfish view for the person who is making the decision. That's how I view the moral compass of "asking God for guidance". That phrase means different things to different people.

[sonshine]

This sounds like a very reasoned, logical approach to religion which I know will really get the right wing religious-obsessed non-thinkers going.

That's ok. We won and he's going to run this country with that same sort of reasoned approach.

Yay! Smart is in again!

[reliant1]

On Obama’s website, he speaks of his decision to join Trinity:

” Obama said, “So one Sunday, I put on one of the few clean jackets I had, and went over to Trinity United Church of Christ on 95th Street on the South Side of Chicago. And I heard Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright deliver a sermon called “The Audacity of Hope.” And during the course of that sermon, he introduced me to someone named Jesus Christ. I learned that my sins could be redeemed. I learned that those things I was too weak to accomplish myself, He would accomplish with me if I placed my trust in Him. And in time, I came to see faith as more than just a comfort to the weary or a hedge against death, but rather as an active, palpable agent in the world and in my own life. It was because of these newfound understandings that I was finally able to walk down the aisle of Trinity one day and affirm my Christian faith. It came about as a choice, and not an epiphany. I didn’t fall out in church, as folks sometimes do. The questions I had didn’t magically disappear. The skeptical bent of my mind didn’t suddenly vanish. But kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side, I felt I heard God’s spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to His will, and dedicated myself to discovering His truth and carrying out His works.”