Poverty and Politics, Part II

Anderson Cooper on Obama's Speech

I just found a second article on Obama's speech at our gathering. Cooper at least bothers to mention the setting before settling down to political analysis.

See Dems hope 'faith' talk will win elections

The problem with this article is that it makes it seem that we were a Democratic gathering seeking to find our way on religious campaigning. Instead, we were Christians seeking to make both parties recognize that the central focus of Jesus' teaching was to work with "the least of these" to provide basic human needs.

Here a few excerpts from the CNN online article by Cooper:

Nothing is more transparent than inauthentic expressions of faith -- the politician who shows up at a black church around election time and claps, off rhythm, to the gospel choir. Secularists are wrong when they ask believers to leave their religion at the door before entering into the public square. To say that men and women should not inject their personal morality into public policy debates is a practical absurdity.

Those aren't my words. I'm quoting. And who am I quoting? You might guess an evangelical Christian leader. Perhaps even a Republican strategist or conservative lawmaker. But would guess a Democratic senator? Those are the words of Senator Barack Obama, addressing a bipartisan religious conference sponsored by Sojourners founder Rev. Jim Wallis.