Not Christian enough

Even as the number of self-identified atheists in the U.S. has more than tripled through the past two decades, discussion of spirituality has not disappeared from the public forum. Some might even argue it has intensified.

That could certainly be said of the ongoing dispute about President Obama’s religious affiliation, which has recaptured public attention as recently released polls show 1-in-5 Americans believe President Obama is a Muslim — despite his protestations and profession of Christian faith.

Last week, White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs once again defended Obama’s Christianity, insisting the president is a “committed, mainstream” Christian. But this time, Gibbs wasn’t addressing those who label Obama a Muslim. Instead, he was responding to accusations that President Obama isn’t a “real” Christian.

This new line of criticism, predominantly articulated by Glenn Beck, insists that President Obama is not Christian enough and while he may make public confessions of Christian faith, he, in reality, is not a “true” believer.

Specifically, Beck claims Obama ascribes to “liberation theology,” which, Beck asserts, is not a Christian belief because it “shows contempt for the Scriptures.” But such a critique is troubled because liberation theology is not as contested and controversial as Beck would suggest.

It is not a rogue set of beliefs that leads one toward socialism and causes one to consistently assume the role of the “victim” . It is not an underground movement without popular support or assent. It is a systematically developed theology created by Catholic theologians in the 1950s to help reflect and describe the plight of the poor in Latin America.

Nevertheless, many try to split hairs about the particular doctrines Obama believes and the specific religious practices he performs. However, such criticisms stand in stark contrast to a famous religious revolutionary, who insisted that external practices and appearances were shallow measures of one’s spiritual devotion. His name
was Jesus.

The very heart of the Christian message insists outer appearance is not what brings redemption or salvation. Instead, it’s the condition of the heart that counts. So when critics — particularly Christian critics — make claims about the depth of one’s religious devotion that are based on observations, rumors or worse, those accusations should be suspect.

Instead of splitting hairs about how Christian or not our president is, a more fruitful — and by all measures, a more Christian response — would be to graciously take him at his word when he describes what he believes and to support him as a fairly elected leader.