(Photo: AP Images / Mary Ann Chastain)Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Il., attends Redemption World Outreach Center Sunday, Oct. 7, 2007, in Greenville, S.C. Obama spoke to the church's more than 4,000 members during services Sunday morning.
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Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama is overturning the traditional view that Republicans are the religious-talking lawmakers with his faith speeches and frequent church visits on the campaign trail.
“I think that what you’re seeing is a breaking down of the sharp divisions that existed maybe during the ‘90’s,” Obama said, according to CNN Monday. “At least in politics, the perception was that the Democrats were fearful of talking about faith, and on the other hand you had the Republicans who had a particular brand of faith that oftentimes seemed intolerant or pushed people away.”
The junior Illinois senator stood in the pulpit of a Pentecostal church Sunday to challenge the partisan religious perception by telling some 4,000 worshippers that faith “plays every role” in his life.
“It’s what keeps me grounded. It’s what keeps my eyes set on the greatest of heights,” Obama told members of the Redemption World Outreach Center in Greenville, S.C., according to The Associated Press.
Faith, he said, is “what propels me to do what I do and when I am down it’s what lifts me up.”
Obama, who is a member of the United Church of Christ – considered one of the most liberal mainline Protestant denomination, also said God “is with us and He wants us to do the right thing,” such as breaking down divisions between Democrats and Republicans and among religions, according to AP.
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When people work together, there is “nothing that can stop us because that’s God’s intention.” the senator exhorted.
Despite Obama’s increased “God talk,” many conservative Christians are still hesitant to embrace him. Difference on key conservative issues such as abortion and gay “marriages” has blocked Obama from being a serious candidate for many conservative voters.
Obama, although saying he personally does not support homosexuality, has refused to support a constitutional amendment banning homosexual “marriage.” Also, although Obama personally opposes abortion, he refuses to support overturning Roe v. Wade.
“I appreciate that the candidates are taking a risk when they talk about their faith,” commented Mark Earley, president of Prison Fellowship Ministries, in a past commentary.
“The problem is that all of this ‘God Talk’ misses the point: what Christians want – or should want – is a candidate who shares their moral and culture concerns, not just their religious vocabulary.”
Obama is currently ranked as the Democratic Candidate that invokes religion the most, according to religious Web site Beliefnet.com’s “God-o-Meter” – which measures “God talk” in the presidential campaign.
Obama concluded Sunday’s address from the pulpit by asking the members of Redemption church to pray for him and his family to remain on the right path.
“Sometimes you can become fearful, you can become vain, sometimes you can seek power for power’s sake,” Obama confessed, according to NBC. “Pray that I can be an instrument of God,” he pleaded.
The White House hopeful is currently on a campaign called “40 Days of Faith & Family” to reach out to primary voters in South Carolina and introduce how Obama’s family life and faith have shaped his values.
Last week, Obama attended services at a black Baptist church in West Columbia and a white Baptist church a few miles away in Columbia, South Carolina.
