Senator Obama Making fun of the Bible- It’s a Matter of Opinion!
Summary of eRumor:
Narrated video posted on YouTube showing edited cuts of Barack Obama addressing a group appearing to be making fun of the Bible.
The Truth:
This eRumor is based on a video of a speech made by Senator Barack Obama in June 28, 2006. He was the keynote speaker at an the “Building a Covenant for A New America” conference sponsored by a group called the Call to Renewal.
Click here for the video
It was one of Obama’s more religiously-based speeches that talked about the tensions that exist in a country of secular laws but religious passions. He argued that “secularists are wrong when they ask believers to leave their religion at the door before entering into the public square.” He called for a “reconciliation between faith and democratic pluralism” and called on those with narrow religious views to translate those into broader common values that can guide public policy.
As an example, he said, “And even if we did have only Christians in our midst, if we expelled every non-Christian from the United States of America, whose Christianity would we teach in the schools? Would we go with James Dobson’s, or Al Sharpton’s? Which passages of Scripture should guide our public policy? Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is ok and that eating shellfish is abomination? How about Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith? Or should we just stick to the Sermon on the Mount – a passage that is so radical that it’s doubtful that our own Defense Department would survive its application? So before we get carried away, let’s read our bibles. Folks haven’t been reading their bibles.”
This statement caused controversy among Evangelical Christians because it seemed as though Obama was being cynical about what could appear to be confecting statements in scripture.
Obama’s supporters say, however, that he was not making fun of those scriptures but merely using them to illustrate the point of his speech, which was to point out the complexity of holding religious values in high regard but trying to reconcile them with public policy.
We found entire transcripts and videos are available on the internet. We have included links to the transcript and full video below. Click Here is the link to the transcript Click here for video of complete speech
Click here to go directly to the second chapter of the video where Obama address the Law
CLICK HERE for a list of other related stories about Barack Obama
updated 09/06/08