Obama Takes on the "Christian" Right

Disclaimer up front: I've never been an Obama man.  It's not that I dislike him; I'd happily vote for him as our nominee, but to this point, he hasn't sealed the deal for me.

He just took a big step in that direction.

In a speech before the United Church of Christ convention in Connecticut, Obama came out swinging against the so-called Christian right:

Somehow, somewhere along the way, faith stopped being used to bring us together and faith started being used to drive us apart ... Faith got hijacked, partly because of the so-called leaders of the Christian Right, all too eager to exploit what divides us.

To this point, I haven't been entirely convinced Obama would have the strength to stand up to the onslaught he'll face in the general election, or the Category 5 hellstorm the right will hurl at him if he takes the White House.  Some of his comments seemed to me too accepting of GOP framing, and a certain naivete about how the right functions.  But he nails them here:

At every opportunity, they've told evangelical Christians that Democrats disrespect their values and dislike their church, while suggesting to the rest of the country that religious Americans care only about issues like abortion and gay marriage, school prayer and intelligent design.

There was even a time when the Christian Coalition determined that its number one legislative priority was tax cuts for the rich ... I don't know what Bible they're reading, but it doesn't jibe with my version.

You can almost hear Jerry Falwell spinning in his grave.

By challenging the evangelical partisans directly, Obama has put himself squarely in their crosshairs ... which is, of course, exactly where any Democratic candidate will eventually find himself.  The fact that he's willing to take them on now is important not just because it shows he's willing to fight, but because it shows he understands the dynamic that's coming in 2008.

And there's this:

I'm hopeful because I think there's an awakening taking place in America. People are coming together around a simple truth – that we are all connected, that I am my brother's keeper; I am my sister's keeper. And that it's not enough to just believe this – we have to do our part to make it a reality.

RFK used to speak of the obligations of faith in the same way.  It's a conversation that needs to be renewed among people of faith.

I'm still not sold -- but I'm going to listen a lot more closely.