Antonio Gramsci

Most people have heard of Joe the Plumber, but who is Antonio Gramsci? Joe, with one good question and his astute analysis of the answer rose to notoriety and changed the direction of the presidential campaign. Joe rightly concluded that Barack Obama’s “spreading the wealth around” was in fact socialism. I’m sure Joe has never heard of Antonio Gramsci but Joe, without realizing it, highlighted something that Gramsci set in motion almost 80 years ago.

Following Joe’s encounter with Obama, there ensued a discussion over charges that Obama was in fact a Marxist, communist or socialist. I heard many times the argument that Obama could not be a Marxist or communist or socialist because he was not like Lenin or Castro waging an armed conflict to impose a system of redistribution of wealth. Others pooh-poohed the comparison on the basis that Obama was not a Stalin or Mao who would, once in power, impose Marxist policies of welfare statism.

These comparisons are wrong but only in the methodology employed. This is because the image of communism, the historical image is one of an armed struggle, seizing power and ruling by force and threat of force. Obama is a socialist but not in the classical sense. He is a socialist along the lines of Antonio Gramsci.

But wait you say, isn’t Barack Obama a Christian? The answer is Barack Obama is not a Christian by any Biblical or historical standard. Obama attended for over 20 years a “church” which taught Black Liberation Theology. Black Liberation Theology is a descendant of Marxism via Liberation Theology. Black Liberation Theology changes the idea of the Marxist class struggle and oppression into struggle between races. As such it is a heretical form of Christianity. Barack Obama only uses his brand of Christianity as lipstick on the pig of Marxism.

Barack Obama’s ascendance to the presidency of the United States marks the triumph of Antonio Gramsci. However, Obama realizes that this triumph is not yet a total victory. Obama, in concert with a Congress controlled by the far left, will implement legislation which will go a long way toward consolidating this victory and further change the United States according to Gramsci’s methodology. All this will be done with out any shots being fired.

The title of this review, “God in the Blue States” is taken from the introduction to the book, The Faith of Barack Obama, by Stephen Mansfield and published by Thomas Nelson. Mansfield quotes Obama in his speech to the 2004 Democratic Convention when Obama said. “We worship an awesome God in the Blue States.” Those words are important because they help us to understand how Obama is changing the face of U. S. politics. What follows is, in the words of the author, “an attempt to understand the religious life of Barack Obama and the changes in American religious history that he has come to represent.” This is a formidable task, made even more so by the fact Mansfield limited his work to 164 pages.

The book gives insights into the early life of Barack Obama such as the influence of his atheistic mother, the effect of growing up fatherless in the decades of the sixties and seventies, his early life in Indonesia and Hawaii, the ambivalence fostered by his being a person of mixed race and his search to find a racial identity. Obama’s college years, the time working for social improvement on Chicago’s South Side and his successful run for the Senate are also covered. All these forces are nicely laid out by the author and help us toward understanding Obama’s religious roots.

Chapters about Obama’s motivations for seeking faith at Trinity United Church of Christ, his relationship with Jeremiah Wright and Mansfield’s treatment of the implications of that relationship are quite informative. I was appreciative of the author’s examination of Black Liberation Theology, the theology that is preached so vehemently at the church where Obama was a member for 20 years.  Readers should read well the chapter entitled “The Alters of State.” In it the author presents the reactions to and the implications of Obama’s 2006 speech at a Sojourners conference. This speech has been characterized as Obama’s “declaration of values for the rising Religious Left.”

Helpful in comprehending Obama’s spiritual grounding is a chapter on the public context of that faith. Mansfield accomplishes this in a unique way. The book was written during the primaries when Obama was one of many candidates with a story of faith. Mansfield provides us with a balanced presentation of the spiritual forces influencing Senator John McCain, Senator Hillary Clinton and President George Bush.

My criticism of The Faith of Barack Obama centers on two areas. It is a shortcoming of the book that Mansfield does not have a personal interview with Obama. While I understand the limitations that a candidate actively campaigning for the presidency would impose on the likelihood of such an interview ever taking place, it would have helped immensely in the goal of “understanding the religious life of Barack Obama.” For now we will have to settle for the interview at the Saddleback Civic Forum.

Secondly, I am very curious about the ideas making up Black Liberation Theology and found Mansfield’s presentation too brief and needing more detail. Yet, these deficiencies do not detract from the overall value of this book. Mr. Mansfield accomplished well his stated objective. Now, more than ever, people must be more informed about the crucial issues and the candidates. We must know what the Bible says regarding the crucial issues and how the candidates use their faith and use or misuse the Bible to promote their position on these issues. Stephen Mansfield has made a solid contribution with The Faith of Barack Obama and it is highly recommended for anyone seeking to better understand the faith of a man who may become our president.

Happy Father’s Day

Now my granddaughter, age 8, and her brother, Jonah, age 4, have sacrificed many of the things ordinary children take for granted here in the States. But Moriah has never given up her heart for others. During the Q&A time at the end of the missionary’s talk Moriah asked in front of the church “How do you get over the sadness in your heart about being kicked out of Venezuela?” Big question for such a small person!

Only a child who has experienced a sense of loss similar to what this missionary has experienced could ask such a question. According to her mother, Moriah is indeed dealing with the loss her friends and grieving over leaving Nicaragua. Please pray for her as she faces the task of adjusting to a new culture and environment in Mexico City. Romans 8:18, Romans 8:28.