Religion and Obama's "More Perfect Union"

I watched Obama's speech the other day (I know this is fairly late) and I really loved it. I'm not going to go too far into the dynamics of the race arguments, because even though they were great, thats not what I really want to write about. Yes Obama's speeches are great, and yes you can call him a "televangelist" or argue that he's just a great orator with words that sound pretty, but I would argue (and Parker would agree) that if you read that speech on paper it would be just as moving and just as good.

Here's the speech, in case you missed it:


But, I digress. The issue that I want to talk about is not race or candidate preference, but religion (duh.. you know me). When I watched the speech I paused at a particular point where Obama mentioned all the worlds great religions. He said, "In the end then, what is called for is nothing more, and nothing less, than what all the worlds great religions demand, that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us." I turned to the person beside me and began a rant on the ability of "No Religion-ers" to have morals too, arguing that it was ironic that while Obama was giving a speech on the divisive power of race he was still ignoring the divisive power of religion.

I understand that Obama cannot make an appeal to people with no religion. I know that this would be political suicide for him. However, it pains me to see any group of people treated as lesser citizens and I yearn for the day when Americans can accept atheists and agnostics as people too, and a politician can speak out against religion.

The person next to me did not agree and told me that hope in an America that accepted non-religious people was futile and naive. Hm... sort of like hoping for a country where races are treated equally, where women don't suffer from discrimination, and where gays and lesbians aren't treated as second class citizens?

I believe the fight against the religious monopoly goes hand in hand with Obama's fight against racial divisions... and I'm not alone. Sam Harris wrote a great article on the issue.

He says:

"Like every candidate, Obama must appeal to millions of voters who believe that without religion, most of us would spend our days raping and killing our neighbors and stealing their pornography. Examples of well-behaved and comparatively atheistic societies like Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Denmark—which surpass us in terrestrial virtues like education, health, public generosity, per capita aid to the developing world, and low rates of violent crime and infant mortality—are of no interest to our electorate whatsoever."

and

"Obama did not say that religion’s effect on our society, and on the black community especially, has been destructive—and where it has seemed constructive it has generally taken the place of better things. Religion unites, motivates, and consoles beleaguered people not with knowledge, but with superstition and false promises. Surely there is a better way to bring people together in the 21st century."

and my favorite,

"But Obama’s candidacy is also depressing, for it demonstrates that even a person of the greatest candor and eloquence must still claim to believe the unbelievable in order to have a political career in this country. We may be ready for the audacity of hope. Will we ever be ready for the audacity of reason?"


Will we ever be ready? I hope so.