A Failure of Faith

I believe in Jesus Christ.

It's a central part of my life, the bedrock of everything I do. Like many Christians, my faith is a source of strength, comfort and stability.

It defines me in so many ways.

I cringed these past few days watching Barack Obama's faith being paraded before the nation. As the media feasted on video clips, soundbites and analysis about his former pastor Jeremiah Wright, I watched Obama struggle to walk the fine line between loyal Christian and political aspirant. I could sense that Obama's need to find a way to support the man who led him to Christ, while simultaneously calming the fears of the white voters he must attract, provoked an extremely personal battle within his being.

He was struggling with a failure of faith.

But, it wasn't a failure of faith in his pastor. Even as I watched Obama renounce, denounce and then announce his unhappiness with his pastor's comments, I never felt that he lost faith in Wright. As I watched Obama scramble to defend sermons that most self-aware black people know to be true, I could see him bristle ever so slightly at the repeated attempts by commentators to label Wright as some unbalanced kook.

Obama knew the true measure of this man, and it was much more then what could be captured in a 15 or 30 second snippet from thousands of sermons. Yet, Barack also knew that the truth Wright saw, the truth many black people across this country see, is part of a reality so foreign to most white voters that there is no way to bridge that gap. There is no way to force many white people to confront the lies embedded deep within the foundation of their country without alienating them forever.


For a split second, Obama lost his faith in the country he's sacrificing so much for.

Make no mistake, this presidential campaign is a sacrifice. I understand that all politicians, no matter how humble they may seem, are driven by a dangerous cocktail of ambition and arrogance. Obama has a healthy ego and it is manifested in his belief that he is uniquely qualified to serve as this country's president.

However, when I watch the delicate dance Obama must perform to maintain the viability of his campaign, it becomes difficult to view this endeavor as anything but a sacrifice. When I see Obama forced to downplay his race, to ignore obvious slights, to cast aside confidants because they have become liabilities, well it's hard not to think that the brother believes he is serving a higher purpose. The skeptics might brand him as confused Negro bent on assimilation at all costs, but anyone who has read the brother's book or watched how he carries himself knows that's not how he's built.

Point blank, how many of us would be willing to endure what he has endured the past twelve months? To swallow the insults and hate he has gorged himself on just to serve a group of people who will be waiting with baited breath for your first mistake?

I wouldn't.

However, I think this recent confrontation involving Wright finally made Obama question what he was willing to give up to get where he wants to go. I think that is the real reason he refused to denounce Rev. Wright the man, and instead focused on condemning the preacher's words. Obama previously ignored calls to chastise his wife for her comments about her own lack of pride in America. In both cases, I think Barack drew a line in the sand and said "No further."

No further.

It's a terrible thing to lose faith in your nation. I understand it intimately because I still struggle with repeating the Pledge of Allegiance due to those pesky words about liberty and justice for all. The struggles that black people have endured, and continue to endure, have damaged our relationship with America. Many of us bear scars that will never completely heal.

I think Obama has some of those same wounds.

That's why the speech he plans to give addressing race and religion is so important. If he is going to be president he must provide a balm for the wounds of all races in this country. He must bind us together despite all the many forces working to tear us asunder. He is no messiah, but he does have a message and a purpose.

He must combat this country's failure of faith.

(Footnote: He came through y'all!)