Tuesday 26 June 2007

Obama: "Faith got hijacked."

Obama said Saturday that the religious right had “hijacked” faith and divided the country by exploiting issues like abortion, same-sex marriage and school prayer.—“But somehow, somewhere along the way, faith stopped being used to bring us together,” Mr. Obama said. “Faith started being used to drive us apart. Faith got hijacked.”

read more | digg story

I think Obama has hit the nail on the head here - Reminds me of what a lot of people have been saying recently about the current hunger for spirituality being a quest for connection and community while institutional religion (not least Christianity) seems more concerned with marking boundaries and raising barriers.

2 comments:

Bock the Robber said...

Why be surprised? That's the nature of institutional religion, no matter what the denomination.

At least, I suppose, we should be grateful that collapsed catholics tend not to drive blazing jeeps into airports.

Stephen Neill said...

Agreed on both counts though lunatic 'Christians' can do some pretty nasty stuff too. Shooting staff at abortion cinics and picketing funerals of gay people spring to mind!