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Review of Book on Obama's Faith puts Author in Hot Water
 Although his latest book on the
faith of political leader has not yet hit the shelves, author Stephen
Mansfield has already found himself bombarded by hate mail. The Faith
of Barack Obama, which will be available around August 5, adds to the
several books Mansfield has already written on political men of faith,
including George Bush and Tom Delay. However, unlike many of those on
the political and religious right, the former evangelical pastor who
refers to himself as a “Christian writer” and
“patriot” was not very critical of the pro-gay,
pro-choice White House contender, according to a recent review.
The book’s
“tone ranges from gently critical to gushing, and the author
defends Obama – and even his controversial former minister, the
Rev. Jeremiah Wright – from conservative critics, and portrays
him as a compelling figure for Christian voters,” commented Ben
Smith, a writer for Politico.com who interviewed Mansfield.
“He (Mansfield) approvingly quotes Obama's old rival Rep. Bobby
Rush saying that Obama's Senate win was ‘divinely
ordained,’” he added in his June 16 article.
Mansfield, however, has defended himself against Smith’s comments
and pleads with conservative Christians to not draw conclusions from a
single article on a single political blog.
He says he wrote The Faith of Barack Obama because “there are
certain lives you have to understand in any age in order to understand
the times.”
“It is a largely objective look at how Obama came to his unique
brand of faith, what he believes, what his experience at Trinity United
Church of Christ was and how his faith shapes his politics,”
Mansfield wrote in his June 17 blog, titled “An Internet
Mugging.”
“Though I'm a political conservative and deeply pro-life, I
wanted to tell the story in a straightforward, informative
fashion,” he continued. “I believe that Obama's story of
faith captures the current religious trends in America just as George
W. Bush's did five years ago when I wrote The Faith of George W.
Bush.”
Notably, Smith had stated in his review that Mansfield’s book
“raises some questions about Obama’s own faith, including
his willingness to see contradictions in the bible, his belief that
religions other than Protestant Christianity provide other
‘paths’ to a ‘higher power,’ and his doubts
about the afterlife.”
“There are also passages in Mansfield's book that may give Obama's secular supporters pause,” he added.
Despite whatever praises or criticisms are present in the book,
however, Mansfield says “no one could read my book and conclude
that it is pro-Obama any more than they can conclude it is
anti-Obama.”
“I guess in our hyper-partisan world, objectivity is an evil, but
that is what I've attempted,” he wrote in his blog. “Any
evangelical who reads this book is going to be informed about Obama's
faith and then be allowed to draw his or her own conclusions.”
“And, by the way,” Mansfield added, “the book wasn't
written for evangelicals. It was written for people who read.”
Published by Thomas Nelson, the world’s largest Christian
publisher, The Faith of Barack Obama will be released to retail outlets
– including Christian stores, Wal-Mart, and secular bookstores
– some time around the first week of August.
Mansfield’s first smash hit, "The Faith of George W. Bush," spent 15 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list in 2004.
Source: Christian Post
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