National Prayer Breakfast Breakdown, Part 1: Obama on the Role for Faith in Politics

By Matthew Santoro

The intersection of Christianity and American politics was on full display at yesterday's National Prayer Breakfast, where President Obama delivered remarks that were equal parts piety and policy.

His speech in many ways reflected the core values of the progressive Christian movement within the United States, describing Christianity in active and missional terms. In a short, three-part blog series, I wanted to break down some elements of the speech that I felt really resonated.  This afternoon's topic ...

Obama on the Role for Faith in Politics

In an earlier portion of the President's speech, he succinctly lays out his vision and argument for the role of faith in politics for in a nation with diverse beliefs. He begins:

We know that part of living in a pluralistic society means that our personal religious beliefs alone can't dictate our response to every challenge we face.

Here Obama does two things.  First, he acknowledges the pluralistic composition of the American people. We are a nation of many faiths and of no faith.  Second, because we are a nation of many faiths and of no faith, we must realize that the values we bring to government cannot be rooted in faith alone. There must be a rational basis/pluralistic justification for policy.  It can't merely codify the moral precepts of one religious sect over another, or the priorities of believers over non-believers.

Obama continues:

But in my moments of prayer, I'm reminded that faith and values play an enormous role in motivating us to solve some of our most urgent problems, in keeping us going when we suffer setbacks, and opening our minds and our hearts to the needs of others.

The President pivots and points to faith's motivational role in helping to solve or combat some of the world's greatest evils.  Not a minute later, the President lists a number of American reformers who were religiously motivated, arguing that they fought hard "not just because it was sound policy... but because their faith and their values dictated it, and called for bold action."

The President's argument concludes:

We can't leave our values at the door. If we leave our values at the door, we abandon much of the moral glue that has held our nation together for centuries, and allowed us to become somewhat more perfect a union.

Obama echoes one of the central themes in the writings of Jim Wallis, Sojourners CEO and advisor to the Obama administration. It's a theme that Obama himself expanded greatly upon in an article he wrote for Sojourners Magazine back in 2006 when he was still in the House of Representatives.

The President argues that while we shouldn't legislate the dictates of our personal faith (theocracy), the values that faith imparts play an important role in setting priorities and crafting effective policies.  If the values can translate into effective legislation with a rational basis, then society only stands to lose by leaving those values out of the conversation. After all, religiously-motivated movements have been the backbone of some revolutionary changes in this nation, including the abolition of slavery, the end of child labor, and civil rights legislation.

But by beginning his argument the acknowledgment of our society's pluralism, the President carefully contextualizes his praise for religious values within the contraints of a religiously free and diverse nation. Religiously-based values in politics must have a rational basis.

This helps explains the relative emphasis that progressive Christians like Obama place on policies related to poverty, immigration, peace, and the environment over those related to sexual morality and personal relationships.

In Part 2, Obama Gets Biblical: Responsibility and the "Least of These" ...