Today, I'll be discussing the Introduction and Chapter 1 of The Faith of Barack Obama. I titled this post "A Double Prologue" because the Introduction sets the stage for the book as a whole, and Chapter 1, entitled "To Walk Between Two World," serves as a preamble to the book's main theme. It is essentially a brief summary of Obama's life culminating in his decision, kneeling at the foot of the Cross, to submit himself to God's will and dedicate himself to discovering His truth.

In the Introduction, Mansfield suggests that Obama's rise to prominence can best be explained by a convergence of three cultural/political phenomena over the last 1/2 decade or so: (1) the loss of the Religious Right's national leadership (a la the death of Jerry Falwell, the Ted Haggard scandal, etc.), (2) the drift of "born again" voters to the Democratic Party, and (3) and the religiously-liberal tilt of young voters.

That convergence set the stage for someone of Obama's ilk to step into the spotlight. Why that person was Barack Obama, according to Mansfield, was due in large measure to a comfortably open and endearing way about the man. Asked by Jay Leno whether he inhaled when he smoked marijuana, he responded: "That was the point." Comfortably open and endearing indeed.

Chapter 1, as I mentioned, is a brief biographical sketch, starting with Obama's maternal grandparents (with a brief discussion of their apparent religious beliefs, or lack thereof) and culminating with his "choice" (and Mansfield stresses that it was just that, as opposed to an epiphany or a dramatic encounter with God or Jesus) to start upon the path of Christian discipleship.

I wasn't an expert in the life of Barack Obama before I read Chapter 1. But I was surprised at the type of things of which I was unaware. Pleasantly surprised. Not because of my lack of information, but because these facts are such things that, in the not-too-distant past, would have been so devastating as derail any chance of political aspirations, let alone a presidential run. And I, a reasonably well-read voter, was simply unaware of them.

I knew that Obama was the child of a mixed-race couple. I did not know that his mother was twice divorced, and that he was conceived outside the sanctity of marriage while his mother was but a teenager. I did not know that he spent a good part of his youth in Indonesia with a Muslim stepfather, and that he regularly attended mosque during this time.

I knew nothing of those facts. There may be hope for us yet.

Here's another interesting tidbit. The question of whether or not Obama was, at some point in his life, an official "Muslim" is open to interpretation. But it seems that, for a minority of shari'ah interpreters, his conversion to Christianity would make him a murtadd under Islamic law, an apostate, requiring him to be rejected by his community and, in some jurisdictions, marked for death.

Which brings me to a theme I see emerging in the first part of the book. Overtly at times and covertly at others, the story is being told through a messianic lens (or maybe I'm just reading it that way). I mentioned the discussion of the potential for a fatwa against him by some fringe, radical Islamic group. The book also opens with a discussion of the 2004 speech at the Democratic National Convention, and notes Obama's awareness that that speech would indeed place him in the public spotlight, echoing (for me, anyway) Jesus' reading of Isaiah in Luke 4 and His proclamation that "Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

But it isn't just Mansfield. A former Congressional challenger said that Obama's political run "was divinely ordained." Mansfield notes that, increasingly, words like "called," "chosen," and "anointed" are being used of Obama.

Those are strong words. Those are big words. They may be true. Who am I to say? But like I've said before, let's keep things in perspective. Called? Probably. Chosen? Perhaps. Anointed? Depends on what you mean by it. Personally, I reserve that word for describing only One person.

A lot going on so far. Stay tuned for Day 2.

Grace and Peace,
Raffi