I was going to discuss Chapters 2 and 3 of the book, respectively entitled "My House, Too" and "Faith Fit for the Age." It turns out, though, that I had way too much to say about Chapter 2. Chapter 3 will have to wait.

Much has been made of Mansfield's even-handed, neutral, objective examination of Obama's faith in the book. Much has been made to emphasize that Mansfield is a Republican, holds a far more right-leaning theology than does Obama, but that he has nevertheless written a "balanced and neutral" examination of the candidate's faith. Mansfield himself touts this aspect of the book.

I did not get that sense in Chapter 2, which is essentially an overview of Obama's home church, Trinity United Church of Christ, and its most famous (infamous?) clergyman, Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Not to say that it was overtly biased. It was just the opposite. Mansfield goes out of his way to balance and complement his lengthy discussion of Wright's and his mentors' more radical racial/theological views with a story of how Wright dealt with a black female member of the church, fully committed to the cause of black liberation, who fell in love with a white member and chose not to marry him because she could reconcile that decision with her worldview. Wright immediately summoned her to drop everything and meet with him, and over the course of 4 hours, convinced her that she should marry the white man: "God does not want us to make decisions about people based on race, he told her. The future belongs to those who are prepared to break down barriers...Marry this man, he told her, and forge a new history together."

The story fills all of three paragraphs and is expressly included as an example of the "mystery" of this man. But for some 18 pages preceding it, Mansfield discusses Trinity's current tenor as "a cultural phenomenon" and a "religious experience;" the preaching of the gospel there from within the lens of a radical wing of black liberation theology; the exaltation of Rev. Wright to a level approaching the blasphemous. Wright's more controversial sound bites are included, including, of course, the "God Damn America" sermon; as are a few inflammatory sound bites from the leading liberation theologians who influenced Wright.

But because this is a book about Barack Obama, not Jeremiah Wright, Mansfield climaxes the chapter with these words: "And all of this...would come to bear on the life of Barack Obama."

Like I said, I don't think Mansfield is trying to be unbalanced here. He is, in fact, trying not to be. But try as we might, our own opinions, our own worldviews, will never fail to be discernable, no matter how hard we try to remain "neutral."

18 pages of painting a picture of a church and a pastor that care solely for the black community; that a black Jesus; that see America as fundamentally unjust, as the oppressor from whom Jesus came to free them. 18 pages, "balanced" by a moving story of Wright convincing the black woman to marry the white man. I appreciated that story. It was moving. But balance? No.

No one who reads this chapter will come away thinking that Barack Obama was fundamentally shaped by the black-woman-marrying-the-white-man story. Most who read this chapter will come away thinking that Obama was fundamentally shaped by the radical fringe of black liberation theology.

Was he?

Tune in next time.

Grace and Peace,
Raffi

**Previous Posts in this Series:

The Faith of Barack Obama: An Introduction to a Book Review Series

The Faith of Barack Obama: A Review Series (Day 1) -- A Double Prologue