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BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA


Picture of Barack Hussein Obama
[White House]

1961-

44th President (2009-)

Biographical Data
Religious Views
Quotations
Misquotations
References, Links, & Further Reading



Education: Columbia University, Harvard Law School

Occupation: Community Organizer, Lawyer, College Professor

Political Affiliation: Democrat


Religious Affiliation: United Church of Christ

Summary of Religious Views:

Views on Religion & Politics:


Quotations:

"[A]s president, I want to celebrate the richness and diversity of our faith experience in this country. I think it is important for us to encourage churches and congregations all across the country to involve themselves in rebuilding communities. One of the things I have consistently argued is that we can structure faith-based programs that prove to be successful — like substance abuse or prison ministries — without violating church and state. We should make sure they are rebuilding the lives of people even if they're not members of a particular congregation. That's the kind of involvement that I think many churches are pursuing, including my own..
" . . .
"One of the things that I think churches have to be mindful of is that if the federal government starts paying the piper, then they get to call the tune. It can, over the long term, be an encroachment on religious freedom." -- "Q&A: Barack Obama", Interview by Sarah Pulliam and Ted Olsen, Christianity Today, January (Web-only) 2008, Vol. 52

"I am a Christian, and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful. I didn't 'fall out in church' as they say, but there was a very strong awakening in me of the importance of these issues in my life. I didn't want to walk alone on this journey. Accepting Jesus Christ in my life has been a powerful guide for my conduct and my values and my ideals.
"There is one thing that I want to mention that I think is important. Part of what we've been seeing during the course this campaign is some scurrilous e-mails that have been sent out, denying my faith, talking about me being a Muslim, suggesting that I got sworn in the U.S. Senate with a Quran in my hand or that I don't pledge allegiance to the flag. I think it's really important for your readers to know that I have been a member of the same church for almost 20 years, and I have never practiced Islam. I am respectful of the religion, but it's not my own. One of the things that's very important in this day and age is that we don't use religion as a political tool and certainly that we don't lie about religion as a way to score political points. I just thought it was important to get that in there to dispel rumors that have been over the Internet. We've done so repeatedly, but obviously it's a political tactic of somebody to try to provide this misinformation." -- "Q&A: Barack Obama", Interview by Sarah Pulliam and Ted Olsen, Christianity Today, January (Web-only) 2008, Vol. 52

Misquotations:


References, Links, & Further Reading: Books, Articles, Links


Books

Works by Barack Hussein Obama

Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, Times Books, 1995
The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, Crown Publishers, 2006

Biographies

Stephen Mansfield, The Faith of Barack Obama, Thomas Nelson, 2008
David Mendell, Obama: From Promise to Power, Amistad/HarperCollins, 2007

Articles

Hank De Zutter, "What Makes Obama Run?," Chicago Reader, 8 December 1995
Larissa MacFarquhar, "The Conciliator: Where is Barack Obama coming from?," The New Yorker, 7 May 2007

Links

Works by Barack Hussein Obama

Inaugural Address (Bartleby.com)
Presidential Inaugural Address -- 20 January 2009 (American Rhetoric)
Pre-Inauguration Address at the Lincoln Memorial -- 18 January 2009 (American Rhetoric)
2004 Democratic National Convention Keynote Address (American Rhetoric)
Commencement Address at Knox College -- 4 June 2005 (American Rhetoric)
The War We Need To Win -- 1 August 2006, The Woodrow Wilson Intl. Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C. (American Rhetoric)
Selma Voting Rights March Commemoration at Brown Chapel -- 4 March 2007, Selma, Alabama (American Rhetoric)
The Great Need of the Hour, at the Ebenezer Church in Atlanta, 20 January 2008
Ebenezer Baptist Church Address -- 20 January 2008, Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta (American Rhetoric)
A More Perfect Union -- 18 March 2008, Philadelphia, PA (American Rhetoric)
Address to the People of Berlin (American Rhetoric)
Barack TV | Speeches (barackobama.com)

Biographical Sites

Barack Hussein Obama [alternate site] (POTUS)
Barack Obama (American President)
OBAMA, Barack, (1961 - ) (Biographical Directory of the US Congress)
Barack Obama (Medical History of the Presidents of the United States)

Religious Views

Q&A: Barack Obama, interview by Sarah Pulliam and Ted Olsen (Christianity Today)
Barack Obama: Praying to Be 'An Instrument of God's Will', interview by Dan Gilgoff (beliefnet)
Barack Obama Talks to The Brody File, interview by Dan Gilgoff (CBN)
The Great Need of the Hour, at the Ebenezer Church in Atlanta, 20 January 2008
Ebenezer Baptist Church Address -- 20 January 2008, Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta (American Rhetoric)
A More Perfect Union -- 18 March 2008, Philadelphia, PA (American Rhetoric)



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