Title: The Faith of Barack ObamaAuthor: Stephen Mansfield
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Category: Non-fiction
My Rating:***
There is no shortage of information out there about president-elect Obama, but I really appreciated Stephen Mansfield's fairly objective pre-election portrayal of our 44th president and his faith. Mansfield provides well-reserached details about Obama's life, family background and encounters with different religions, and he describes to the best of his ability what it is Obama believes and has faith in. The fact is, we all have faith in something, and Mansfield makes it pretty clear that Obama does believe in God and Jesus, and to him that means carrying out Jesus' mission to help the poor and needy and to fight social injustice. Mansfield tackles the controversial issues of Rev. Jeremiah Wright's influence on Obama as his pastor of many years and Obama's voting record and stance on abortion rights. He tries to highlight both sides of the arguments and provides a foundation of facts for the reader to make up his or her mind. One of my favorite chapters profiled the "four faces of faith in politics:" Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Barack Obama, and George W. Bush. Though Mansfield tries to stay objective about Obama's faith, he does make the point that the political landscape in regards to faith and religion is changing, including the emergence and growth of the Religious Left.
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