Dealing with Rumors

I've been surprised lately that several of my friends continue to bring up Obama's roots - sometimes joking, sometimes insinuating, but always leaving an accusation of Obama as a Muslim, Jihadist, terrorist, or even some half-hearted association with Osama bin Laden.

I'm sure that most of these folks are trying to get under my skin or be funny, but they seem to be repeating elements of a narrative that takes on a life of it's own.

I've heard various bits and pieces that make these stories laughable, but I decided that maybe I ought to go ahead and do a little research. I found the following quote from a speech given by Obama in June of 2007. For me, this speech lays to rest any possible questions. I don't have any special ability to decide what others believe. All I can do is listen to what they say and absent some specific reason to doubt their truthfulness, I try to take them at their word.

"So one Sunday, I put on one of the few clean jackets I had, and went over to Trinity United Church of Christ on 95th Street on the South Side of Chicago. And I heard Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright deliver a sermon called "The Audacity of Hope." And during the course of that sermon, he introduced me to someone named Jesus Christ. I learned that my sins could be redeemed. I learned that those things I was too weak to accomplish myself, He would accomplish with me if I placed my trust in Him. And in time, I came to see faith as more than just a comfort to the weary or a hedge against death, but rather as an active, palpable agent in the world and in my own life. It was because of these newfound understandings that I was finally able to walk down the aisle of Trinity one day and affirm my Christian faith. It came about as a choice, and not an epiphany. I didn't fall out in church, as folks sometimes do. The questions I had didn't magically disappear. The skeptical bent of my mind didn't suddenly vanish. But kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side, I felt I heard God's spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to His will, and dedicated myself to discovering His truth and carrying out His works."

"The skeptical bent of my mind didn't suddenly vanish." That's a statement that resonates with me. Faith as a decision, but without perfect understanding. That sounds about right to me.