Understanding Barack Obama's Faith | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008

Christian Soldiers
Kathryn Joyce 6/19/2009 12:00:00 AM
Ever since former president George W. Bush referred to the war on terror as a “crusade” in the days after the September 11 attacks, many have charged that the United States was conducting a holy war, pitting a Christian America against the Muslim world. That perception grew as prominent military leaders such as Lt. Gen. William Boykin described the wars in evangelical terms, casting the U.S. military as the "army of God." Although President Obama addressed the Muslim world this month in an attempt to undo the Bush administration's legacy of militant Christian rhetoric that often antagonized Muslim countries, several recent stories have framed the issue as a wider problem of an evangelical military culture that sees spreading Christianity as part of its mission.
The Hundred-Year War
Michael Hirsh 6/4/2009 12:00:00 AM
The president also came off much better than George W. Bush did with his own big outreach speech in January 2008, delivered from the opulent Emirates Palace hotel in Abu Dhabi to an audience of sleepy petro-moguls. Obama's choice citations from the "holy Qur'an"—"Whoever kills an innocent, it is as if he has killed all mankind"—worked well. So did his deft historical references to Islam's role in "paving the way for Europe's Renaissance and Enlightenment." To loud applause, he even pronounced "Assalamu alaikum" correctly.
POLITICS
One Nation Under God?
Daniel Stone 4/7/2009 12:00:00 AM
A nation facing problems of biblical proportions appears to be looking less and less to religion for answers. According to a new NEWSWEEK Poll, the percentage of Americans who think faith will help answer all or most of the country's current problems dipped to a historic low of 48 percent, down from 64 percent in 1994.
CAMPAIGN 2008
Heaven Help Them Decide
Arian Campo-Flores
Going back to Ronald Reagan, the Rev. Wilfredo De Jesús—the senior pastor of a 4,500-member Hispanic evangelical church in Chicago—has pulled the lever for Republicans in presidential elections. "I always voted on the issue of abortion and the sanctity of marriage," he says. This time, though, Sen. Barack Obama's message of faith and social justice, combined with strident GOP rhetoric on illegal immigration, has persuaded him to endorse the Democrat. That switch illustrates the extent to which the Latino evangelical vote is in play—a development that could prove decisive on Nov. 4. Though polls show Obama beating Sen. John McCain among Hispanics as a whole by roughly 30 points, Hispanic evangelicals are a tougher sell. In 2004, 63 percent of them voted for President Bush.
POLITICS | TRUE OR FALSE
Evangelicals Are Crucial to Winning the 2008 Election
Lisa Miller
That's where they agree. But as the 2008 general election unfolds, it's clear that their movement is in disarray—in a transitional period that could diminish its influence this cycle. For decades, right-wing kingmakers used their sway with voters to pick candidates and set a national agenda at the polls and in the courts. But McCain's candidacy has tamped down their enthusiasm, exposing fractures that make a rallying of the troops in the pews unlikely.
The Miracle Workers
Eve Conant
Richard Land had never met one-on-one with a chairman of the Democratic National Committee. The Tennessee evangelist, an influential force in the Southern Baptist Convention, generally views such people as adversaries, if not enemies. So consider his surprise when, at a nonpartisan leadership conference over the New Year's holiday, Howard Dean leaned in and said he'd love to get together for a private chat. Land agreed to meet for coffee at a downtown Washington hotel.