Black Clergy Question Sincerity of Obama's Religious Appeal
by Ed Thomas
July 18, 2006
(AgapePress) - - Despite recent remarks by Illinois Senator Barack Obama urging Democrats to "acknowledge the power of faith in Americans' lives" and "compete for the support of Evangelicals and other churchgoers," some pro-family religious leaders are unconvinced of Obama's sincerity.Bishop Harry Jackson, pastor of Hope Christian Church in Maryland and founder and chairman of the High Impact Leadership Coalition (HILC), calls Obama's remarks "political" and "disingenuous," referring to Obama's speech at the Call to Renewal Conference in Washington, DC, last month and an op-ed column in USA Today. Jackson believes Obama and most Democrats still see religious conservatives as narrow-minded and confused in their priorities.
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Bishop Harry Jackson |
As proof, the Maryland minister cites the attempt by himself and other African-American conservative leaders in the HILC to enlist Obama's support for the Marriage Protection Amendment cloture vote in the U.S. Senate last month. "Our team, actually a consortium of the coalition, went to his office," Jackson recalls, "and he's very timid about this issue. His staff wouldn't comment on it."A press release from National Clergy Council member and pro-life advocate Dr. Johnny Hunter confirms having had a similar experience. In the statement, he reports receiving no indication of support for the Marriage Protection Amendment from Obama the day before the Illinois senator voted against moving the measure forward.
Hunter says the "core value beliefs" of Obama's faith have not resulted in actions and votes that support scriptural teaching. Bishop Jackson tends to agree and says when the senator speaks of acknowledging the power of faith, his words should be weighed carefully in light of his actions.
"I think this is politics as usual -- that there's not really sincerity behind this," Jackson asserts, "or we'd be saying, 'Why don't we have a black summit to bring the conservative and the liberal factions together in the black community so that we can get an agenda that we all agree on?'"
According to Bishop Jackson, neither Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, nor any of several other high-profile Democratic senators the coalition visited last month were willing to support the Marriage Protection Amendment.
Ed Thomas, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
