Book review: The Faith of Barack Obama

I was pretty excited when I saw on Michael Hyatt’s blog about the opportunity to get a free copy of The Faith of Barack Obama as long as I was willing to read it and write a review of it. So here goes….

I tend to be one of those types of people that drive pollsters nuts in that I vote on people from both parties and don’t have a strong affiliation with either one. For full disclosure I did give $20 to the Republican Party when I was in high school and they have continued to call me every year since asking for donations – which drives me nuts and really makes me look at the Democrat party more. But that is another story. I do try and stay somewhat up on issues, and try to vote on the best person for each position rather then what party label they have.

For whatever reason Barack seems to be a hard one to really try to get a handle on what he stands for in that there have been almost a non-stop rumblings of things about him and his faith, especially on this great bastion of truth the ‘net. The whole is he a Muslim or not, as if that should even matter. And then the whole debacle with the statements made by his former pastor, make for a messed up image to try to dissect, which makes this book especially timely.

I do have to admit, there was some hesitation in starting to read this book as well. That is because while Barack was one of the first candidates to start talking about faith – the Republicans own that topic don’t they? – these types of conversations can get really weird fast. But with all of this in mind – and the fact that I had a free book and had promised to review it, I dove in…..

And what I found was that Barack’s faith just like his life can not be summed up or explained in a thirty second sound bite. This is especially true when looking at his interactions with Trinity Church in Chicago. There is much good there as well as much that is troubling. I think if people were willing to be honest we would find that much of this is echoed in our own lives. We all are a mix of good and bad and things that we wish we weren’t.

What I found in this easy to read and digest, yet well documented book was a clear and seemingly balanced look at one of our presidential candidates. It was not holding him up to be an icon or a demon, but a man who has a faith and is working through the implications of that faith in his life, how be it a more public life then probably you or me will ever live.

And a balanced look at anything in this time of hype and pomp that comes with a political campaign is like a breath of fresh air, If you want to get a good look at Barack and his faith background, I highly recommend this book.