In Obama’s inauguration speech, a new American religion

[cbayer]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/guest-voices/post/in-obamas-inauguration-speech-a-new-american-religion/2013/01/25/7cb93216-6740-11e2-85f5-a8a9228e55e7_blog.html

Posted at 05:53 PM ET, 01/25/2013
In Obama’s inauguration speech, a new American religion
By Diana Butler Bass


U.S. President Barack Obama gives his inauguration address during the public ceremonial inauguration on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol January 21, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Mark Wilson - GETTY IMAGES)

In the days following President Obama’s inauguration address, commentators across the political spectrum have made much about how it overtly expressed a progressive agenda.

It was not only a politically progressive speech, however, it was a masterwork of progressive theology: a public sermon on the meaning of America, a creedal statement and a call to practice that faith in the world. It was an expression of a genuinely pluralistic America, the first inaugural address of a new sort of American civil spirituality.

President Obama is a Christian but made few, if any, direct appeals to religion during his recent campaign. As president, he has a new historical problem when it comes to speaking of faith. Through the twentieth century, presidents were able to craft a generally religious language that addressed America’s three most influential groups-Protestants, Catholics, and Jews. When President Kennedy delivered his inaugural address, it was considered the best public sermon in this tradition of American civil religion.

But the old civil religion is no longer enough. In the first decade of the twenty-first century, the percentage of the Christian population has declined as the number of nones, atheists, agnostics, and those adhering to non-Christian religions increased exponentially. In 2011, according to the Pew Forum, the United States became an officially pluralistic religious country for the first time in its history, with no single faith tradition claiming the allegiance of 50 percent of the population. Overtly Judeo-Christian understandings of God are no longer adequate to address and include all of America’s people. President Obama is the first president who, as a Christian person, has to speak to and for the new communities of American faiths.

more at link

[skepticscott]

1. Yawn

Just another hack writer who has to keep up readership by still calling something, anything "god" or "religion", claiming that the "new" religion is somehow more valid, even while acknowledging that the religious beliefs people have held for millennia are pretty much circling the bowl.

[MineralMan]

2. Sorry, but I didn't see a "new" religion anywhere in his speech.

I saw a recognition that not everyone is a Christian, and that some are non-believers, with no religion at all. But he didn't discuss any "new" religion.

[cbayer]

3. He didn't discuss any new religion.

That's the take of the author of the article. She talks about "spiritual pluralism" and how he is the first president that is in the position of being inclusive and not just speaking to christians. She also talks about how he uses religious ideology which is shared by many different religions to focus on issues of civil liberties and social justice.

Her analysis of this is interesting, imo

[kwassa]

4. Good commentary

thought I don't always agree with DBB, I thought this was good.

I liked this part:

What binds together the variety of American faiths? President Obama insisted that our unity is found in a powerful theme, borrowed from the twin theological sources of his own African-American Christianity and Protestant liberalism: Life is a journey. In both of these theological traditions, one is never fully satisfied with the way things are. We are on perpetual pilgrimage, never arriving to a settled place. We seek deeper justice, greater knowledge of ourselves in and through God, elusive wisdom, and wise action as we sojourn in and through the world. At the outset of the speech, President Obama stated, “Today we continue a never-ending journey to bridge the meaning of those words [of our founding texts] with the realities of our time.” We are political sojourners.

Not only is this idea at the core of President Obama’s liberal Christianity, it is also central to contemporary spiritualities, Judaism, Buddhism, forms of native religion, Islamic traditions and agnosticism. To call the American people into a journey is both a spiritual and political invitation toward new understanding of who we are and who we might be. To President Obama, the appeal is a Christian one, but also one shared and understood by others. It is both specific and open at the same time.

In the second section of the speech, President Obama articulated six beliefs of a spiritual and political, as well as inclusive and pluralistic, creed: 1) We believe in community; 2) We believe in shared prosperity; 3) We believe in mutual care of one another; 4) We believe in stewardship of the Earth; 5) We believe in peacemaking; and 6) We believe in equality and human rights. Each one of these creedal statements was backed by subtle references to Hebrew or Christian scriptures, an occasional historical reference to a noted sermon or hymn, as well as more general appeals to God or divine favor.

[madrchsod]

5. the six truths are not based in any one religion

they are universal truths probably developed when we decided to join into hunter gather tribes.

what i did like in his speech is the way he shoved those judeo-christians values the right thinks it owns right back in their faces.

[cbayer]

6. I think that is her point - that these are universal truths held by all kinds

of believers and non-believers. He presents them through his own personal religious lens while recognizing that they apply to others who hold different religious POV's.

[skepticscott]

11. No, he doesn't

He cobbles together a bunch of secular and progressive public policy ideals and tries to peddle them as a "new religion" or a "theology". Why do these things need to deserve to be called a "religion", other than the inability of many people to imagine functioning without something in their lives that they can label in that way?

[tama]

7. Remember Ithaca

Life is a journey. In both of these theological traditions, one is never fully satisfied with the way things are. We are on perpetual pilgrimage, never arriving to a settled place. We seek deeper justice, greater knowledge of ourselves in and through God, elusive wisdom, and wise action as we sojourn in and through the world. At the outset of the speech, President Obama stated, “Today we continue a never-ending journey to bridge the meaning of those words [of our founding texts] with the realities of our time.” We are political sojourners.

Seeking and learning is fine. "God", if that word is of any use, is not "it", God is verb. But it's not just "travel", "learn", "seek". But also "be" and "belong". All sojourners need places to rest and refresh. A fountain, shade of tree, warmth of fire, hospitality to seeking sojourners. While you journey, take care not to destroy what you seek, out of fear and insecurity. Happy trip, lots of wonders and pleasures, as long as you will.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=cvcZxjQvq4I

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. You could call it 'humanist':

Humans are social by nature and find meaning in relationships. Humanists long for and strive toward a world of mutual care and concern, free of cruelty and its consequences, where differences are resolved cooperatively without resorting to violence. The joining of individuality with interdependence enriches our lives, encourages us to enrich the lives of others, and inspires hope of attaining peace, justice, and opportunity for all.

Working to benefit society maximizes individual happiness. Progressive cultures have worked to free humanity from the brutalities of mere survival and to reduce suffering, improve society, and develop global community. We seek to minimize the inequities of circumstance and ability, and we support a just distribution of nature's resources and the fruits of human effort so that as many as possible can enjoy a good life.

Humanists are concerned for the well being of all, are committed to diversity, and respect those of differing yet humane views. We work to uphold the equal enjoyment of human rights and civil liberties in an open, secular society and maintain it is a civic duty to participate in the democratic process and a planetary duty to protect nature's integrity, diversity, and beauty in a secure, sustainable manner.

Thus engaged in the flow of life, we aspire to this vision with the informed conviction that humanity has the ability to progress toward its highest ideals. The responsibility for our lives and the kind of world in which we live is ours and ours alone.

http://www.americanhumanist.org/Humanism/Humanist_Manifesto_III

With the 'flow of life' being similar to a 'journey'.

[cbayer]

9. You certainly could. One thing, though, is that I think many of the "nones"

resist labels at all.

I was thinking about this last night. People sometimes accuse me of being coy or cagey when I don't or won't discuss my personal beliefs or lack of beliefs.

The reasons for it are multifactorial, but not wishing to be labeled is definitely a factor.

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. 'humanist' has always seemed a label that should be acceptable

We are, after all, all humans. Though I have seen DUers attack it on the grounds that it discriminates against animals.

[cbayer]

12. In the broadest sense, it might be acceptable, but (and this is a big but)

there are organizations that include that word and people who may use it as part of the way they describe themselves or as an internet user name. Not wanting to be labeled may often have something to do with not being identified with those groups or those people.