Obama: Clueless on Christian compassion

At a recent church conference, Sen. Barack Obama gave a speech designed to stir the hearts of all of us who yearn for more authentic religion in the public square.

He was earnest, compassionate – and thoroughly misleading about the proper roles of religion and government. As the presidential campaign progresses, we will hear more such talk, and so what he had to say must be dissected carefully.

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First of all, the speech was powerful in its call for moral influence on government. Had parts of it been delivered by my boss, Dr. James Dobson, Barry Lynn would have fired up his sound-bite machine and the media would have been apoplectic for days. But Sen. Obama is a political liberal, and so there was no controversy.

"Our values should express themselves not just through our churches or synagogues or mosques; they should express themselves through our government," he said. "Because whether it's poverty or racism, the uninsured or the unemployed, war or peace, the challenges we face today are not simply technical problems in search of a 10-point plan. They are moral problems rooted in both societal difference and individual callousness – in the imperfections of man."

So far, so good. That is correct Christian theology. But there it stopped.

He blamed poverty on the government, because the earned-income tax credit and the minimum wage are not higher; and he blamed financial stress on the government, because "millions … are going bankrupt" without universal health care.

Just a moment, please. He is speaking, of course, about compassion for others. But in the Gospels, the heart of this virtue is found in the parable of the Good Samaritan. Samaritans were half-breeds, despised by the Jews to whom Jesus told the story. Yet it was a Samaritan who came to the aid of the mugged Jewish traveler on the road to Jericho, after two learned Jews who should have helped the man hurried on by.

The Samaritan put the injured man on his own donkey, and he dipped into his own pocket to procure the man's care. It's important to note Jesus did not blame the government for failing to put police patrols on the road to Jericho. Neither did He blame the government for failing to pay for the man's health care. His answer to the question that provoked the story – "Who is my neighbor" – is to point out the Samaritan's personal, voluntary sacrifice to help a stranger who probably hated him in the first place.

Contrast that to the tired liberal prescription offered by Sen. Obama for the problems of poverty and health care. He'd rather put his hand in someone else's pocket. Here's what he was saying, in essence: "You are hurting, and that makes me feel bad. I will raise his taxes to help you, and then I will feel better (and I will have your vote.)"

In this complex age, that's certainly the easiest way to do it, and it's politically popular. But it's not what Jesus taught. More conservatives than liberals seem to get this. Arthur Brooks, the government professor at Syracuse, is one of them; he's written a book, "Who Really Cares," which compares charitable contributions and reveals that conservatives out give liberals by 30 percent, and on 6 percent less income.

Religion is on the ascendancy as a force in this country, and Sen. Obama's speech indicates he understands this and wants to pay it homage. But there is more to true religion than pleasant, pious words. There is a gritty, often less than pleasurable substance to faith. Courage, perseverance, self-denial and worldly backlash are all in the equation, also.

It is probably misplaced hope to believe that Obama's religious speeches will not always end in such perfunctory prescriptions, but will begin to grasp the substance of authentic religion in the public square.

Tom Minnery is senior vice president of government and public policy for Focus on the Family and author of "Why You Can't Stay Silent: A Biblical Mandate to Shape Our Culture" (Tyndale House Publishers, 2001).