Obama and hell

What does Barack Obama think about God sending people to hell as a punishment of everlasting and indescribable torture if they do not come to Him through Jesus Christ? Is Obama a true "Christian?"

Newsweek magazine, in its July 21 edition, ran a fascinating and informative cover story about Sen. Obama under the headline WHAT HE BELIEVES in which it explored, in considerable detail, the religious persuasion of the presumptive Democatic presidential nominee.

Among other things, the story should serve to put an end to the idea -- still, amazingly, held by some apparently dim-witted Americans -- that Mr. Obama is a Muslim. Apparently, according to some polls, some 25% of the electorate hangs onto this idea. (Perhaps they do so not out of simple, raw ignorance, but out of malicious intent, hoping to spread the idea by sharing it with others, even though they know it is not true. Not that being a Muslim, in and of itself, should disqualify anyone from becoming President of the United States in a land of "equal opportunity for all," but most people understand that many, many Americans have no intention of offering such equal opportunity to a Muslim, for goodness sake. For that matter, not even to a Mormon.)

The Newsweek article offered a terrific insight into Mr. Obama's spiritual life -- and I was very impressed by the wonderful journalism done here. Most interesting of all to me was Mr. Obama's views about the standard Christian doctrine of eternal damnation.

That doctrine states that those who do not come to God through Jesus Christ will be condemned to unremitting torture in the everlasting fires of hell -- nomatter how good a person has been in her or his life. It does not matter whether one has been kind and generous, caring and compassionate, patient and understanding, forgiving and loving all throughout life.

Posh, says God. Meaningless trivia. I am concerned only with doctrinal adherence regarding the Reentry Process. I threw you out of Paradise because you were not Perfect, and I made it impossible for you to ever BE Perfect, so I sent you my Son, Jesus, to make things right by shedding his blood on your behalf -- for a blood sacrifice is the only thing that will do. THAT is how bad you all are! And Jesus TOLD you that the only way back to Me was through Him. If you do not believe that, I will extract my blood from YOU! You shall writhe and burn in incomprehensible pain.anguish, and torture forever, and even forever more.

(Well, maybe Standard Christian Doctrine doesn't put it in those terms, but that's what it means; that's what it comes down to.)

Newsweek says that Mr. Obama told its reporters, in the background for the story, that his mother was a wonderful person who did good works all her life, and tried hard to show compassion and caring for all. She taught him, among other things, to be tolerant of other people's views, even when he may disagree with them.

That is where he obtained his political training, in a sense. Then he related how Franklin Graham, the son of Rev. Billy Graham and now head of Dr. Graham's ministry, asked him how, as a Christian, he could, in Newsweek's words, "reconcile New Testament claims that salvation was attainable only through Jesus Christ with a campaign that embraces pluralism and diversity."

Mr. Obama told Newsweek that he replied:

"It is a precept of my Christian faith that my redemption comes through Christ, but I am also a big believer in the Golden Rule, which I think is an essential pillar not only of my faith but of my values and my ideals and my experience here on Earth. I've said this before, and I know this raises questions in the minds of some evangelicals. I do not believe that my mother, who never formally embraced Christianity as far as I know...I do not believe she went to hell."

So there you have it. Does that mean that Barack Obama is not a Christian? I am anxious to hear from all of the other Christian bloggers on Beliefnet on this question -- although I don't expect a single one of them to respond here to this question. Will you? Do you have an answer to this question? What do you think...is Sen. Obama a Christian if he doesn't believe that his mother went to hell?