Bloggers Respond To Obama’s Win

On the Revival of Democracy – Bruce at Mainstream Baptist perceives this result as both a “spiritual awakening” and ” the hand of Providence.” Whilst such language may be a little overdrawn, the fact remains that Obama’s victory is the result many (and probably most) evangelicals outside the US would have been praying for and it remains to be seen if evangelicals in the US will perceive what that might mean.

A Historic Event Does Not Make A Historic Presidency – It is important to put this result in the context of our changing geopolitical climate. We should be informed about the world as a whole and we should be circumspect about how much can realistically be achieved through political processes. But, our world is asymmetrical and politics is the reality of human interaction.

Don’t Rely On Obama – Historic as this election is, the reality is we need more than whining about Obama’s potential to disappoint and through-gritted-teeth prayers for the new president. What we need is reminders that a ballot alone does not alter reality and the hard work is to continue being engaged with and working to support the change that many are hoping will spring from this election.

Obama may have tricky relations with Vatican – There’s an interesting story to be told about the high Catholic turnout for Obama in many parts of the country. Whilst there is a tension with traditional positions on abortion, the ethical narrative in Catholic ethics has been changing in recent years in the US to embrace a wider range of issues on the basis of a consistent ethic of life. Whilst the debate in Catholic circles will remain polarised for some time to come, it is in many ways more nuanced and advanced than the equivalent debate amongst evangelicals.

Transformational Election – Transformational Speech! via Presentation Zen Neat and succinct analysis of Obama’s skills as a communicator and the way he used them in the acceptance speech. Whilst I don’t think sermons should be like political speeches in every way, I do believe a great many preachers could learn from good speechmakers like Obama, when it comes to idea-rich content, poetic language and the discipline to not let stories get in the way of the point you are trying to make.

The Christian Response to President Obama – A considered evaluation of how American Christians should respond to Obama’s election (regardless of whether they supported him). Importantly, it highlights the apologetic significance of the way Christians respond to this. The church and especially the evangelical church were judged harshly for their support of Bush and tolerance is low for petulance and pettiness dressed up as “faith.”

Modern times! – Newyorkette has become one of my favourite blogs. I suspect a lot of people with complex biographies of race and migration will, on some level, connect with Obama. What triumphs in his election is the idea that you can have that kind of “mixed background” and be fully American. Do I really have to list all the other western democracies where you would struggle to be accepted with such a background and never stand a chance of rising to the highest office?