Michelle Obama is the Most Christian First Lady Ever

Published on by D. G. Hart

Okay, I’m borrowing a claim already made elsewhere about the First Lady’s husband.

But it is instructive when blessing Hillary Clinton as the Christian candidate in this year’s presidential contest to remember what Mrs. Obama said about Mrs. Clinton.

First, the baptism of Clinton (by a Fuller Seminary turned Yale University theologian no less):

The best case to be made for Hillary Clinton is that on balance she better represents the convictions and character that should concern Christian citizens. No candidate is perfect. There are certainly areas where Secretary Clinton’s policies and record might give Christians pause. But she takes the threat posed by climate change seriously. Her policies, such as paid family leave, would actually strengthen American families. She is committed to a just and welcoming approach to immigration that does not unduly compromise the legitimate good of security. She supports major reforms to America’s overly retributive and racially-biased criminal justice system. And, perhaps most importantly, she has demonstrated much deeper commitment to supporting the disadvantaged and the vulnerable than her opponent has, his grandiose rhetoric notwithstanding.

Second, keep in mind what Obama said about Clinton:

One of the important aspects of this race is role modeling what good families should look like. And my view is that if you can’t run your own house, you certainly can’t run the White House. Can’t do it.

Of course, Mrs. Obama and the president have not always been so discerning about certain popular entertainers or the lyrics to their songs which rival most of what Donald Trump has said.

Still, sorting out the Christianness of the candidates and their observers is getting really hard to do especially when partisanship clouds judgment.

7 thoughts on “Michelle Obama is the Most Christian First Lady Ever”

  1. Volf lists concern for climate change as the key indicator of a candidate’s Christianness? Odd.

    I was unable to post a comment at Merritt’s place, so I posted this on Miro’s FB page — with the full expectation that I will not hear back from him:

    Miroslav, it was great talking with you at the October 2006 Christianity and Culture conference in East Lansing (has it really been ten years now? Wow!). I have accorded my signed copy of Exclusion and Embrace a place of honor on one of my bookshelves.

    I am curious. You say in the interview with Merritt that Clinton “… on balance … better represents the convictions and character that should concern Christian citizens.” And your very first statement in support of that claim is that Clinton “… takes the threat posed by climate change seriously.”

    Do you suppose the sixteen scientists who signed on to this statement do not take “the threat posed by climate change seriously”:

    No Need to Panic About Global Warming

    I’d love to hear your thoughts.

    Thanks!

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  5. The paid family leave thing is a Trump policy. Just saying.

    And the climate is always changing. There have been lots of times throughout recorded history where the climate has gone through drastic changes, most notably, the centuries of “global cooling” that caused repeated crop failures that eventually contributed to the fall of Rome. Not to mention the Rhine freezing over so the Germans could poor across what once was a natural barrier. The barbarians were hungry. Maybe the Mexicans are too.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. @Bryan
    It is all about the rate. Rapid changes have been known to lead to mass extinctions. The fact that rapid changes may happen naturally does not entail that it is a good idea to do things that cause natural changes. Increasing the CO2 content in the atmosphere by 30% in 50years is a rapid change. Predictions are hard (especially about the future), but the models indicate that continual CO2 production in the atmosphere is quite likely to lead to pretty bad outcomes – not least of which is major population displacement due to coastal flooding.

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  7. Her husband has more hope than any other POTUS:

    2009: Inaugural address

    “For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and non-believers. … To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West, know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.”

    2010: National Prayer Breakfast

    “Empowered by faith, consistently, prayerfully, we need to find our way back to civility. That begins with stepping out of our comfort zones in an effort to bridge divisions. We see that in many conservative pastors who are helping lead the way to fix our broken immigration system. … We see it in the increasing recognition among progressives that government can’t solve all of our problems, and that talking about values like responsible fatherhood and healthy marriage are integral to any anti-poverty agenda.”

    Light-of-Truth-friends-2016.jpgNCR’s award-winning reporting and commentary are possible because of support from people like you. Give today.
    2011: Easter Prayer Breakfast

    “This magnificent grace, this expansive grace, this ‘Amazing Grace’ calls me to reflect. And it calls me to pray. It calls me to ask God for forgiveness for the times that I’ve not shown grace to others, those times that I’ve fallen short.”

    2012: On shift in his and the first lady’s views on same-sex marriage

    “We are both practicing Christians, and obviously this position may be considered to put us at odds with the views of others, but, you know, when we think about our faith, the thing at root that we think about is, not only Christ sacrificing himself on our behalf, but it’s also the golden rule, you know, treat others the way you would want to be treated.”

    2013: After recent trip to the Holy Land, including a stop at the Church of the Nativity

    “I was reminded that while our time on Earth is fleeting, he is eternal. His life, his lessons live on in our hearts and, most importantly, in our actions. When we tend to the sick, when we console those in pain, when we sacrifice for those in need, wherever and whenever we are there to give comfort and to guide and to love, then Christ is with us.”

    2014: After the shooting deaths at two Jewish facilities in Kansas

    “We have to keep coming together across faiths to combat the ignorance and intolerance, including anti-Semitism that can lead to hatred and to violence, because we’re all children of God. We’re all made in his image, all worthy of his love and dignity. And we see what happens around the world when this kind of religious-based or tinged violence can rear its ugly head. It’s got no place in our society.”

    2015: Eulogy for the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, pastor of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C.

    “Our pain cuts that much deeper because it happened in a church. The church is and always has been the center of African-American life, a place to call our own in a too often hostile world, a sanctuary from so many hardships. … That’s what the black church means. Our beating heart. The place where our dignity as a people is inviolate.”

    2016: Final Easter Prayer Breakfast

    “(O)ur faith changes us. I know it’s changed me,” he said. “It renews in us a sense of possibility. It allows us to believe that although we are all sinners, and that at times we will falter, there’s always the possibility of redemption. Every once in a while, we might get something right, we might do some good.”

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