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THE QUESTION
Election of Obama
What does the election of Barack Obama as president say about America? What does it say to the world?
Posted by
Sally Quinn and Jon Meacham on November 5, 2008 12:19 AM
FROM THE PANEL
Obama's Election Put America Back In Front
The election of Barack Obama is one of the most heart warming things to have happened in recent years.
Posted by Julia Neuberger, on November 24, 2008 9:32 AM
My Faith in America's Promise
Even as I write this, I am weeping, because this was a victory of Biblical proportions. Barack Obama was and is tired of divisiveness; God was and is tired of divisiveness. God brought this nation to this day, "for such a time as this." This is a new America which honors the God who created us all, the God who loves all of us, no matter who we are.
Posted by Susan K. Smith, on November 11, 2008 9:04 AM
Realistic Hope and Hopeful Realism
Obama's reading of Niebuhr and his experience and observation of life as it is lived in complex times will show up in his "realistic" activity. Or am I too hopefully naive even to hope that this will be the case? Realistically: no.
Posted by Martin Marty, on November 11, 2008 7:38 AM
God Be Praised - Barack Obama
God be praised, Barack Obama. Let all see the hand of the God of history at his work in this matter.
Posted by Gardner Calvin Taylor, on November 11, 2008 6:45 AM
Obama's Convergence of Hopes
The global celebrations of Obama's victory were an opening of the letter. That is why, in responding to the "On Faith" questions, I did not distinguish between "about America" and "to the world." What Obama's election says about us it says to the world.
Posted by Willis E. Elliott, on November 11, 2008 6:31 AM
The Founders Vision Is Alive and Not in Stone
The Torah brings me into being as a Jew; the Constitution brings me into being as an American. What an incredible gift Obama has for weaving such metaphors for us as we embark on the hard work of repairing our great nation.
Posted by Andy Bachman, on November 11, 2008 6:20 AM
Cosmic Companionship
Obama's spontaneous, clear, concise, incisive response to Brooks' query regarding Niebuhr gave me hope and assurance that Obama understood well and carried in both his heart and mind Niebuhr's brand of pragmatic, Christian realism.
Posted by James Anderson, on November 11, 2008 5:05 AM
History in the Remaking
Republican or Democrat, black or white, Jew or Christian, adherent of other religions or no religion at all, the sense of turning a corner, taking a chance on hope, embracing an unknown future, moving toward unity, was unmistakable.
Posted by Arnold M. Eisen, on November 10, 2008 8:47 AM
We All Earned the Puppy
Obama's election allows us to believe, not in him, but in the capacity of ourselves and our compatriots to move beyond racism and prejudice and choose a path of hope.
Posted by Starhawk, on November 10, 2008 7:43 AM
A Nation Born Again in Grant Park
Obama's election makes the case that faith trumps fear while hope and change are not just simple sound bites or campaign slogans but the heartbeat of a nation looking for more.
Posted by Samuel Rodriguez, on November 10, 2008 6:40 AM
American Democracy Works Again
May God bless our new President Barack Obama and other government leaders. May God bless America and bless the rest of the world from and through America.
Posted by Leith Anderson, on November 10, 2008 6:30 AM
Healing Through Responsible Faith
They will see our faith reflected in sound economic policy, a strong foreign voice for democracy, and equality among all peoples. We must continue to embrace our faith and safeguard its public expression, not water it down.
Posted by Matt Maher, on November 8, 2008 10:48 AM
The Pragmatism of America
Ultimately, most Jews voted for Obama, quite simply, because they found him to be the better candidate. Tallying up the qualities of the two sides, they searched their consciences, and picked the person whom they thought best qualified for the job.
Posted by Jonathan D. Sarna, on November 7, 2008 3:40 PM
The Promise of America
President-elect Obama, the first president born in the 1960s, the first multiracial president, demonstrates that we are in a mosaic historical shifting not only in demographics but also the U.S. consciousness.
Posted by Gabriel Salguero, on November 7, 2008 1:42 PM
The Maturing of America
During this election, I felt that our nation was poised between the chance to grow up a little and the chance to prolong its adolescence a little longer. By choosing Barack Obama, I believe, we've chosen to mature into a more responsible and humble young adulthood as a nation.
Posted by Brian D. McLaren, on November 7, 2008 12:21 PM
The Diversity of America
Obama's message of hope and change also resonated loudly with young people, minorities and average Americans.
Posted by Pamela K. Taylor, on November 7, 2008 11:20 AM
Obama's Election: Trust, Hope, Belief
Barack Obama is a person of deep faith who does not use God as a trump card to simply legitimate and affirm his views, or as a self-righteous club to beat up people with whom he disagrees. Rather, he uses his faith as a source of wisdom and inspiration that invites the audacity of hope, the virtue of humility, and the quality of compassion
Posted by Irwin Kula, on November 6, 2008 8:17 AM
Why the World Was Rooting for Obama
Obama inspires the universal dreams of all humans - that of audacious hope, of idealistic (and otherwise unrealistic) optimism, and of far-fetched success and transformation - dreams most powerfully represented in America and "the American dream."
Posted by Daisy Khan, on November 6, 2008 7:14 AM
"Convulsions, Sobs, and Laughter"
Obama''s election will bring immediate change globally. The rest of the world breathed a sigh of relief at the end of the neocons' attempt to create an American military empire.
Posted by Deepak Chopra, on November 6, 2008 7:02 AM
Barack Obama is Not the Messiah
If we are serious about healing the divides in this country, as Obama has pledged over and again, let's follow his example. Let's celebrate this moment with smaller claims about its significance and larger acts which embody the values we claim to celebrate.
Posted by Brad Hirschfield, on November 6, 2008 6:08 AM
Obama and King's Dream
As a country we still need to do more to live up to that promise. We should do more to ensure that the rights and dignity of all human beings, including the unborn, are respected. Yet this nation has made progress.
Posted by Thomas G. Bohlin, on November 5, 2008 3:28 PM
America's Truest Self
We have taken only the bare first step on that unknown path to an unknown place, the path of hope and change. But that path is the only way to uncover, discover, our truest self.
Posted by Arthur Waskow, on November 5, 2008 9:27 AM
Yes, We Can
Let us seize this day to celebrate the triumph of what Lincoln called "the better angels of our nature" over fears rooted not only in our nation's immense problems today but in a tortured racial past that also lives in us.
Posted by Susan Jacoby, on November 5, 2008 8:54 AM
Glorious Morning in America
It is glorious that an African-American has been elected President of the United States. Slavery was the original sin of the Republic and racism remains the bitter experience of too many Americans. The election of Barack Obama will not end racism in the United States, but it is a positive, symbolic step forward.
Posted by John Mark Reynolds, on November 5, 2008 8:29 AM
The Vote Heard Around the World
President-elect Obama is right, this election was not just about him, it was about us as a people and whether we can believe in our national ideals and act on them. It is also an election about the world and how we want to live together rather than annihilate one another in spasms of fear.
Posted by Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, on November 5, 2008 8:06 AM
A Victory for Humanity
Our president-elect is also a man of faith. And he did the quintessentially American thing of choosing, as an adult, his expression of faith.
Posted by William Tully, on November 5, 2008 7:32 AM
New American Gospel
When Obama took the stage, I heard my little boy stir. He felt the earth shift. We all did. As I looked at television images of crowds in Atlanta and Chicago and Kenya, I felt like I saw the faces of King and Lincoln and Mandela.
Posted by Eboo Patel, on November 5, 2008 2:32 AM
America Speaks of Freedom, Hope
The historic American election of 2008 will be remembered for many things,but above all it will be remembered for Barack Obama's ability to inspire all people- Americans as well as millions around the world-Black, White and Brown, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Atheists and agnostics, men, women and children - to believe in the audacity of Hope.
Posted by Salman Ahmad, on November 5, 2008 12:50 AM
A Kinder and Gentler America
The election of President-elect Barack Obama, a man who has emerged from poverty, destitution and oppression, is a historic event. He is ideally suited to project a kinder, gentler image of the United States, just as President John F. Kennedy did all too briefly in the 1960s.
Posted by Arun Gandhi, on November 5, 2008 12:02 AM
FEATURED COMMENTS
lewes17266: I hope the defeat of McCain/Palin signals an end to the Religious Right's stronghold on democracy. I am always dumbfounded when our politic...
CCNL: The election says many important things but the important one is that the President's last name is not Clinton. God Bless America!!!!...
