Yesterday, President Obama declared himself a supporter of same-sex marriage. He announced:
“This is something that, you know, [Michelle and I have] talked about over the years and she, you know, she feels the same way, she feels the same way that I do. And that is that, in the end the values that I care most deeply about and she cares most deeply about is how we treat other people and, you know, I, you know, 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…”Back in 2004, as a candidate for the US Senate, he said: “I’m a Christian. I do believe that tradition and my religious beliefs say that marriage is something sanctified between a man and a woman.” And this is the view he reiterated throughout his 2008 presidential campaign. Fair enough: he’s changed his mind. Unless you’re born with infallible theological insight, a reconsideration of some immature beliefs is inevitable as one matures: the milk is exchanged for meat. That is clearly the President’s latest view.
Yet it is to be observed that he invoked Christ and the Bible to his electoral cause in 2008, and he is doing so again in 2012. And it is the name of Jesus which is dragged through the mud.
