Obama and the Bible in public life

I usually try to avoid writing about politics, religion and philosophy are a better fit for me, but this election season has repeatedly brought the two topics together. Focus on the Family founder Dr. James Dobson accused Barack Obama of ‘distorting’ the Bible.

Here’s the quote in question from Obama’s 2006 speech:

Which passages of scripture should guide our public policy? Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is OK and that eating shellfish is an abomination? Or we could go with Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith? Or should we just stick to the Sermon on the Mount?

So before we get carried away, let's read our Bible now. Folks haven't been reading their Bible.

So unless we somehow follow all the teachings of the Old Testament or say the Bible contradicts itself, we’re not reading our Bible?

Biblical principles can be applied to every area of life, but that doesn’t mean every single point of public policy should be dictated by the Bible. In Romans, Paul said we should submit to the government’s authority as long as it doesn’t contradict God’s teaching. God doesn’t give specific instructions on taxes, immigration or many other issues.

To be fair, the point of Obama’s speech was to contradict the secular argument that people shouldn’t bring religion into public life. Our religion or philosophy, whatever it may be, affects every area of our life. Even if it doesn’t give specific instructions, the questions of equality, authority and priority shapes every decision we make. So Obama’s point is a valid and important one.

But the point is weakened by the attitude that the Bible contradicts itself. If someone accepts the Bible as a source of wisdom and teaching that can help guide one’s life, yet also thinks it contradicts itself, which side of the contradiction are they following? They are following the teaching or principle that appeals to their own predetermined logic and morals. That means we’re dealing with people who think they are appealing to some higher authority, but in reality are only following themselves.


Religion and philosophy should be a bigger part of public life, but don’t fool yourself into thinking you’re following the Bible just because you quote a few verses. If you claim to follow Biblical teachings, then you should actually follow them, not your own version of what you think they mean. The Bible was written in a different language and a very different culture. You can’t follow the Bible unless you deal with those factors.

There are many articles that explain those ‘contradictions’ Obama brought up. I’ll try to briefly explain a few, but if you want more complete explanations, do a search for some articles.

The slavery the Bible refers to was vastly different than the more recent American slavery. It wasn’t based on race and it wasn’t a forced lifetime of servitude. Many people sold themselves into slavery to pay off debts. Their masters released them after a set amount of time. If the slave liked the master, he or she could choose work for the family longer.

The Old Testaments has many teachings on what not to eat and proper hygiene, like regularly washing hands. Considering they didn’t know anything about germs back then, those teachings probably kept many people healthy.