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with mere words. His religious commitments are a kind of conversation-stopper, as the late Richard Rorty once said. Note also that the action he calls for is aimed at satisfying the bodily needs of those who receive the help. As a matter of social or political action, he’s not concerned with saving souls. o be sure, Obama elsewhere acknowledges his (and our) own sinfulness and the need for salvation, and quite properly does not regard government in having a role to play in this. But he also doesn’t draw what should be an obvious conclusion from this observation. Consider this formulation, taken from Federalist #51:
[W]hat is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: You must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. Human beings who are finite, fallen, and fallible will surely misuse and abuse power. The more power you give them, the more that can (and will) go wrong. Obama’s statement rightly points to the role of the people in holding government accountable, but doesn’t recognize how deeply flawed and dangerous this human instrumentality is. As the Apostle Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6:12, we always struggle against rulers and authorities. President Obama’s confidence—dare I call it faith?—in government is evident when he acts or calls for action at the intersection of religion and politics. Consider his remarks at his first National Prayer Breakfast, in February, 2009:
We know as well that whatever our differences, there is one law that binds all great religions together. And [then British Prime Minister] Tony [Blair] and I did not coordinate here—there’s a little serendipity—Jesus told us to "love thy neighbor as thyself." The Torah commands, "That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow." In Islam, there is the hadith that reads, "None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself." The same is true for Buddhists and Hindus, for followers of Confucius and for humanists. It is, of course, the Golden Rule: the call to 63