it really is an audacity of hope

There is something audacious about being hopeful in politics isn’t there? When it comes to politics the glass always seems to be half-empty. When we look to Washington or to our own state capital for leadership we end up with a lot of let-downs and are left unfulfilled. Politics always seem to be influenced by money not rights, power not needs, and that guy looming behind the scenes.

So, when I read Barack Obama’s book The Audacity of Hope I was pleasantly surprised by what else – hope. Unfortunately, I’m not certain it is a hope that everyone sees. Obama talks of health care for everyone, quality of education that is available for everyone and not just to those who can afford it. It seems strange to say that everyone doesn’t want such things as health care and education for everyone, but it is true. To make those things available to everyone it may take sacrifices from the haves to the have-nots. And what Americans hate the most is giving their hard-earned change to people who are poor (aka work less hard). How do you bring hope to the hopeless and appease the rich?

In the first half of Obama’s book he talks mostly of his platform and ideas that he stood by (and stands by) before he became president. The second half of the book is not about his platform directly, it is more about him. The chapters are based on faith, race, and his family. The faith chapter is probably the most intriguing in the book. Obama describes his faith story as a kid who grew up surrounded by a family of pluralistic ideas and faith. Eventually, during Obama’s time in Chicago as a community organizer he sees a different kind of Christianity. It is a Christianity that helps the poor, one that seeks justice, and one that fights for those rights. He finally embraces the religion on the streets of Chicago.

Obama also talks much about his struggles as a Christian and as a democratic politician. What over the years now has become the standard for Christians is to be republican and to uphold prolife rights no matter what other issues they may stand for. In reading this book, Obama describes wrestling with himself in debates and with voters wondering how they can be anti-life. You can tell that Barack is struggling with being pro-choice. Yet, probably on the same streets of Chicago where he found his faith, he probably saw the injustices of back-alley abortions, the history of racism of the inner-city that set the cornerstone for those abortions, and systemic racism that sets the laws in place today that keeps women from continuing to go to those allies. It is probably ironic for many people to see that Obama wants the same education for young people (including abstinence) to help stop abortions, but he holds the same value of life as pro-lifers.

In the book you can see the joys and adversities of a politician; the money that it takes to be a senator, the miles of driving and flying and being away from family. With adversity comes joy like when a law is put into place, or when a factory is re-opened. Hope is in the midst of a failing economy, a failing health-care program for all, and the possibility of quality education for all.