Interesting interview with Cathleen Falsani held back in 2004 just before Obama became a Senator.
I was surprised to see him refer to his mother in the interview as being a Christian when in his book “The Audacity of Hope” he says she was an atheist. In the book he does say that she was one of the most spiritual people he has ever known but also says she was an atheist. I am working off of my memory now and maybe I remember it wrong but that is how I remember it.
But as it is Christians can’t even agree among themselves who is and who is not a Christian.
One thing is for damn certain. A fundamentalist he ain’t.
I don’t remember seeing anything outright saying his ma was an atheist. I have seen him say that his ma “professed” secular humanism – I guess that’s about the same thing, at least in most people’s books. But, it doesn’t have to be a 1:1 relationship between secular humanists and atheists. It’s even possible to be a Christian and a secular humanist. Most Christians in the UU church are, though those that aren’t are a minority even within a minority.
It was interesting to learn that Grandma & Grandpa started as Methodist and Baptists, but ended as universalists (the second U of UU – I suppose this was before the two associations merged). There is always a contingent in UU churches of those who started as Methodists or Baptists. The former M’s and the former B’s seem to have very little in common…
I’ll pull out the book tonight and see if in it he did not say that his mother was an atheist.
I could have sworn those were his exact words.
I think he did say that of his father…