The Eagle Hall Great Room was packed with approximately 50 students and faculty members on April 8 at 7 p.m. They were eager to hear what the Obama Faith Forum was all about.
Barack Obama representative Paul Monteiro led the forum. Monteiro has worked with Obama for two years and has experience as a teacher and a lawyer.
The purpose was to hear from the attendees about their political concerns and apply the Christian faith to politics.
Monteiro began the forum by asking the attendees for words they think of when they hear the words “faith” and “politics,” demonstrating the way that Christians consider them to be two different topics. While words for faith included “justice,” “forgiveness” and “Jesus,” words for politics included “corruption,” “damage control” and “bias.”
Attendees were able to discuss difficult political questions including healthcare, education and taxes. They were encouraged to give personal stories to demonstrate their points of view.
“When you talk about serving other people, the obligation is to do something and not just talk about what we believe,” Monteiro said. He believes that Obama has demonstrated this by living in Chicago’s South Side and being active in the Church of Christ.
“We don’t believe what our leaders are saying, and that’s a problem,” Monteiro said in regards to the current political system. He is hopeful that Obama will be the first step in changing this outlook.
Monteiro is optimistic that Christians in America will be able to make a difference in politics.
“In every movement that has made our country better, people of faith led it,” Monteiro said. He believes it is possible that Christian institutions like Eastern can potentially be the starting point.