Bob Carlton’s Obama book | Revolution in Jesusland

Bob Carlton’s Obama book November 15, 2008

Posted by Zack in , trackback

My friend Bob Carlton and Ariele Gentiles just published an Obama book called “An American Story” geared toward youth. I’ve seen parts of the book from when Bob was working on it, and I think this is a great read. Give this book to your Christian friends who are apprehensive about the new president.

The book does not advocate for Obama’s policies, but simply tries to introduce his story as a human being and to explore the relationship he has to his faith.

From the promotional materials:

No life story is universal, but the journey of this young American born in the 49th state resonates with the life experience of millions of other young women and men. Someone who wants to find his place in a family where he is visibly different: chubby where others are thin, dark-skinned where others are light. A young person living in a distant land searches and finds new friends, a new language and a heartbreaking lesson about his identity in the pages of an American magazine. A fatherless son struggling to gain a sense of identity and an understanding of how vital parenting is to the families and communities we live in. A young black man struggling for acceptance at an institution of privilege, where he finds himself growing so angry and disillusioned at the world around him that he turns to alcohol and drugs. A searching adult who turns to Jesus for deeper meaning, finding an example that sets him on a course of a lifetime dedicated to feeding the hungry and healing the sick, always prioritizing what his Savior called “the least of these” over the powerful.

Barack Obama is the person who has traveled that journey, from Hawaii to the cusp of the highest political office in the United States of America. Obama’s story is one of historic “firsts,” from the schools he attended, to the jobs he has taken, to the legislation he has championed. His story is also one of reconciliation, as a son growing up without a father, as an African American in a country that still struggles with racism, as someone who struggles to work beyond the stiffling boundaries of partisian politics. For this man who loves building bridges and playing basketball, there is no greater calling than that of serving the common good, working to change hearts and change structures.