On the journey from bitterness to hope

Davon Gray
Published: April 20, 2008

I am not Catholic but I am sure glad Pope Benedict XVI came to America last week. 

For one thing, it was good to see people around here focusing on religious faith and not politics.  Although I must say, even a visit by the pope has a little politics sprinkled in.

But that was not the only story about religion last week. There was the emphasis on the word “bitter” earlier in the week. I am referring to Barack Obama’s comment about people in rural America turning to guns and faith out of bitterness. 

At first I didn’t think much of the comments. Later on, however, I started to think or should I say write.

I can’t speak much to the gun owners of the world about being bitter. 

That is not my focus, but I will say a little about religion and bitterness.

If a person turns to religion because they are bitter, how do you explain the numbers of people flocking to see the pope last week?  This happened despite some of the really turbulent times the Catholic church has experienced over molestation scandals. 

Despite those problems, the church has survived and so has the faith in its leaders.

You may question that, but consider that 47,000 people packed Nationals stadium just to attend mass, plus the millions that tuned in on television to see the historic occasion . 

The Nationals baseball team has yet to pack the stadium like that.

Was it bitterness that had people waiting along the streets just to catch a glimpse of the pope as he passed by? I don’t think so.

Now I don’t want to make Barack Obama out to sound like he is against religion.

I don’t believe that at all. However, the comments were made at a closed fundraising event and he has not retracted his comments, only saying he regrets his choice of words. 

It remains to be seen if the people of Pennsylvania believe his regrets or take him at his word for what was said. 

On a side note, I hope this election or any of the remaining primaries does not come down to a play on or manipulation of words and comments such as Obama’s.  We have certainly had enough of that type of “gotcha” politics in the past and the end results have never led to good public policy. 

Truth be told, there are a lot of bitter people in the country right now. You can take your pick of reasons why. Gas prices, higher food prices, loss of jobs, the list goes on. 

But that bitterness has nothing to do with religion or faith. That point needs to be emphasized.

Primarily, when people turn to religion or faith they are looking for hope.

To use Obama’s own words to describe his campaign, the people are looking for “hope we can believe in.” 

However, my concern is that Obama’s words were not just of his own thinking. 

The possibility of a lot of other people believing such thoughts, even before Obama said them, is disheartening. It is what made me thinking a little longer about what he said.

The good news is, judging from all the young people going to National’s stadium to see the pope and standing in line along the streets waiting for a glimpse of the popemobile, many of our young people still believe that turning to God is about hope not bitterness.

Davon Gray lives in Washington, D.C. Contact him at .