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In his victory speech Mr Obama spoke eloquently of America's true influence in the world being not because of its military might or wealth but through its ideals, "democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope". This is a doctrine of "soft power" which the world is ready to hear, having seen how the spread of American influence by armed force backfired so dangerously in Iraq. From that misadventure he now has to withdraw, but responsibly. From the more justified military campaign in Afghanistan he has to find ways to turn armed struggle into peaceful progress: the troops must come home from there eventually too. He has another chance to revisit America's most depressing international failure, its inconsequential interventions in the interminable Middle East conflict. This, too, cannot wait. He takes seriously the threat to the planet from global warming, and his administration will owe nothing to Big Oil and similar vested interests. Clean alternative energy will now be America's way forward, not the notorious "drill, baby, drill" of the defeated vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin.
In many respects Mr Obama's policies resonate with the social justice that the Judaeo-Christian tradition promotes, such as the relief of poverty, health care for all, new jobs to replace those lost, affordable housing, care for the environment and so on. He is a Christian, although not of the fundamentalist kind, and he has Catholic connections in his background. But it appears that some leaders of the Catholic Church, America's largest denomination, failed once more to read the signs of the times, and tried to insist that this inspiring and epoch-transforming election, this turning point in American history, was once again just about abortion. The laity saw things differently; indeed this time the Catholic vote was almost indistinguishable from the population as a whole.
Policies of social justice
A rethink of the American bishops' strategy on abortion is urgently necessary; at the moment their message is not being heard by the majority of Americans. The letter from Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, written on behalf of the US bishops to President-elect Obama, congratulating him on his victory and urging him to defend the vulnerable and the life and dignity of every person, signals a more pragmatic approach and a willingness to engage in dialogue.
Americans perceive their society as unique in the world; certainly it is uniquely successful. One arrogant and bullying model of that exceptionalism has died and been buried this week - the imperial version represented by President Bush and those who surround him - while another has been reborn. It is all the more inspiring for having risen from the ranks of ordinary people, the "we the people" of whom the constitution speaks, led by a man whose skin colour still marked him as an outsider. The powerless have taken power, snatching it cleanly from the entrenched interests that clutched it close. It is a version of the American dream that has hardly been seen before, where the mighty are cast down from their thrones and the humble are exalted. And that is not the end of it, just the beginning.
An American revolution
David Gibson
Moreover, despite Obama's victory, the nation remains divided on moral and religious issues. Debates on abortion, gay marriage and euthanasia polarised the electorate and drew the Catholic bishops into the political fray. But the fierce denunciations of Obama and the Democrats by some bishops and the balanced tones of most others also exposed divisions within the hierarchy (the US bishops are in fact meeting later this month to try to mend their own rifts). That left Catholic voters - nearly a quarter of the electorate, and the critical swing vote - free to make up their own minds, and they voted for Obama by a 54 per cent margin. "For Catholics, as for other Americans, the economy became the dominant issue in the election. Few said that abortion was the most important issue," according to Fr Thomas Reese, a Jesuit and political scientist.
But Obama says he wants to heal these divides, not exploit them, by finding a way to move forward on issues like abortion. Many Catholic leaders say no such common ground exists, and Evangelical Christians are unlikely to cut Obama slack either; they went for McCain almost as strongly as they did for Bush, despite Obama's efforts to demonstrate how his own deep Christian faith informs his more liberal policies. Without some sort of truce, the rise of a "religious Left" to counter the formidable "religious Right" could spell yet another round of so-called "culture wars". more
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