Barack Obama preached to the the National Prayer Breakfast this mornining about social justice. He insisted that Jesus would tax the rich.
He reminded the audience, “I am my brother’s keeper.”
But for me as a Christian, it also coincides with Jesus’s teaching that “for unto whom much is given, much shall be required.” It mirrors the Islamic belief that those who’ve been blessed have an obligation to use those blessings to help others, or the Jewish doctrine of moderation and consideration for others.
It means maybe that research lab on the cusp of a lifesaving discovery, or the company looking for skilled workers is going to do a little bit better, and we’ll all do better as a consequence. It makes economic sense. But part of that belief comes from my faith in the idea that I am my brother’s keeper and I am my sister’s keeper; that as a country, we rise and fall together. I’m not an island. I’m not alone in my success. I succeed because others succeed with me.
Of course, when Obama is talking about brothers, he’s not talking about HIS brother.
Barack’s brother George Obama lives in a slum hut in Huruma estate.
Left to Right : Rastaman, One of the girls in George’s room, George Hussein Obama, Jack, a body guard in the Kenyan slum. (Thaindian)
Barack Obama’s brother George, also a community organizer, was arrested on a charge of marijuana possession in 2009. He was interviewed in his slum in 2008.
In 2010, George Obama, a former gang member, moved to an apartment near the slum in Kenya.