If church attendance is one measure of a man's faith, then President Obama may appear to have lost some of his. The first family, once regular churchgoers, have publicly attended services in Washington just three times in the past year, by ABC News' count, even bypassing the pews on Christmas Day.
The Obamas will start looking for a church community in Washington, D.C.Obama quit Chicago's embattled Trinity United Church of Christ months before taking office in 2008 and has not formally joined a new one in his new hometown.
But sources familiar with the president's personal life say Obama remains a faithful Christian while in the White House, practicing his beliefs regularly in private with family and the aid of his BlackBerry.
"Barack Obama is a Christian. He's always been clear and unapologetic about that, and he's comfortable with his own faith," Rev. Jim Wallis, an Obama friend and spiritual adviser, said. "But I think the president, particularly a president, needs the kind of pastoral care or spiritual counsel with people who don't have a political agenda. And it's hard for a president to get that."
Rev. Wallis is right, this isn't about whether or not Obama is going to church, it's about a political agenda that conservatives are espousing - convince people Obama hates the baby Jesus because his ass isn't in a pew all week long.
George W. Bush was a near religious zealot, it seems, and that is the high-water mark that conservatives are attempting to tell Obama he has to meet. Oh, how did all that praying and church attendance play out for George W. Bush? I guess that depends on what he was really praying for.
No comments:
Post a Comment