Apparently many on the religious right are upset, even offended by remarks made by President Obama at the National Prayer Breakfast. I admit, I’m at a loss why. Somehow his talk was taken as an attack on Christian faith even though Obama is a Christian, baptized, and spent two decades of his adult life as a member of the United Church of Christ. He stated things you could find in any mainline pulpit on any given Sunday morning. In that, Obama’s speech was an expression of a liberal Protestant faith.
Even though his talk was brief I’ll provide a structure of his talk. He starts by acknowledging how important faith can be, for himself, for others. He marvels at the depths and beauty and service you can find among the faithful. And he asks how can this be reconciled with how much violence and hatred is done in the name of religion. He gives examples from ISIS to Charlie Hebdo but he also mentions Christian attacks in the Central African Republic and the rise of antisemitism.
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