President Obama has been roundly criticized by "prominent evangelicals" for not continuing President Bush's tradition regarding the National Day of Prayer. "Under Bush, the day was a political event, confirming a conviction that religion was a core tenet of Republican politics."
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs clarified that the President's decision: "Prayer is something that the president does every day. I think the president understands, in his own life and in his family's life, the role that prayer plays."
Those who are unhappy with Obama's decision would be well advised to consult their own Bibles, and read Matthew 6:5-6, which offers explicit directions on how prayer may be offered:
5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
I agree... don't let the right hand know what the left is doing. However, you assume that Obama prays in private. I doubt he does.
ReplyDeleteIts not to question his morals or anything like that... I just have never been struck by his religiousity (if that is a word)
ReplyDeleteThe word you want IS religiosity [no u], and it's exactly the right word. It can mean either simple sincere devoutness or an exaggerated affected display of religious zeal.
ReplyDeleteI don't consider that trait to be a necessary characteristic for an effective POTUS.
Beautiful post. I never thought of Bush's religious postering as anything more than a show to garner evangelical support, and his Day of Prayer routine was just more of the same.
ReplyDeleteI also advise them to consider that:
ReplyDelete- religious belief is not necessary to be (and does not necessarily make one) a good politician or even a good person.
- not everyone in your country is Christian.
- many people consider separation of church and state to be important for religious equality but also for having a government that makes the right decisions.
This tendency to link politics and religion drives me crazy. I don't care what religion politicians are. I just want them to be intelligent, capable and able to do the right thing. None of those qualities have anything to do with whether or not someone prays or is religious.
I feel for Obama, he's got a tough job pulling America's head out of its own backside.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers." Barrack Obama
ReplyDeleteI will forever sulk in the “unbeliever” camp.
I still am trying to figure out how religion has snuck into every freaking dialog around Gov't.
* Christian: (78.4%)
ReplyDelete* no religion (16.1%)
* Jewish (1.7%)
* Buddhist (0.7%)
* Muslim (0.6%)
* Hindu (0.4%)
* other (1.2%)
I think you can make a pretty strong argument for "Christian nation" on demographic alone. That doesn't mean that all decisions should be based on Christian conviction... we have a long history of civil order and philosophy to draw from set apart from religion.
I certainly wasn't implying that Obama would or would not be an effective president prayer or no prayer. I just see him as someone nominally Christian who joined the most politically convenient church in Hyde Park. He has done a good job of playing it politically but I don't see him as very religious in person.
You might be right, but consider, even if you're right a lot of that 78.4% may be only nominally Christian... especially considering how stigmatised self-proclaimed atheists are in the US.
ReplyDeleteMore info re the above thread -
ReplyDeleteHistorically, the percentage of Americans who said they had no religious affiliation (pollsters refer to this group as the "nones") has been very small -- hovering between 5 percent and 10 percent. However, Putnam says the percentage of "nones" has now skyrocketed to between 30 percent and 40 percent among younger Americans…
This movement away from organized religion, says Putnam, may have enormous consequences for American culture and politics for years to come.
"That is the future of America," he says. "Their views and their habits religiously are going to persist and have a huge effect on the future."
This data is likely to reinvigorate an already heated debate about whether America is, or will continue to be, a "Christian nation."
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=7513343
(maybe I should blog this separately for what might be a long discussion)
@ A.Fischer
ReplyDeleteI am curious as to whether 'no religion' refers only to atheists, or whether it also includes people who have spiritual beliefs but either do not wish to be part of organised (public?) religion or have not found a religion that reflects their beliefs. Any ideas?
Any scoffer can quote the Bible for his own purposes. The Devil quotes scripture in the NT.
ReplyDeleteThe quote you present is a lesson on hypocrisy.
Now please quote John chapter 17, and the scores of other references that portray the use of public prayer.
I definitely concede that there is some leeway in these numbers. As now posted "none" could mean many things and "Christian" doesn't necessarily mean practicing or in any way devout. However, there is definitely a majority of Christians and with the exception of "none" or "atheist" I was really surprised how small the other percentages are.
ReplyDeleteA "day or prayer" isn't necessarily a bad thing! All religions pray, they just have different ways of doing it. It's not just a Christian thing!
ReplyDelete@ Anonymous - are you saying that the Bible is inconsistent or self-contradictory? Shhh... you'll offend people.
ReplyDelete