Obama provides insights into his faith at National Prayer Breakfast

[onehandle]

Source: LA Times

Reporting from Washington — President Obama offered prayers for the nation and the people of Egypt, and offered rare reflections on his own faith journey during remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday.

Obama described how his own beliefs were grounded in his mother's spirituality and deepened through his career in public service. His faith, Obama told the gathering of lawmakers and religious leaders, has sustained him during the trials of the presidency, including when he hears that faith "questioned from time to time."

"We are reminded that ultimately what matters is not what other people say about us, but whether we're being true to our conscience and true to our God," he said.

The president began his remarks by acknowledging Mark Kelly, the husband of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, saying that "we are with them for the long haul, and God is with them for the long haul." Kelly attended the service as his wife continues to recover from the January shooting at a constituent-service event in Tucson.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-obama-prayer-breakfast-20110204,0,3805796.story

[monmouth]

1. When in Rome...play their game...n/t

[JanBrady]

4. THEY.Don't.Care. He doesn't impress them at all. They snicker behind his back.

[JanBrady]

2. I.Don't. CARE.

[trotsky]

3. The same National Prayer Breakfast sponsored by a rabidly right-wing group.

Yay!

[Fearless]

5. His god being the Almighty Dollar no doubt.

[somone]

6. His real god is Reagan

[golddigger]

7. Blah, blah, blah. Whatever Obama.

[Bluenorthwest]

8. Feh. A display of public holiness staged by a right wing group.

My grandpa used to warn against politicians who talk about religion. I will not repeat what he said about them, as it was slightly insulting to sex workers in today's modern context.

[KoKo]

9. LOL's...Pretty much expected.......

:-(

[KoKo]

10. This belongs on the Greatest Page....! Let's Kick It!

[msongs]

11. my faith does not condone killing women and kids using drones nt

[defendandprotect]

24. Thank you -- evidently Obama has either no memory or no conscience...!!

"When I wake in the morning, I wait on the Lord, and I ask him to give me the strength to do right by our country and its people," he said. "And when I go to bed at night, I wait on the Lord, and I ask him to forgive me my sins and look after my family and the American people and make me an instrument of his will."

[Plucketeer]

12. What chance is there than an atheist

could move in to the oval office? None.

I listed to one little snip of Obama's speech this morning. When he professed that we were a nation of Christian beliefs, that was all I could take. :grr:

[defendandprotect]

25. Ugh - Obama: "a nation of Christian beliefs" .... ? Also called Mubarak a "patriot" today--!

Gives us an idea of what the Patriot Act is really about --

Wiretapping, drones, torture/rendition, indefinite incarceration -- !!

Are Americans paying attention to all of this?

Disgusting!

[Plucketeer]

27. If Americans ARE listening...

They're either TOO ignorant or TOO apathetic to care. Yeah - disgusting. :shrug:

[defendandprotect]

28. What are they even taught about Separation of Church & State these days ...?

I'm not really sure if they understand it's essential to democracy!!

[madrchsod]

13. i thought he was a muslim.....

[pnorman]

14. I'm NOT a card-carrying Christian.

That puts me squarely in the fastest growing religious group in this country. That's "NONE OF THE ABOVE" (atheists, agnostics and others), which went from 8% to 15% in the last decade. I'm also well familiar with that National Prayer Breakfast, "The House On C Street", "The Family", and all the rest.

But I have absolutely NO problem with seeing President Obama there! I voted for a President of this country, rather than Party Chairman! And that's what Presidents do and where they go. AND Obama has the all too rare talent of taking part in ANY group, friend or foe, and captivating the better part, while leaving the assholes in baffled confusion. I saw that at that AMA Convention last year.

[enlightenment]

15. Funny, I voted for a President, also.

There's nothing in the rule book (that would be the Constitution of the United States) that talks about the President being Shepherd of the Flock - just commander in chief. Presidents' don't HAVE to give sermons and I do have a problem with it when they do. There's a word for people who have a 'rare talent' for captivating any group, friend or foe, and it's not really a compliment.

Just a hint, by the way - making sure everyone knows you're a card-carrying 'none of the above' and then following it by a 'but . . .' - in this case by not only lauding the religious antics of a politician but suggesting that if a President is NOT religious then they are some sort of Communist (Party Chairmen? REALLY?), is a tactic used by a lot of religious people when they are working to undermine the perspective of people who are not religious. Are you sure you have the right card in your wallet?

[pnorman]

16. Must have struck a raw nerve! Sorry!

n/t

[Hydra]

17. Definitely the wrong card

Both played, and carried.

[trotsky]

20. "...a tactic used by a lot of religious people..."

Naw, it's not used only by religious people. We've all heard "I'm not racist, but..." or "I'm not anti-gay, but...". It's a rhetorical tool of triangulation, designed to make people who disagree with you look like the *real* extremists. "I'm a non-believer, but..." is just one more incarnation.

[enlightenment]

22. True.

I was short-sighted in my statement.

[defendandprotect]

26. +1000% -- Let's have Separation of Church & State and less religous boasts of

a relationship with "god" which now includes speaking for him!

Was hoping only W was under that delusion!

[struggle4progress]

18. Obama at National Prayer Breakfast: The transcript

... We become numb to the day-to-day crises, the slow-moving tragedies of children without food and men without shelter and families without health care. We become absorbed with our abstract arguments, our ideological disputes, our contests for power ...

We haven't seen any canings on the floor of the Senate any time recently. So we shouldn't over-romanticize the past. But there is a sense that something is different now; that something is broken; that those of us in Washington are not serving the people as well as we should. At times, it seems like we're unable to listen to one another; to have at once a serious and civil debate. And this erosion of civility in the public square sows division and distrust among our citizens. It poisons the well of public opinion. It leaves each side little room to negotiate with the other. It makes politics an all-or-nothing sport, where one side is either always right or always wrong when, in reality, neither side has a monopoly on truth. And then we lose sight of the children without food and the men without shelter and the families without health care ...

Now, I am the first to confess I am not always right. Michelle will testify to that. But surely you can question my policies without questioning my faith, or, for that matter, my citizenship ...

Remember Dr. Martin Luther King. Not long after an explosion ripped through his front porch, his wife and infant daughter inside, he rose to that pulpit in Montgomery and said, "Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend." ...

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/02/obama-at-national-prayer-break.html

[Toon Me Out]

19. me sorta waitin'...

...for a Dem prez who tells these crackers to shove their prayer breakfast up their patooties. I mean, in a polite manner.



I LUV ME THAT SEPARATION OF CHOICH AND STATE! hallelujah!! :toast:

[Vinca]

21. I don't really care and it's none of my business, but I've always

thought that deep down he's an atheist. And, of course, it's common knowlege an atheist can't be elected dog catcher.

[Vidar]

23. "I pledge allegience to anyone who will finance me."