Obama skips church, heads to gym.

[GreenFiles]

See article: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15902.html


President-elect Barack Obama has yet to attend church services since winning the White House earlier this month, a departure from the example of his two immediate predecessors.

On the three Sundays since his election, Obama has instead used his free time to get in workouts at a Chicago gym.


I personally think this is wonderful. Have the Freepers started ranting about Obama being a muslim and quoted this article as proof? If not, just wait. :eyes: :eyes: :eyes:

[Skittles]

1. good

set an example, PLEASE

[mucifer]

2. see see didn't I tell you

He's the antichrist!

:sarcasm:

[ChazII]

Refreshing to read his

priorities are in place. Working out and staying healthy is being a good role model for the students. As far as the freepers, let them rant.

[Breeze54]

3. OMG!!! I'm astonished

not and don't care.

[Teaser]

4. good. work on something that actually exists.

.

[Ladyhawk]

30. Heh heh...I SO agree with you. nt

[Fed_Up_Grammy]

5. Good for him----staying in shape for a very tough job.

If one truly believes in God he/she can pray or meditate anyplace.

[scarletwoman]

6. Thank God! (so to speak...)

:P

I'm so sick of politicians making a show of religion!

sw

[EconomicLiberal]

7. Good for Obama.

:)

[Sarah Ibarruri]

8. I rather love it that he hasn't gone!!! nt

[FrenchieCat]

9. The possible churches he might attend have not yet been vetted.....

and based on his last experience, vetting is necessary, if you don't want to ruin the pastor's lives and possibly some of the members of the congregation.

[1Hippiechick]

10. I think after the Rev Wright flap, his campaign said that church attendance would be curtailed until

January, 2009.

[Colobo]

11. Great!

[liberalmuse]

12. Church sure as hell didn't help Bush.

The guy broke every fucking commandment regardless. Perhaps working out at the gym is a spiritual experience for Obama. Perhaps not. And why does it even fucking matter? I was disgusted when I saw the article earlier today. Such a superficial, meaningless thing considering the real issues the media should be covering, and the fact that Obama has not gone to some goddamned church will no doubt get all the hypocrites on the right foaming at the mouth. Frankly, I'm fucking tired of their fucking drama.

[Captain Hilts]

19. And Reagan didn't go to church!

[Bjorn Against]

44. Actually Bush didn't even go to church

Bush has used Christianity as a wedge, but he rarely even goes to church himself he just uses religion to divide people and enhance his own power.

[Sebastian Doyle]

53. Now that's not fair.... there's no evidence that Chimpy committed adultery.

After all, who would fuck him? :shrug:

[Two Americas]

13. I think that is false

If I am not mistaken, it was rare for Bush to attend church.

Does Bush Go to Church?

"Throughout the 2004 presidential campaign, Democratic candidate John Kerry has been more responsible than anyone for getting notoriously secular political reporters through the doors of churches on Sunday mornings. Ever since a few conservative bishops raised questions about Kerry's Catholicism, given his pro-choice positions, journalists have trailed the Senator to church, breathlessly wondering if this will be the week he's denied communion. Some have even snarkily commented that his Boston congregation--the Paulist Center--is insufficiently traditional, calling it "New-Agey." What they haven't done is take up the task of following President George W. Bush to his home church. That's because of one small problem: He doesn't have one.

Frankly, I don't give a hoot if Bush goes to church. Anyone who has spent much time with an assortment of religious people knows that frequent church attendance doesn't necessarily make you a good person and that plenty of highly moral people never attend church. But if reporters are going to spill plenty of ink each and every Sunday on the church activities of one candidate, then they had better do the same for his opponent. Particularly if that opponent has staked much of his domestic agenda on the argument that civil society--and particularly religious congregations--holds the key to solving social problems. I think it's perfectly relevant and fair to ask why a man with such firm convictions about the power of religious congregations doesn't belong to a congregation himself, though he may drop in on services at places like St. John's Episcopal Church (near the White House) from time to time. "

http://www.beliefnet.com/News/Politics/2004/09/Does-Bush-Go-To-Church.aspx

"Around Washington, D.C., it's considered bad form to point out that Bush doesn't regularly attend church. "You don't have to go to church to be a good religious person," argue his defenders. And they're right. They have made much political hay, however, over polls that indicate Democratic voters attend church less frequently than Republicans, so even the most brazen feel compelled to offer explanations for Bush's absence from church membership rolls.

"The very fact that the president doesn't attend church, some leading conservatives insist, is proof of what a good Christian he is. Unlike certain past presidents they could name but won't--ahem, cough, Bill Clinton--Bush doesn't feel the need to prove his religiosity. 'This president has not made an issue of where he goes to church,' says Michael Cromartie of the Ethics and Public Policy Center. 'I find it refreshing that we don't have a president coming out of church with a large Bible under his arm.' Conservatives relish this opportunity for a little gratuitous Clinton-bashing. In private, however, they admit the explanation doesn't hold up. 'I really don't get it,' one prominent Bush partisan told me. "There's no reason why the president couldn't find a church around here if he wanted to.'"

Bush Doesn't Attend Church?

The excuses offered by conservatives for why Bush doesn't go to church are pathetic — but even more pathetic are the efforts to bash Clinton in the process. Conservative defenders don't have any good responses to this because they have so much invested in the meme that Republicans go to church more often than Democrats and if that meme is going to mean anything, it's difficult to deal with the fact that Clinton and Carter went to church regularly but Bush never does.

The idea that Americans who vote Democrat and don't much go to church are no worse, no less religious, and perhaps not that far different from their beloved President Bush must be giving headaches to the few religious conservatives who actually trouble themselves to think about this (most probably ignore it and pretend that the issue doesn't exist).

http://atheism.about.com/b/2004/10/19/bush-doesnt-attend-church.htm

[Cha]

14. Our body is our

temple. :)

[Clio the Leo]

15. I would prefer that he went but I also feel that way about......

..... the overwhelming majority of Americans. :)

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

16. He just got elected. Who the fuck cares. This country has cared all too much about church these last

several years, who goes to which one and what they worship.

If we elected an atheist I'd be just as happy. More so, even.

[high density]

17. Umm, did the media forget that part where they FORCED HIM TO LEAVE HIS CHURCH??

I mean, Jesus Christ.

[shellgame26]

18. gym instead of church

sounds alright by me. I cannot stand religious hypocrites!

[Blue-Jay]

20. Don't care.

[firedupdem]

21. Damned if you do....damned if you don't. n/t

[Muttocracy]

27. yep - though I'm personally pleased he's spending his time in reality! nt

[kwenu]

22. This is such a pathetic article. Slow newsday?

[RamboLiberal]

23. I get the feeling he attended church infrequently

back when he was supposed to be there every Sunday hearing those inflammatory Rev Wright sermons. Which is one reason the Rev Wright flap kind of blindsided him in the spring.

Perhaps Michelle and the girls went more often. Or maybe they didn't.

[ecstatic]

24. He doesn't have a "church home" anymore

He broke up with his church and it's not that easy to just jump into a new and unfamiliar church.

[TeamJordan23]

25. Politico trying really hard to make a newstory out of nothing. nm

[Jackpine Radical]

26. Heh--He didn't have to go on Sunday.

He snuck out & went on Friday night.

[Ladyhawk]

28. I'm hoping he's a closet atheist. nt

[Muttocracy]

29. ...

:thumbsup:

and your sig line rocks too!

[demokatgurrl]

41. Me too but I doubt it.

[ACTION BASTARD]

31. I wish I had the dedication to go to church (gym) on Sunday.

I go to church during the work week. I keep the Sabbath faithfully 3-4 times a week. I pray on the altar of dumbbell bench-press, kneel with great contemplation on the preacher curl and race against the devil on the treadmills of hope and redemption.

[Recursion]

35. You do preacher curls kneeling?

[democracy1st]

32. Jonathon Martin covered the Republican candidates for politico just a hack

Martin comes to Politico from National Review, where he wrote about politics for the magazine and the Web site. Prior to that, he worked for The Hotline covering topics ranging from gubernatorial contests to congressional leadership battles. He writes a blog about the candidates for the 2008 Republican nomination for Politico. A Virginian, Martin is a graduate of Hampden-Sydney College.

[terrya]

33. So what?

Doesn't make any difference to me whether he goes to the gym or church on Sundays.

[polichick]

34. Good - I hope the nonpractice holds.

[npincus]

36. maybe he prays on the basketball court?

Does G-d care?

[DCBob]

37. I was listening to some conservative talk show this morning and they were bashing Obama for this.

Idiots.

[Obamanaut]

38. My prayer was answered, so Obama doesn't need to go. And I

don't go to church either.

[Vinca]

39. What Obama does on Sunday morning is nobody's business.

For all the freepers know he's got his own, private chapel with his own, private preacher. Personally, I'm relieved he doesn't feel the need to meet the expectations of crazy people.

[DCBob]

40. Obama needs to find a church/gym combo one-stop shop.

The man has no time to waste. :)

[rainbow4321]

42. Or he could go to a UU church....

You can show up there in gym clothes and still be seen as being OVERdressed.
Say "wear your Sunday best" to a UUer and it'll get you someone showing up in jeans and a t-shirt. Shoes AND socks, too, if you say your "very best". :-)

[Unsane]

43. awesome

[WI_DEM]

45. Why should this even be a story?

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

46. That's not totally accurate. He actually went to the Gay Church instead.

:hide:

[NashVegas]

47. Ka-BOOM

Irony thy name is ...

[Arugula Latte]

48. Good! I like his priorities.

Church = waste of time
Gym = reduced waist line (not that Obama needs that)...

[EastTennesseeDem]

49. *Sigh*...well...I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, but it's a slippery slope

One day he skips church to go to the gym, the next day we're all going to be led to mosques by members of Al Qaeda and Bill Ayers at gunpoint. Guess I should move to Canada.

























He's a socialist too.

[Bucky]

51. Move to Canada? Ha! That's just what they WANT you to do!!

It's all a plot to force socialized single payer health care on you... those dirty pinkos!

[Blu Dahlia]

50. the media is anxious for another rev. wright moment

:eyes:

[hamsterjill]

52. One does not need a building

To pray.

It is a personal thing - which Obama may be doing (or may not be doing) on a daily basis.

[Idealism]

54. I find this appalling. You can pray yourself into shape, have faith Brother Barack.

[Yavapai]

55. Perhaps Sister Michelle is worried

about to many other sisters wanting to lay hands upon him during the services.

You know, "lead them not into temptation"...

:evilgrin:

[LibDemAlways]

56. Why is this news? The media whores never mention

the chimp's weekly non-church attendance. Looks like they're trying to create controversy where there is none.