Obama talks about Jesus more than Bush

Politco says so.

Some theories:
1. To win over people who still think he's a Muslim,
2. connect with the majority of Americans who believe in God (83%),
3. Resurrect the Christian Left,
4. show up in the news.

Obama as Moses

Tony Auth, copyright 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

Backmasking Obama

Looking for new ways to link President Obama with the Anti-Christ? Enjoy hearing phrases played backward to reveal satanic messages? Wondering how Obama fits into Nostradamus's predictions? Browsing for new ways to apply the Bible to current events?

The Internet has heard you. Now those on the look out for Beelzebub's handmaiden can gather together on one YouTube channel where we can all keep an eye out for the strange things you do with your Bibles.

More on backmasking here. And a textbook example here:

Obama hides Jesus

"Jesus Missing from Obama's Georgetown Speech"
This is the headline on Fox Nation, NBC Washington and the Drudge Report as of 4:19 p.m. ET.

Cybercast News Service (CNS) broke the story that the White House allegedly requested that Georgetown "hide Jesus" and "all signs and symbols" during President Obama's speech.

Media Matters reports that "several commenters on The Fox Nation--as of this posting--have used this opportunity to question Obama's faith, calling the president 'ANTI-CHRIST' and a 'Muslim.'"

“They like carpenters. It’s plumbers they hate.”

Coulter on why the news media compares Obama to Jesus

Obama more popular than Jesus, Bush more popular than God

...according to a new Harris poll.



Here is how American's now rank the people (and gods) they most admire:
1. Barack Obama
2. Jesus Christ
3. Martin Luther King
4. Ronald Reagan
5. George W. Bush
6. Abraham Lincoln
7. John McCain
8. John F. Kennedy
9. Chesley Sullenberger
10. Mother Teresa
11. God
12. Hillary Clinton

I think we can all agree that this is more cocktail party chatter than actual news (what does it mean to be "the most admired"?), but it seems significant that in 2001, Jesus Christ was number one and Obama was not even on the radar. We are a fickle lot, aren't we?

Obama and the middle way

The Economist has been following Obama's acknowledgment of godless America with the giddiness of a LDS missionary finally allowed into a home. The latest installment followed Obama's inclusive language at the National Prayer Breakfast, an event that is decidedly not inclusive:

There is no doubt that the very nature of faith means that some of our beliefs will never be the same. We read from different texts. We follow different edicts. We subscribe to different accounts of how we came to be here and where we’re going next – and some subscribe to no faith at all.

And there are signs that he's putting our money where his mouth is with plans to widen the focus of the Faith-Based initiatives to include Muslim outreach and religious dialogue and emphasize initiatives aimed at reducing abortion.

The audacity of hope...

Evangelicals: God appointed Obama

According to George Berkin:

For evangelicals, who hold a Bible-based view of politics, it is God himself who has placed the new president in office - even if the president does not in any way agree with evangelical political views.

As evangelicals believe, the Bible teaches that God, in his sovereignty, chooses who he wants to place in office. Not in a hocus-pocus way, but through natural and "secular" mechanisms such as political parties, election campaigns and ballots, God put the guy there.

Good, bad, or indifferent, evangelicals believe, the man is in office through divine appointment.

Berkin admits that this may sound "medieval," though dangerous and flawed are more appropriate since we can only hope for the day when such a view is a relic of our past. Berkin says it is important to understand this perspective since evangelicals need to decide how to interact with a president with whom they strongly disagree.

The two thoughts seem contradictory. On one hand there is a belief among Bible believers that God has a "'behind the scenes' involvement in government." On the other hand there is a belief that Bible believers must "woo policymakers into a more 'biblical' approach to policy, even if it is not identified as such."

God does, indeed, work in mysterious ways.

Novak: Obama's Bible Fail

Novak is already passing judgment:

[From Obama's appeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, the ban on abortion and the closing of Guantanamo] we learn that President Obama recognizes no difference between the Jewish-Christian covenant between a woman and a man (a covenant that they will have and nurture children, if they are so blessed), and a civil contract between two persons of any sex, in order to set up a household of affection and sexual favors.

This is a relapse into paganism. The point of monogamous family networks is to treat male and female with complementary and mutually cooperative dignity and to tie the power of sexuality (male, especially) to self-sacrificing communities of love.

Drudging up the Bible

Matt Drudge managed to turn a story the Washington Post innocuously titled "Obama Sworn In Again, With Right Words," into this headline:

NO BIBLE USED AT OBAMA RE-SWEAR...

Drudge has a knack for turning details into headlines and, subsequently, headlines into stories. In this case the new Drudge story came from this detail in the middle of the original article:

After a flawless recitation that included no Bible and took 25 seconds, Roberts smiled and said, 'Congratulations, again.'

I wonder how long it will take before the sincerity of Obama's newer, more precise oath will be called into question because of the missing cultural artifact?

UPDATE: As promised:
“I checked. We have never had a president sworn into office without a Bible.”--Glenn Beck, Fox News, 1/22/09

Beck is wrong. John Quincy Adams, Theordore Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson did not take their oath on the Bible

President Obama's Inaugural Bible Bending Address

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things.

Yesterday, President Barack Obama gave us a glimpse at what kind of President he will be and, because the two do not seem to be mutually exclusive, what kind of Bible Bender he will be as well.

As we put away "childish things" (things, according to Obama, like partisanship, though it is unclear how partisanship can be distinguished from general disagreement), let's be sure to pay attention to the "thing" left on the table: Scripture.

Afterall, to what God is Obama referring to when he says: "God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny." And where does Obama propose we turn to when if we need further instruction as to what shape we are to mold destiny?

I feel certain that when, as Obama begins to purposefully shape destiny, he will provide us with more details about where he has taken his direction from, and for now, I am hopeful that it won't involve Bible bending.


Photo source: NYmag

Obama Bender

Presidential hopeful Barack Obama told a congregation in New Orleans:

"Getting ready to talk to you today, I recall what Jesus said at the end of the Sermon on the Mount. He said, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on a rock.

"The rains descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house. But it did not fall, because it was founded on the rock."

That rock was a principal of brotherhood exemplified by the church during Hurricane Katrina — but not the federal government.

"Something was wrong in America. Our foundation wasn't built on the rock."

Obama's Bible

During a trip to Iowa last weekend, US Senator and presidential hopeful Barack Obama told an audience of delegates that America's current issues were "moral problems." Obama is establishing himself as the canidate with "religious values" who will dedicate his presidency to fighting AIDs and ending genocide. And when it comes to raising taxes, Obama believes he has a biblical authority to do so, "There was a period of time when the Christian Coalition determined that its number one legislative priority was tax cuts for the rich...I don't know what Bible they are reading," Obama said, as the crowd applauded. "Didn't jive with my version."

Andrew Sullivan, the popular disgruntled conservative blogger, is not surprised that Democrats are using the Bible to justify tax hikes--they learned it from Bush.

Listen to Obama's speech here.