For Easter this year, President Obama held an Easter prayer breakfast which he says will be an annual event. He told those in attendance,
That as busy as we are, as many tasks as pile up, during this season we are reminded that there is something about the resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ, that puts everything else in perspective. Everybody in this room has weighty responsibilities from leading churches and denominations to helping to administer important government programs to shaping our cultures in various ways and I admit that my plate has been full as well. But then comes Holy Week and we are reminded that Jesus took on the sins of this world–past, present and future. And Jesus offered us His unfathomable grace. This magnificent grace, this expansive grace, this amazing grace causes me to reflect, to pray, to ask God for forgiveness for the times that I've not shown grace to others, causes me to praise God for the gift of His son and our Savior and that is why we have this breakfast because in the middle of critical national debates, in the middle of our busy lives we must always make sure that we are keeping things in perspective. I'm honored that you have all come here this Holy Week to join me in a spirit of prayer and I pray that this time here in prayer would strengthen us both individually as believers and as Americans.
His family went to church on Easter Sunday. There was an Easter egg hunt at the White House.
In the United States, where there is no religious test of office, Obama's piety over Easter was not good enough for the religious right or Fox News.
Obama's Faith Questioned by Graham.
Franklin Graham, who had questioned the sincerity of Obama's Christian faith in an Easter Sunday interview on ABC News, clarified his remarks by telling Christianity Today,
I was with President Obama when he was Senator Obama. I asked him, "How did you come to faith in Christ? What is your testimony?" He said, "I was organizing a community in the South Side of Chicago. The community said, 'What church do you go to?' I told them I didn't go to church. If you're going to organize a community, you're going to have to join a church." So he joined Jeremiah Wright's church. That's the testimony he told me, word for word.
The point is, nobody knows. I don't know if you're a Christian. God knows your heart. I'm not your judge. I'm not President Obama's judge. He has to stand before God one day. I'm going to have to stand before God. Only God knows a person's heart. For millions of Americans, being a Christian is being a member of a church. When I read the Bible, Jesus says, "There will be many in the last day who say 'Lord, Lord,' but I will say, 'Away from me, I knew you not.'" A Christian is a person who identifies himself with Christ, has confessed sin and received Christ into his heart and is following him in obedience. Church membership cannot save you.
O'Reilly: Obama's Choice of a Church for Easter Service Foolish.
According to Fox News' Bill O'Reilly, Obama's choice of the church his family attended for Easter is unsatisfactory because he has replaced Jeremiah Wright with Pastor Wallace Smith, "a race activist." O'Reilly declared that it was foolish of the president to attend Smith's Shiloh Baptist Church and was critical of the church.
"Why would the president of the United States sit in a church run by a guy named Wallace Smith," O'Reilly asked, challenging Smith to appear on his show to defend his remarks about racism. "Does the pastor deserve being legitimized by the president of the United States?"
The Shiloh Baptist Church is a historic church that was founded in 1863 by freed slaves originally from Fredericksburg, Virginia.
Fox & Friends: Obama Fails to Issue Easter Decree.
During his 8-year term in the White House, President George W. Bush never issued a proclamation about Easter. Neither did Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, or George H.W. Bush, according to Charles Johnson. Yet, Pastor Robert Jeffress of the First Baptist Church of Dallas declared to Fox & Friends that the fact that President Obama did not issue such a decree was a fearful sign for all Christians in America. Jeffress mused,
Let's really look at what's going on here. On the one hand, we have a president who never met a Muslim holiday he didn't like or at least wasn't willing to issue a proclamation for, and on the other hand, here he is refusing to acknowledge publicly the most important event in Christian faith, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And yet the White House is wondering, 'Why do 20 percent of Americans believe the president is a Muslim?' Well, as my kids would say, 'Duh!' It's actions like these that really make people wonder what it is the president really believes."
Jeffress went on to explain that there was "only one of two explanations" for Obama not issuing an Easter decree:
"Either he has advisers who are telling him that it is politically expedient to ignore Christianity and elevate other world religions like Islam and if that's the case, Republicans need to pray that those advisers stay in place to the 2012 election cycle. The only other explanation is that there is something deep within the president himself that will not allow him to issue these public proclamations about Christianity when he on Easter will issue a proclamation about Earth Day or he will recognize Muslim holidays. I think either explanation is deeply troubling for Christians."
American Family Association: Christians Laughed At.
The American Family Association was quick to jump in with the "Obama favors Muslims" rhetoric, publishing a video that included a brief description:
President Obama takes time out of his schedule to recognize other religions holidays with personalized greets and dinners. But when it comes to Easter, all Christians get is laughed at by the White House Press Secretary.
MSNBC Responds.
Cenk Uygur said that Fox News characterization was nothing but a con job in order to insinuate that Obama is a Muslim.
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