Obama: America is 'no longer Christian'
Pastor Dale Morgan
Obama: America is 'no longer Christian'*
Democrat says nation also for Muslims, nonbelievers
Posted: June 22, 2008
JERUSALEM – Some have been taking issue with largely unnoticed comments
made last year by Sen. Barack Obama declaring the U.S. is "no longer a
Christian nation" but is also a nation of others, including Muslims and
nonbelievers.
The comments have been recently recirculating on Internet blogs.
"Whatever we once were, we're no longer a Christian nation. At least not
just. We are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, and a Buddhist
nation, and a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers," Obama said
during a June 2007 speech available on YouTube.
At the speech, Obama also seemingly blasted the "Christian Right" for
hijacking religion and using it to divide the nation:
"Somehow, somewhere along the way, faith stopped being used to bring us
together and started being used to drive us apart. It got hijacked. Part
of it's because of the so-called leaders of the Christian Right, who've
been all too eager to exploit what divides us," he said.
Asked last year to clarify his remarks, Obama repeated them to the
Christian Broadcast Network:
"I think that the right might worry a bit more about the dangers of
sectarianism. Whatever we once were, we're no longer just a Christian
nation; we are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation,
a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers," Obama wrote in an e-mail
to CBN News senior national correspondent David Brody.
"We should acknowledge this and realize that when we're formulating
policies from the state house to the Senate floor to the White House,
we've got to work to translate our reasoning into values that are
accessible to every one of our citizens, not just members of our own
faith community," wrote Obama.
Obama did clarify his statement about the "Christian Right."
"My intention was to contrast the heated partisan rhetoric of a distinct
minority of Christian leaders with the vast majority of Evangelical
Christians – conservatives included – who believe that hate has no place
in our politics.
"When you have pastors and television pundits who appear to explicitly
coordinate with one political party; when you're implying that your
fellow Americans are traitors, terrorist sympathizers or akin to the
devil himself; then I think you're attempting to hijack the faith of
those who follow you for your own personal or political ends," wrote Obama.
The Illinois senator's speech declaring the U.S. "no longer Christian"
was met with little fanfare. But it has been getting some recent play.
A television commercial that aired in South Dakota by a group calling
itself the Coalition Against Anti-Christian Rhetoric juxtaposes the
audio of Obama's "no longer Christian" statement over images of the
presidential candidate dressed in Somali garb and a picture of Obama
with his hands rested below his waist while other politicians place
their hands over their hearts during the Pledge of Allegiance.
"It's time for people to take a stand against Barack Hussein Obama,"
declares the voiceover on the commercial.
The Gateway Pundit blog took notice of Obama's speech about the U.S.
being a nation also for Muslims and non-believers.
"This won't play well in the Bible Belt," commented the blog in a recent
posting.
Obama's campaign has long utilized faith as a central theme. The
candidate's Christianity and his former membership in the controversial
Trinity United Church of Christ have been much scrutinized.
His comment about the "Christian Right" echoed similar statements made
by Merrill A. McPeak, Obama's military adviser and national campaign
co-chairman.
As we reported, in a 2003 interview with The Oregonian newspaper, McPeak
seemed to compare evangelical Christians to the terror groups Hamas and
Hezbollah.
The Oregonian interviewer asked McPeak whether "there's an element
within Hamas, Hezbollah, that doesn't want Israel to exist at all and
always will be there?"
McPeak responded by comparing the two terror groups to "radical" Oregonians.
"There's an element in Oregon, you know, that's always going to be
radical in some pernicious way, and likely to clothe it in religious
garments, so it makes it harder to attack. So there's craziness all over
the place."
Oregon has a large evangelical Christian community.