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In a wide-ranging conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Marilynne Robinson, President Obama suggested that Christians who take their religion the most seriously often adopt an “us versus them” mentality. In the interview, published in the Nov. 5 issue of The New York Review of Books, the president lamented “the fact that here in the United States, sometimes Christian interpretation seems to posit an ‘us versus them,’ and those are sometimes the loudest voices. “But sometimes I think you also get frustrated with kind of the wishy-washy, more liberal versions where anything goes,” Mr. Obama said, referring to Ms. Robinson. “How...

David Axelrod helped Barack Obama get elected to the Senate, and to the White House, so depending on your view point you can either thank him… or blame him. He joined our show this morning to talk about his new book Believer which explains why he still believes in the power of politics.

President Obama began his Inauguration Day by attending worship services at St. John’s Episcopal Church in the Nation’s Capital along with his wife Michelle and their daughters Sasha and Malia. It was a rare church appearance for the First Family. During, during their first four years residing in the White House, they found time for the Lord not even half as many times as they managed to get away for family vacays. After services yesterday at St. Johns, during which the president stood to receive a blessing from Bishop Vashti McKenzie, the First Family’s next stop was the U.S. Capitol,...

The battle to demonize the National Rifle Association became a religious crusade when the Rev. Jim Wallis, CEO of Sojourners and “progressive” spiritual advisor to President Obama, convened some clergy for a witch trial. As a foreword, if you join the NRA, as about 250,000 folks have done in the past few weeks, you’ll be affirming your support for the Second Amendment, not the Nicene Creed. Wallis rounded up a posse of fellow progressive clergy for a press conference in Washington, DC on Jan. 15. Their heresy detector spiked after Wayne LaPierre, CEO and Executive Vice President of the NRA,...

In an interview with the Washington National Cathedral magazine, President Obama discussed how his faith influenced his politics — saying that at the end of the day 'God is in control.' “First and foremost, my Christian faith gives me a perspective and security that I don’t think I would have otherwise: that I am loved. That, at the end of the day, God is in control," Obama said. Obama also tied faith in God to his belief in a compassionate role for government.

EXCERPT: Barack Hussein Obama ignored Easter yesterday. He issued no statements of any kind, no “Happy Easter”, no nothing. By comparison he has issued glowing, effusive statements of praise for each and every Muslim holiday since he took office. Hasn’t missed one of them. So it is quite interesting that yesterday as believers celebrated the Risen Lord Jesus around the the globe, that the God of Heaven who controls the wind and the weather chose to strike the White House with lightning. Excerpts from http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=4280

(CNN) -- Political, religious and sexual behaviors may be reflections of intelligence, a new study finds. Evolutionary psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa at the the London School of Economics and Political Science correlated data on these behaviors with IQ from a large national U.S. sample and found that, on average, people who identified as liberal and atheist had higher IQs. This applied also to sexual exclusivity in men, but not in women. The findings will be published in the March 2010 issue of Social Psychology Quarterly. The IQ differences, while statistically significant, are not stunning -- on the order of 6 to...

Barack Obama routinely laced his campaign speeches with words and phrases that resonated with voters, particularly those who practiced their faith more often than others in the body politic. His outreach to the Christian community became more fervent after the scandal caused by his ties to Pastor Jeremiah Wright who used his pulpit to bully and disparage America. Barack Obama attended forums held by the evangelical leader Rick Warren. He was seen in the company of a variety of Christian leaders. His courtship of religious groups in the 2008 race - the most extensive ever by a Democratic candidate for...

Harry Knox, who serves on President Barack Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships and who has said the Pope is “hurting people in the name of Jesus,” has a record of making anti-Catholic statements. As reported on Feb. 2, Knox told CNSNews.com that he stands by his March 2009 statement that Pope Benedict XVI is “hurting people in the name of Jesus” by not condoning condom distribution as the solution to AIDS in Africa. “I do” still hold that view, said Knox. Knox’s earlier, March 2009 statement about the Pope was posted on the Web site of the...

Every morning, sometimes as early as 5:30 a.m., a short religious passage comes across President Obama's BlackBerry, sent by one of his aides. At other moments, Obama prays privately, his advisers said. And when he takes his family to Camp David on the weekends, a Navy chaplain ministers to them, with the daughters attending a form of Sunday school there. More than a year into his presidency, Obama has not chosen a church in Washington, and has attended services just four times. No single figure has assumed the role of spiritual adviser -- publicly, at least -- or filled the...

President Barack Obama needs some outside help pushing health care reform, and he's turning to rabbis to get it. In a morning conference call with about 1000 rabbis from across the nation, Obama asked for aid: "I am going to need your help in accomplishing necessary reform," the President told the group, according to Rabbi Jack Moline, who tweeted his way through the phoner. "We are God's partners in matters of life and death," Obama went on to say, according to Moline's real-time stream. The 15-minute morning briefing was sponsored by the Religion Action Center of Reform Judaism, and included...

The next same-sex marriage battle in California will be fought over a referendum aimed at the November 2010 ballot that is likely to include door-to-door campaigning in Bible-belt areas of the state that backed Proposition 8. The battlegrounds will not be in San Francisco or West Hollywood but in places like Fresno, the geographic center of California where proponents of same-sex marriage will hold their first high-profile event Saturday. Starting with a 14.5-mile march in Selma - the Fresno County town with the same name as the Alabama city iconic to the 1960s civil rights movement - and ending with...

The administrators at Notre Dame had it in mind to foster tolerance and diversity with those of differing opinions. Among the graduating class a few students had Obama’s circle logo pasted on their caps leaving no doubt what was in their minds. Outside in protest chanting, Benedict’s flock No you can’t, no you can’t Inside Obama’s friends chant and mock Yes we can, yes we can

President Barack Obama Washington D.C., May 14, 2009 / 05:12 am (CNA).- The White House has responded to opposition to President Obama’s appearance at the University of Notre Dame, claiming that only "one group" is organizing a boycott and pointing to other groups who support the president’s commencement speech and reception of an honorary degree."I think there's one group organizing a boycott and, as best I can understand it, there are 23 groups that have formed in support of the president's invitation," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said, according to ABC.The "one group," ND Response, is a coalition...

During the 2008 presidential campaign, there was a steady drumbeat of opposition to Barack Obama from some U.S. Catholic bishops, which only increased after his election. But despite the attention these attacks received in the media and on Internet blogs, polls show that the Catholic people are not listening. He has been criticized: • for being the most pro-abortion president ever, even though he wants to develop programs that will reduce the number of abortions while keeping it legal under most circumstances (he supports restrictions in the third trimester with an exception for the health of the mother); (snip) These...

South Bend, Ind., Apr 14, 2009 / 06:36 pm (CNA).- Fr. John Jenkins, the President of the University of Notre Dame, has written a letter to the school's board of trustees, defending the university’s invitation of President Obama to the school’s May commencement ceremony. Fr. Jenkins argues in his letter that while many have criticized the school’s move, canon lawyers and the USCCB document, “Catholics in Political Life,” both support his action. In the letter, posted in full on LifeSiteNews, Fr. Jenkins recalls the June 2004 USCCB statement on Catholics in political life and cites “two key sentences” that “have...

Gordon Brown has made an overtly religious call for a new world order based on the 'deep moral sense' shared by all faiths. Making the first speech by a serving Prime Minister at St Paul's Cathedral in London, he quoted scripture as he urged people to unite to forge a new 'global society'. The Prime Minister argued that through all faiths, traditions and heritages runs a 'single powerful modern sense demanding responsibility from all and fairness to all'. He quoted the Christian doctrine of 'do to others what you would have them do unto you' and highlighted similar principles in...

President Obama, who has made massive strides to expand abortion rights in his first few weeks in office, is looking forward to a "dialogue" with Catholics, who by church law are pro-life, when he speaks at the school's commencement this spring. The confirmation came at a news briefing today from presidential press secretary Robert Gibbs to Les Kinsolving, WND's correspondent at the White House. "What is the president's reaction to the 50,000 people already who've signed petitions joining the Catholic bishop of Fort Wayne, South Bend in objecting to his addressing the graduation and receiving an honorary degree from Notre...

The underhanded Obama administration has quietly moved to rescind the “conscience clause” found in agreements between the federal government and Catholic hospitals. This “conscience clause” has always protected practitioners from being forced to commit abortions in violation of their consciences. Its removal means Catholic hospitals will be forced to choose between federal funds for committing abortions and closing down to maintain a clear conscience. Phonies with egg on their faces Nevertheless, phony “Catholic” judas goats like Douglas Kmiec are still beating their chests with pride at having delivered 52% of the Catholic vote to the abortion team last fall. In...

President-elect Barack Obama Washington DC, Nov 23, 2008 / 07:48 pm (CNA).- Citing what they call America’s “promise of equality,” the Obama administration plans to push for homosexual rights by including protections of sexual orientation, “gender identity” and “gender expression” as civil rights. His office proposes expanding hate crimes statues and the adoption rights of homosexuals while supporting full civil unions for “LGBT couples” to give them “legal rights and privileges equal to those of married couples.”The proposals are announced under the Civil Rights section of their agenda presented at Change.gov, the web site of the Obama campaign’s self-described...