At the National Prayer Breakfast at the Washington Hilton Hotel this morning, President Obama caught pro-life advocates off guard when he said God wouldn’t condone taking the life of an innocent human being.
Obama spoke of the need for people of all religions to end persecution “in the name of perceived righteousness.”
“[F]ar too often, we see faith wielded as a tool to divide us from one another as an excuse for prejudice and intolerance,” he said. “There’s no doubt that the very nature of faith means that some of our beliefs will never be the same.”
The president said people from various religions all have different views about how humans came to be on Earth and “where we are going next.”
Obama attempted to draw similarities among the world’s diverse religions.
“No matter what we choose to believe, let us remember that there is no religion whose central tenet is hate,” he said.
“There is no God who condones taking the life of an innocent human being. This much we know.”
The blogosphere lit up with comments from pro-life advocates upon hearing that statement. Many referenced Obama’s support of partial-birth abortion.
“It is, of course, the Golden Rule, the call to love one another, to understand one another, to treat with dignity and respect those with whom we share a brief moment on this Earth,” he continued. “Instead of driving us apart, our very beliefs can bring us together to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, comfort the afflicted, to make peace where there’s strife and to rebuild what is broken, to lift up those who have fallen on hard times.”
Obama also announced the formation of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
“The goal of this office will not be to favor one religious group of faith over another or even religious groups over secular groups,” he said. “It will simply be to work on behalf of those organizations that want to work on behalf of our communities and to do so without blurring the line that our founders wisely drew between church and state.”
The president spoke about his professed conversion to Christianity, saying he was born into a household that was not “particularly religious.”
“It happened not because of indoctrination or a sudden revelation but because I spent month after month working with church folks who simply wanted to help neighbors who were down on their luck, no matter what they looked like or where they came from or who they prayed to,” he said. “It was on those streets, in those neighborhoods that I first felt God’s spirit beckon me. It was there that I felt called to a higher purpose, His purpose.”
Obama’s agenda regarding “reproductive choice” is posted on the White House website. It states, Obama “has been a consistent champion of reproductive choice and will make preserving women’s rights under Roe v. Wade a priority in his Adminstration.”
The Obama administration repealed a ban on U.S. taxpayer funding of foreign abortions during his first week in office.
The president has also said, “The first thing I’d do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act,” a sweeping bill that would abolish pro-life regulations across the nation.
Many pro-life bloggers posted comments online in response to the speech, including the following:
- So if there is no God that condones the taking of innocent life, it looks like the ball is in your court, Mr. President. Maybe you’d like to rethink your stance on abortion? Or are those little babies not human?
- Barack Obama may not think any God condones the taking of an innocent human life, but in his actions, he clearly does.
- How ironic. Obama says “There is no God that condones taking the life of an innocent human being” yet he signs an executive order allowing us to pay for abortions worldwide.
- Obama must be schizophrenic. His personalities neither talk to, nor agree with, each other.
- His record shows that he considers “innocent human life” to be limited to those who survive birth
- So … no religion preaches hate, eh? Selective reading of the Quran? Flagrant denial of reality.
- Does Obama think we’re all stupid? Abortion is about killing innocent babies.
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