I approve of this:
President Obama is distancing himself from the National Day of Prayer by nixing a formal early morning service and not attending a large Catholic prayer breakfast the next morning.
All Mr. Obama will do for the National Day of Prayer, which is Thursday, is sign a proclamation honoring the day, which originated in 1952 when Congress set aside the first Thursday in May for the observance.
***Obama White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that the president is simply reverting back to pre-Bush administration practice.
This has the usual suspects pissed. From the very same article:
“For those of us who have our doubts about Obama’s faith, no, we did not expect him to have the service,” said Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America. “But as president, he should put his own lack of faith aside and live up to the office.”
Referencing a remark the president made at a recent press conference in Turkey that Americans “do not consider ourselves a Christian nation,” she added: “That was projecting his own beliefs, but not reflecting what the majority of Americans feel. It’s almost like Obama is trying to remake America into his own image. This is not a rejection of Shirley Dobson; it’s a rejection of the concept that America is a spiritual nation and its foundation is Judeo-Christian.”
Suck it, wingnuts. Maybe if you promise to hold the event facing Mecca next year, Obama will show up.
(via)
Comrade Jake
Is Politico still keeping track of how many weeks it’s been since Obama went to church, or some such nonsense?
WereBear
And how many times was Dubya seen in church?
kid bitzer
seriously, if he’s giving the day exactly as much time as saint reagan gave it (as per gibbs), then he’s in the clear with everybody.
CatStaff
The dogs bark, but Obama’s caravan passes on.
So, Wendy, anything else you’re “concerned” about? Boy howdy, these people sure live some clenched-butt, joyless lives, don’t they?
harlana pepper
i am a concerned woman for america and wendy wright can jump up my ass
SpotWeld
What?
Explain to me what the religious faith component of the office of President is?
Zifnab
First to say Good for John McCain!
Punchy
Maybe he will dine on Eggs Benedict instead as a tacit acknowledgement of the Pope.
geg6
@harlana pepper:
This.
wilfred
The only way Obama can convince these people he’s a Xian is if he sprouts stigmata and starts talking in tongues. Even then they’d call him a liar.
Charity
Right-to-lifers are sending death threats to author Judy Blume, for daring to write a letter expressing her support for Planned Parenthood.
As The Hubs said, “death threats from pro-lifers — what irony.”
Scruffy McSnufflepuss
Now that America is run by a God-less Communist, we can no longer celebrate the ceremonies that distinguished our once-great nation from the God-less Communists of yore.
In God we do not trust. This Atheist President can only embolden our Communist enemies. Cuba, China, Vietnam, North Korea, and a renascent Soviet Union will soon invade.
Karen S.
Professional busybodies like Wendy Wright just make me roll my eyes. Her brow must be furrowed all the time, what with all the things she has to be concerned about.
I’m glad that Obama has decided to give Religious Grandstanding Day, er, the National Day of Prayer a pass. If the religious among us feel the need to make a show of praying (isn’t there something in the bible against making a public show of prayer?), then they can surely do it on their own. Or maybe I give them too much credit.
Scruffy McSnufflepuss
@Charity:
Isn’t it ironic that more people have probably been killed for an ideology whose single most important tenet is universal love and compassion, than for any other ideological cause in the history of the world?
World history would be a laugh riot, if it weren’t for all the dead bodies.
jrg
harlana pepper, for the win. Also, too:
I guess it’s never going to occur to these numbskulls that speaking for everyone that attends church in order to re-write history and establish theocracy might actually hurt church attendance.
WereBear
I thought President Obama was a Christian with a craaaaaazy preacher he broke with!
Heh.
Sarcastro
What a bunch of douches.
Huh… and here I thought Catholic doctrine opposed the death penalty and preemptive warfare.
All back of the bus and shit. Yea, I really wonder why he isn’t attending.
I’d consider myself lucky to simply get no response rather than, say, an extensive IRS audit or a deep cavity search every time I flew. Which is what I’d do to your ass if you tried this shit on me and I controlled the executive branch.
Fixed.
andy
@SpotWeld – it takes a very creative reading of Article VI of the Constitution (see the very last sentence)….
KCinDC
Argh, wingnuts are going to be lying about that “Christian nation” soundbite for the rest of Obama’s presidency. Here’s the quote in context:
What exactly is there to disagree with there?
David Hunt
That would be the office of Substitute Jesus, Spotweld. “He came first as the Lamb and returns as the Lion (in a flight suit).” That sort of thing. Of course if he did anything that was overtly religious, then Rush would go back to ironically calling him “the Messiah” while subtly (for him) implying that Obama is the Anti-Christ.
sparky
omg! BHO threw Jesus and America under the bus!
and here i was thinking those were speed bumps.
wilfred
Yesterday, in the middle of a tirade against stupidity, bureaucracy and how the world had gone to hell, an Algerian colleague blurted out the following:
Immediately, I knew I had the title of my memoirs. Nowhere does it apply better than when when trying to make sense out of the Xian right
os
id like for you guys to read Matthew 6:6. I dont think wignuts ever read anything after the old testament
But you, when you pray, enter into your room. And shutting your door, pray to your Father in secret; and your Father who sees in secret shall reward you openly.
Or Matthew 6:7
7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
sgwhiteinfla
The wingnuts are just mad because they have lost their foot hold in the WhiteHouse. I guess they don’t realize that members of religions other than Christianity also pray. Had President Obama had a ceremony but chosen a preacher outside of the evangelical community you can best believe they would have still complained. The worst thing is the most un Christian acting folks seem to be the mouthpieces of Christianity. Who the fuck is Wendy Wright to question President Obama’s faith anyway?
NonyNony
@SpotWeld:
Ah, he’s the head of the American Church. Much like the Queen of England is the head of the Church of England. And after his death he’ll be deified like the Roman Emperors – by a simple majority vote in the Senate. Reagan is currently the God of Conservatism. W used to light a candle every night in honor of the God of Dirty Tricks Richard M. Nixon. I believe Article II gives him the power to declare new Commandments, to speak in the Voice of God, to call down lightning and storms on unbelievers, and to heal the sick with a touch of his hands.
Yeesh, it’s like people don’t even read the Constitution anymore. Next you’ll be telling me that you don’t know the extensive protocols for holding witchcraft hearings in the Senate as outlined in Article I or something.
Montysano (All Hail Marx & Lennon)
@CatStaff:
No shit. Although my first reaction to these morons is often anger, I’m basically just happy that I’m not them. What a dreary existence.
monkeyboy
I’ve been following this story and comments on various sites and have been amazed at the complete lack of basic understanding and history skills displayed in many opinions.
One favorite claimed is that it is from Traditional Christian beliefs that people in the US have religious freedom or even freedom to be an atheist.
The Grand Panjandrum
Of course, Andy McCarthy now wants to know:
Shorter Andy: If you’re gonna be mean to Jesus, then you better be mean to Mohammed!
Dork
If America could lose its dependence on oil and instead run soley on spittle, these wingnuts would be invaluable.
Mr. Stuck
Next, wingnuts will be saying Obama doesn’t cut the mustard.
JGabriel
They’re finally starting to get it.
.
lovethebomb
I am so proud of Obama for this. Praying on corners in long robes is something the big J opposed. Something about it being better to do in a closet, where no one but the father could see. Bush made a show and display of his phony plastic faith to pander to the insipid religious right.
Apparently public demonstration of sanctimony means more than the murder of a million for oil and bases to these fake people. Fake piety > true compassion.
I just wish Obama woul end the “faith based” initiatives. Those bribes only worked for Mommon worshipers, aka christian republicans. For this Wendy chick to bloviate about Obama’s “lack of faith” because he won’t don the long robe only indicates she is devoid of faith herself and clearly doesn’t understand the concept.
Patriot
Prayer Breakfast Catholics bummed but still haven’t given up hope of getting third Catholic after Roberts and Alito appointed to Supreme Court.
Pentecostal holyroller wingnuts trying to figure out why a older hardshell Baptist white guy has not been appointed but prayin’ real hard for their hero, Alabama Senator Jeff Beauregard Sessions III, to create hell on earth for Obama’s nominee, whoever it is.
Sarcastro
One favorite claimed is that it is from Traditional Christian beliefs that people in the US have religious freedom or even freedom to be an atheist.
Hell, they think democracy and republicanism are traditional Christian beliefs. It just took them 1700 years to realize it apparently.
harlana pepper
good to know that women who are “concerned” for america are using their valuable time and energy on stuff like this. things being what they are, this is exactly what the country needs and i’m sure it will go far in solving the myriad, complex problems we are dealing with now.
MattF
Well, y’know, Obama held the first seder in the White House, so maybe he’s a secret landsman.
schrodinger's cat
I have a question, was an obvious show of religiosity common before the Bush years, why is it so important for the some on the right that the President be a Christian.
Comrade Darkness
The Obamas and the Clintons are intensely religious and Xian to boot. They get in trouble with the right over being all Matthew 6:6 about it (as indicated above). Not furthering a theocracy == atheist to these people. As well, Bush, because his entire public persona of having been saved from his irresponsible youth (his 40s) by the baby bejeesus, owed them big time, so they had him under their thumb. Without their blessing, literally, he was still just a drunken, stoned douchbag with wealthy parents. The Wendy Wrights of the world are still in the first stages of grief over losing crowning power over the president.
Hunter Gathers
Quiet, man. You’ll blow his cover. Didn’t you get the memo?
The Jihad isn’t coming until 2013.
Comrade Darkness
One favorite claimed is that it is from Traditional Christian beliefs that people in the US have religious freedom or even freedom to be an atheist.
Absolutely, all those witch burnings were over arguments surrounding a disputed Yankee’s/Met’s game.
sammie
Next, wingnuts will be saying Obama doesn’t cut the mustard.
Oh wait, . . .
Dr. Rockso
Mr. Obama – Please for to nominate the first Muslim to the Supreme Court?
The hilarity that would ensue from teh wingers would be epic. Plus, we could score some points with about a billion of the world’s population.
Woody
There are FIVE goddam mackerel-snappin’ OPUS Deists on the Court already: Roberts, Scalia, Alito, Thomas, and Kennedy.
TR
So it’s a rejection of something that’s not true?
Or does Shirley Dobson know more about the founding of our country than Thomas Jefferson and James Madison?
kay
“For those of us who have our doubts about Obama’s faith, no, we did not expect him to have the service,” said Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America.
What a flat-out nasty thing to say. It’s got it all, doesn’t it? A pat on the back to herself for her superior discernment skills, and a judgment on who and who doesn’t “have faith”.
I know I live in a diverse country, and I think I generally succeed in my daily life expressing tolerance towards religious, but, boy, they sure don’t practice it themselves.
Once again, they’re exempt from the rules they lay out for others.
someguy
Can I get a hallelujah from the chorus?
Or would asking for a “Fuck Yeah!” be more appropriate?
harlana pepper
Defunding planned parenthood is a winning idea — more unwanted babies, pls, thank you — this is just an historic recession, nothing to see here, move on and procreate like bunnies, thank you
John S.
Irony is dead. Wingnut Voltron slayed that shit back in Episode 256, “The Wingnut Cometh”. Unsurprisingly, the witch
HaggarWendy Wright up to her usual tricks. Will the the evil King Zarkon finally succeed in defeating our hero?Tune in next week kiddies…
Ricky Bobby
PRAY HARDER YOU GODDAMN MORANS!!
Dennis-SGMM
I’d find that easier to credit if the people who mouth the Ten Commandments while coming up with new ways to break them are characterized as good folk while those who actually try to live by all ten are characterized as DFH’s.
Comrade Darkness
One favorite claimed is that it is from Traditional Christian beliefs that people in the US have religious freedom or even freedom to be an atheist.
I just realized she’s trying to take credit for the Quakers/Friends influence in early American life. But we know she can’t be one or she wouldn’t be out there flapping her jaws layin’ down some god-reserved judgement on whose faith is sufficient and whose isn’t. She needs to read that bible more rather than whacking people with it, I’m sure there’s something relevant in there on that topic as well.
harlana pepper
as a childless heathen, i want to thank concerned women for america for encouraging people to do exactly what i didn’t do, NOT plan for my future or the future of any unborn children I might bear based on my economic circumstances, just squirt those puppies out as fast as you can, ladies!! God will take care the rest! thank you, keep moving, nothing to see here!
TheFountainHead - 'Easily Led'
I think an Internets award should go to the first Winger to get the Rev. Wright to comment on this travesty.
Dennis-SGMM
@harlana pepper:
How dare you deprive those fine people of the opportunity to castigate you as a wanton? What about their needs?
dmsilev
Because there’s nothing guaranteed to work better to get the President on your side than to insult him and go all holier-than-thou on him.
Also: Was William “Catholic League” Donahue not available for comment for some reason? He usually shows up in stories like this, foaming at the mouth on cue like one of Pavlov’s dogs after a rabies infection.
-dms
anonevent
@The Grand Panjandrum: Except – and here’s the point that Wendy and Andy will miss – Ramadan is a religious event, the prayer breakfast is a political event masquerading as a religious event. Only if Obama were to cancel all Christmas events at the White House could there event be a comparison.
Joshua Norton
Gee, again with the lying christianist rants. Obama IS living up to the office. John Adams (they may or may not know that he was one of the founding fathers AND a president) also declared that this country was not founded as a Christian nation.
And the slick way they work in the “Judeo-Christian” buzz words. The reason the original fundies were shrieking about politicians not being required to swear allegiance to a certain religion was that they wanted to keep Jews from holding public office. They were as virulently anti “Judeo” (and anti papist) as they come.
NOTHING these hypocritical bible thumpers say has even the vaguest relationship with truth.
Keith
That sounds like something out of The Simpsons.
Zifnab
@Keith: Can I get a rousing cry of “Iron My Shirt”? Oh, wait, that’s only aimed at Hillary. :-p
Ash Can
And how, good for him. These horse’s-ass theocrats can take their bullshit agendas and shove them up their asses with an open umbrella. Hooray for restoring some plain old common fucking sense to the presidency, not to mention a little constitutionality.
Laura W
OT but not if you need to send Mom flowers…I wanted to order another bouquet and to see if the ad would pop up here I googled “Balloon Juice Proflowers ad” which took me back to the open thread in which I blathered on about how great they are and the ad popped up.
How does it know how to do that? Magic!
gbear
Here’s a local story about the day of prayer event that evangelical Tim Pawlenty will be attending. Last year, not one speaker at the event was outside of the evangelical christian movement, and organizers are required to sign a religious purity statement. The story is pretty good at showing how the day of prayer is nothing but an insider’s club.
Kudos to Obama. Let the fundies all gnash, wail and rend.
Laura W
@harlana pepper: I would like to remind you (and me, as I qualify) of a quote that BOB posted the other day:
Complex-prone women are especially dangerous.
The rest of you have been warned.
Bob In Pacifica
Jeff Sharlet’s “The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power” goes into the creepies behind the Day of Prayer scam. Long short, a lot of politicians have gotten into that bed, including Hillary.
Jon H
In related news, in 2010 the White House will no longer be using eggs for the Easter Egg Roll, they will be using festively-dyed frozen embryos.
(This, however, will fail, as the embryos will be too small. So in 2011, the egg roll will be canceled, but children will be invited to participate in a new Easter tradition, the burning of a wicker man on the east lawn.)
CatStaff
@Jon H: Burning Man East!! Fabulous!
Trinity
Ah…I love the Tunch pics but I return for the snark.
CatStaff
@Montysano (All Hail Marx & Lennon): You can see the pursed lips from here.
Seriously, these people would bitch if you hung them with a new rope.
Litlebritdifrnt
I thought Robert Gibbs response was best “The President prays EVERY day” (emphasis mine).
JK
Wendy Wright would have been sorely disappointed in the founding fathers if she had met them because they were Deists.
Hopefully, Wright will some day pull her head out of her ass so that she can smell the roses.
harlana pepper
@Laura W:
Laura W, considering I am internets dating, I thank you for warning. I will try to stay as simple-minded as possible so as not to unsettle and/or frighten any of the potential “good catches,” i.e., BOBs, out there ;^)
HyperIon
I am old.
I remember when there were NO prayer breakfasts.
A happy and simpler time when religion was a PRIVATE matter.
Persia
@Dr. Rockso: Ideally a lesbian Muslim. Yes, they do exist.
Grumpy Code Monkey
IANAC, but I seem to remember the directive to pray in secret was so you wouldn’t piss off the Romans by praying to the “wrong” god and get yourself crucified, not because praying in public was unseemly.
I could be wrong about that, though.
Litlebritdifrnt
Betty Cracker over at RR had the perfect take on this yesterday. (It includes the full quote from Matthew)
http://www.rumproast.com/index.php/site/comments/oh_yeah_well_i_happen_to_have_jesus_right_here/
SnarkIntern
Obama-fu too strong for wingers.
Obama knows that he has a three year term right now, and then an election. He knows that reelection will depend on how he is seen three years from now, not today.
I like a guy who keeps his eye on the ball and doesn’t sit around worrying about who is, or isn’t, liking him every day. Church and prayer are personal, and they don’t become the property of tongue-waggers when you run for office, despite the efforts of these phony “christian” fucks.
Joshua Norton
Could be and are. The Romans allowed the Jews to practice their religion freely. Or are you going to try to tell me that Jesus was a “christian”?
The admonition against public prayer was about putting on a great show of piety in order to impress the people around you. Their phony admiration was your sole “reward”. God wasn’t going to give you any extra heavenly brownie points for it.
Charity
@harlana pepper: Met my husband on Match.com in January 2003. Adopted kittens together 6 months later, moved in together 1 month after that. Engaged March 2004, married October 2005. Soldier on!
YellowJournalism
As far as the faith-based community goes, nothing from them pisses me off more than when religious leaders try to define what it is to be a person of faith. Wendy Wright is all too ready to dismiss Obama as being without faith for not joining in something that’s important to her. She has no idea what Obama does behind closed doors in regard to religion, and she has no right to demand him to bring his religion into what is essentially the workplace.
Jay in Oregon
@os:
My favorite is still Matthew 6:5.
TenguPhule
And when Wendy Wright is killed a tortoise, we”ll know the Great God Ohm has answered.
And the people will believe.
Oh boy will they believe. :P
TenguPhule
Thankovsky
Fantastic. The more these idiots cry wolf, the less people will come running.
What I especially love about this quote is how incredibly off-base it is. Obama is easily the most genuinely spiritual president we’ve had since at least Carter.
Mike G
“But as president, he should put his own lack of faith aside and live up to the office.”
Since when is attending a National Day of Prayer considered a vital duty of the President? That’s like failing to meet with the regional little league champions.
Have your stupid superstition-chant-fest, just stop bitching if the most powerful man in the world decides he’s got better things to do that morning than pander to your magical beliefs.
Kudos to Obama for skipping this, whether it was principle or scheduling or whatever.
Redshift
@NonyNony:
I believe Article II gives him the power to declare new Commandments, to speak in the Voice of God, to call down lightning and storms on unbelievers, and to heal the sick with a touch of his hands.
And don’t forget presidential infallibility. Bush used that to make “we do not torture” true, even though it was an obvious lie. If only Condi was better at explaining that…
Origuy
@Joshua Norton: The Romans had no problems with Jews and Christians having non-Roman gods; they wanted them to include the Roman civil religion as well, which by the time of Christ included worshiping the Emperor. That “no other Gods before Me” thing was what caused the problem.
Not giving lip-service to the majority religion still gets people in trouble.
So if Obama is an atheist Muslim, does he belong to a non-prophet religion?
Genine
@Charity:
Nice story! I am doing the online thing as well. It has yielded some interesting results!
Colette
@wilfred:
Even worse (to them) – they’d call him a Catholic.
@kay:
Of course they are. They’re special, and special people don’t have to follow the same rules as ordinary folk. That’s the essence of fundie self-identification.
EriktheRed
Actually, a lot of wingnuts HAVE argued something like this.
Bulworth
There’s just no way today was going to be anything other than a chance for the reichwing to posture on and on about religion, whether Obama went to their little shindig or not, whether he mouthed the right words to them, etc.
Maybe the very concerned women and other busybodies wouldn’t mind if we got back to our lives now.
asiangrrlMN
@harlana pepper: Yes, this! Wendy Wright can bite me, but she might enjoy it too much.
Hm. It seems like some of the ladies here has found true (or had fun, at least) on the interwebs. I might have to put my profile back up.
Women like Wendy Wright piss me off. Who the fuck is she that she thinks she speaks for me? Oh, right, I’m not a true American (I got called a baby-killer by a troll to my blog) woman.
We ARE NOT a Judeo-Christian nation, no matter how much Christians like to pretend we are. Besides, actions matter more than words. So, Ms. Wright, if you can’t walk the walk, then STFU.
Sincerely,
angry asiangrrlMN.
JWW
And me tell John,
What’s so good for him?
That was your opening point, yet you followed with nothing.
It’s not about “HIM” it’s about the country. Does this make “YOU” so happy?
Joe Buck
The prayer-breakfast people are violating the direct orders of Jesus Christ, so any real Christians should tell them to buzz off.
From Matthew: