Barack Obama Says The Christian Faith Has Been Hijacked

Barack Obama spoke before the church he joined over two decades ago, The United Church of Christ, on Saturday. He told the UCC’s national convention that some evangelical leaders have “hijacked” the faith to create division. He was talking about right wing evangelicals. Obama said, “Somehow, somewhere along the way, faith stopped being used to bring us together and faith started being used to drive us apart.” “Faith got hijacked, partly because of the so-called leaders of the Christian Right, all too eager to exploit what divides us,” Obama said. He accused them of playing politics with religion. “At every opportunity, they’ve told evangelical Christians that Democrats disrespect their values and dislike their church, while suggesting to the rest of the country that religious Americans care only about issues like abortion and gay marriage, school prayer and intelligent design,” he told the crowd at the national convention. “There was even a time when the Christian Coalition determined that its number one legislative priority was tax cuts for the rich,” Obama said. “I don’t know what Bible they’re reading, but it doesn’t jibe with my version.” The UCC is known as the most liberal of the Protestant faith. In 1972 they ordained an openly gay man, and two years ago they endorsed same-sex marriage. Obama joined this denomination twenty years ago at the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. Some have criticized his church for what they call “unbiblical “teachings because of the stances they have taken with gays, and because of their emphasis on social justice. This is the same bunch that calls Mitt Romney’s religion a cult though.
Alan Cosgrove