Obama Becomes his Party's Secular Preacher

In answer to the previous comment, hope is a bad thing when it is a blind hope. What are these people hoping for exactly, and what is it that Obama is truly offering as hope? The only hope I see in this man, is his hope to get elected, not anyone else's. I strongly suggest that his backers do some serious research on this man. He would be awful for our country, and I'd like to throw Hillary into that mix as well.

I would take "blind hope" over blind faith any day.

Do I have faith in ANY of the candidates? HELL NO! Do I have hope that at least one of them has the potential to bring about at least SOME of the change DESPERATELY needed in Washington? I sure do. And at this point, my hope rests in Obama.

All I have to say is America was built on the Christian faith, not the Muslim faith. We are, by marjority, a Christian nation.

I'm not afraid of his Muslim roots, after all if we had had better relations with the muslim world 20 years ago maybe 9/11 wouldn't have happened. Frankly our relations with them now isn't too great either, his roots might be a very good thing indeed for the war on terror. (Help us not step on so many toes and get our trading partners to respect us more.) And yes, Anna M, it does sound very racist. After all what you're saying isn't all that different then what they said about JFK for being Catholic. No one should be defined for a part of his past alone. I would say that a greater understanding of the muslim faith is a good thing right now, not a bad thing at all.

I WANT a hopeful and unifying force. And the fact that he has muslim, atheist, and traditional roots only makes him more of an American in my book, this country has a sample of every religion and every ethnic race in it's borders. I think it's high time our government started to show that more.

I agree with Kathleen and Kelly, we need a president with more sophistication. We can't stand alone and GWB and his policies have cost us a LOT of friends around the world. I think Obama, along with some other candidates, has a chance to begin turning that around. And the stupid actions like a pointless invasion followed by an inept occupation founded in part on an administration who apparently didn't even know about Sunnis and Shias, can't continue. We desperately need a smarter and wiser president.

Would Obama's message survive a general election, likely a very dirty general election (Karl Rove is not gone, just in remission)? I don't know. Would mistaken or malicious claims like some above resonate with enough people to sink his candidacy? I don't know. It could well depend on how frightened the majority of voters is at the time. Fright rarely leads to wise decisions; witness the last presidential election. Those are big questions for voters, but that's not news.

Just what church does he belong to?

Since it is politically expedient to be a CHRISTIAN when seeking major public office in the United States, Barack Hussein Obama has joined the United Church of Christ in an attempt to downplay his Muslim background. Obama was enrolled in a Wahabi school in Jakarta. Wahabism is the RADICAL teaching that is followed by the Muslim terrorists who are now waging Jihad against the western world. When he was sworn into office he DID NOT use the Holy Bible, but instead the Koran. Remain alert concerning Obama's expected Presidential candidacy. The Muslims have said they plan on destroying the U.S. from the inside out, what better way to start than at the highest level - through the President of the United States, one of their own. He does not say the Pledge Of Allegiance, sing the National Anthem, nor put his hand over his heart when others pledge or sing.

With his track record, I wouldn't trust Obama on something as important as the separation of church and state. In addition, I think there ought to be a separation of hope and state too. However, I'm a little disheartened considering that he is a young politician and will get many chances to get his brand of faith base America establish.

Leslie:
With all due respect, you sound terribly jaded and quick to judge Obama based not on fact, but rather on a lot unsubstantiated assumptions on your part.
First of all, consider that I was raised Roman Catholic and left the church at the age of 31 in 1991. I only joined the United Church of Christ nine years later when it adopted a progressive open and affirming policy toward homosexuals.
Now, individuals practice their faith of choice for a variety of reasons. Most of my family still practices Catholicism because it's been drilled into them that it would be a grave "sin" to do otherwise. They're all "staunch" Catholics, but none of them seem very passionate about their faith from what I've ever witnessed. To me it seems quite sad, but it's all they've ever known.
My point is, passing judgement on Obama simply because where his parents chose to educate him as a child is unfair. Similar to him, I was educated in a religious school (mine Catholic & his Muslim) and indoctrinated into a culture that I eventually rejected. Why is it so difficult to consider that perhaps Obama has done just that and is genuine in his faith. If this is all a ruse, then he is one incredible performer who should pursue an acting career instead of politics. It seems only fair and reasonable to me that we give him the benefit of the doubt.
I'm more concerned about those who are quick to judge without having facts to back up their arguement. And with regards to whether he chooses to sing the National Anthem, say the Pledge of Allegience, etc... who cares? It's a free country and that's his right. What's more disturbing to me is we have elected officials who go through these very "motions" and then turn around and commit some of the most corrupt and heinous offenses against the American people such as misrepresenting facts in order to instigate an unjust war, or stacking the tax system to line the pockets of the most wealthy while the middle class gets squeezed and giving political favors to corporate interests in return for their own personal financial gain. Where is the outrage for these actions which are far too common in American politics?

The first 2 posters are hilarious.

ok now i'm not happy to of read this article who gives the right to make him Godlike ... no tht is blasphimus ... in obama we trust ! wat has this society gone nutzs.. really do not follows false idols or worship false gods what wrong with these so called men.... we r not to follow some like barney yes, the purple dino-saur or peeps claiming to save us ... yeah right from ourselves for making dumb decesions soon our religions n freedom is at stake i do'nt believe we r safe because of change No i believe we were desperate for choosing n making someone grand.. before the sowing of his seeds... n new world order is next not only God but now our way of spending, and control use of lazer chips in fact ... oh if u only knew what was to come u wouldn't put ur faith in human... president or Other... FOR SHAME..... pay attention to da signs...