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Americans have grown far too used to having their Commander-in-chief being also their parishioner-in-chief. They have gotten practically dependent on having validation for their own adherence to their religion coming from the man who is supposedly the head of a secular government. Now we are seeing that an awful lot of people have lost the respect for privacy in religious views that we ought to have. Instead, it becomes a measure of one's patriotism to be openly, publicly, even obnoxiously religious.

I hope that the President sticks to his stance and sets a tone that helps lead America to a less strident attitude about religious observances. We have enough problems in our lives that we ought not to be worried about whether the President is religious enough.

At the Constitutinal Convention, Ben Franklin (hardly anyone's idea of a typical evangelical) proposed that the Convention open with prayer. In his notes, Franklin wrote that "except for three or four persons, [the convention] thought prayers unnecessary." Would that the nation followed their example instead of Billy Graham's, who first suggested the law mandating a "national day of prayer." James Madison, chief architect of the constitution, condemned in his Detached Memorandua, "religious proclamations by the Executive recommending Thanksgivings and fasts" as features of "theocracy." Nowhere does the constitution give the president any spiritual power or authority. Let's keep it that way.

Knowing Obama's background and church-going habits over the last 20 years, I'm actually thankful he's not pretending to be religious or Christian. And frankly these things have tended to be mostly PR, and very light doctrinally - even erroneous. It would be great to have a deeply and intelligently Christian man leading the nation in biblical prayer. But that's a very tall order these days. Even FDR's public prayer regarding D-Day was not that bad.

Considering that the President leads a diverse population, prayers have to be generic. It's far more important that he pray personally every day, in sincerity and truth. Public things can be more show than go. So, for these reasons, and because of Obama's ultra-liberal views, I'm happy he took a low-key approach and spared us the angst.

So Gadfly, are those who read the posting to believe that you have been side-by-side with President Obama over the last 20 years, knowing what he did each moment and where he went? "Knowing Obama's background and church-going habits over the last 20 years,..."

What does President Obama's views have to do with his personal faith life? Just because one does not believe exactly as another does not mean one is correct and the other incorrect! To do this is to judge and that I believe is not acceptable with God or Jesus the Christ!

Shalom