For Obama, Religion Remains an Issue

WASHINGTON - Bundled in winter coats and holding hands, President Barack Obama and his family left the White House last Sunday and strolled through a park to St. John's Episcopal Church.

Inside, a pastor preached about John the Baptist and not giving up when things don't work out. He connected the message to Obama, saying people viewed the president as a savior but the nation's problems are not easily solved.

Obama's church visit got attention because it was rare. The last time the president attended Sunday services in Washington was in July. And the family outing came days after a campaign ad by Republican candidate Rick Perry asserted Obama has been waging "war on religion."

Religion is "not always the most important reason people vote, but it never completely goes away," said John Green, a political scientist at the University of Akron who studies the issue.

"I think Obama goes into his re-election period with an opportunity to re-emphasize his faith and the connections of his faith to his policies, partly because he hasn't done it very much," Green said.

But it also presents an opening for critics to question the devotion of a president who as a candidate in 2008 had to go out of his way to refute claims, spread on the Internet and in emails, that he was Muslim. Even now, many Americans seem unaware of Obama's religious background.

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Obama, who the White House says is a "committed Christian" and prays daily, has followed a winding path.

His Kenyan-born father was brought up Muslim but was a "nonbeliever" according to Obama's telling. He said his mother was skeptical of religion, and when she moved them to Indonesia, he attended a Catholic school and a secular school where Muslims were the majority. While living in Hawaii with his grandparents, Obama went to a Unitarian Universalist church.

As a rising political figure, Obama spoke how he overcame his own reservations and was baptized after college. "I felt God's spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to his will, and dedicated myself to discovering his truth," he wrote in his book, The Audacity of Hope.

Then came a roiling controversy that threatened to upend his presidential campaign: the publicity around sermons by his pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.

Wright said U.S. leaders caused the 9/11 terrorist attacks by supporting terrorism abroad and claimed the government tried to wipe out African-Americans with drugs and AIDS. God bless America? Wright said it should be "God d-- America."

Obama severed ties with Wright and his campaign recovered. On Inauguration Day, he invited two noted pastors to pray: Rick Warren, the evangelical megachurch leader, and Joseph Lowery, a leader in the civil rights movement.

Since then, Obama's religious life has been little discussed - partly because the economy has dominated talk in Washington, and partly because Obama practices more privately.

Obama has been to church in Washington about nine times, according to a count by Mark Knoller, a CBS News White House correspondent who keeps statistics on presidents. Michelle Obama and her children are not known to attend services on their own, but the first lady has visited churches around the country as part of her effort to combat childhood obesity.

President George W. Bush attended church more frequently but, like Obama, did not join a church in Washington and preferred to worship at the more private Evergreen Chapel at Camp David, where the Obamas sometimes attend. Jimmy Carter continued to teach Sunday school while in the White House. Ronald Reagan took a lower key approach.

Presidential outings are always a heavy affair. Streets are cleared. Traffic is disrupted. Churchgoers must pass through security.

"He regrets causing such a distraction that other people can't worship," said the Rev. Joel Hunter of Northland church in Longwood near Orlando, who writes weekly devotionals for Obama.

But the lack of visibility has clouded public perception. A 2010 Pew Research Center poll found that 18 percent of adults think Obama is Muslim, up from 11 percent in 2009. Thirty-four percent correctly identified him as Christian while 43 percent said they did not know Obama's religion.

"That is the dilemma," Hunter said. "If you are more private in your personal development, then it creates a vacuum. People fill it in with the latest email," a reference to attacks preying on fears of Muslims.

The White House said Obama prays daily and has a circle of pastors, Hunter included, who provide spiritual advice. "The president's Christian faith is a part of who he is, but not a part of what the public or the media is focused on every day," read a statement.

Obama has invoked religion during ceremonies and faith-based events. He said he called an Easter prayer breakfast this spring because "as busy as we are, as many tasks as pile up, during this season, we are reminded that there's something about the resurrection - something about the resurrection of our savior, Jesus Christ, that puts everything else in perspective."

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As the election approaches, religion will return as an issue. Mitt Romney, one of the top Republican candidates, faces potential problems in the primary because he is Mormon, which some other Christians view with suspicion. Newt Gingrich became a Catholic in 2009 but carries the baggage of two divorces and infidelity. Perry is trying to regain his footing in the race by playing up his faith.

"I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a Christian," the Texas governor says in his new TV ad. "But you don't have to be in the pew every Sunday to know that there's something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military, but our kids can't openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school. As president, I'll end Obama's war on religion, and I'll fight against liberal attacks on our religious heritage."

Perry was wrong about school prayer. Schools cannot hold Christmas events or prayers that focus on one religion, but children are allowed to pray and openly celebrate Christmas.

The Perry campaign says the "war" extends to Obama's decision not to defend the federal ban on gay marriage in court.

Religious conservatives have found reason to disagree with Obama over some policies, including the insurance mandate under the health care law, which some say violates the rights of those to forgo coverage because they think God is their protector. The law includes religious exemptions that critics say are vague.

At the same time, Obama has been praised for strengthening faith-based government outreach.

"When Michelle and I hear our faith questioned from time to time, we are reminded that ultimately what matters is not what other people say about us but whether we're being true to our conscience and true to our God," Obama said during the February National Prayer Breakfast. "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well."

FIND THIS ARTICLE AT: http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/national/for-obama-religion-remains-an-issue/1206260

Fox News: Faith and Politics

Pastor Joel talks to Lauren Green at Fox News about faith and politics on the "Spirited Debate" program.

Thomas Jefferson's Biblical Revisions

A decade after Thomas Jefferson left office, the nation's third President started working on a project compiling the four gospels of the Bible's New Testament into a book that removed supernatural parts Jesus' life. It came to be known as "The Jefferson Bible." The work was recently published by the Smithsonian Institution. NPR affiliate WMFE invited a panel of religious leaders and scholars to discuss the meaning and impact of Jefferson's biblical revisions. Here, Pastor Joel Hunter talks about what happens to Christianity if miracles like the Virgin Birth and the Resurrection are removed from the faith. CLICK TO LISTEN.

Monster-in-law? Not in this family

As a pastor's wife, Becky Hunter has heard many lamentations over mothers-in-law — particularly as it applies to the relationship with a daughter-in-law.

As her three boys grew up and married, she never wanted to be the reason for any such grief. So Hunter, the wife of Joel C. Hunter, spiritual adviser to President Barack Obama and pastor of Northland, A Church Distributed, outside Orlando, Fla., took what she learned from confidences shared and Scriptures read, and kept this cardinal truth in mind: The primary relationship is the one between son and wife.

"If the mother-in-law or son is not willing to see the primary relationship as the one between son and wife, the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law will be messed up," she said. "The mother-in-law will constantly be feeling she's playing second fiddle."

And, she added: "Bottom line is, she is second fiddle."

Hunter and her daughters-in-law have gathered the lessons learned in a book, "Why Her? You, Your Mother-in-Law/Daughter-in-Law and the Big Picture" (Northland, A Church Distributed). Half of it is by Hunter, the second half by her daughters-in-law, Lisa, Rhonda and Elizabeth.

Hunter does not think of their book as a how-to as much as a why-to. It's never easy when two women love the same man, she acknowledged, albeit in different ways. The wife often sees her husband as protector; the mother thinks she is supposed to protect him. Being aware of those differences can make all the difference in the two women's relationship.

She offers some counsel for mothers-in-law, most of which daughters-in-law could follow too — not to mention sons-in-law and fathers-in-law:

Do not take sides — your child's or your spouse's. "You need to take the marriage's side," Hunter said.

Pray for your daughter-in-law and not about her. "There's the image of the mother-in-law praying, 'Please fix her. You know what she's like. I just want you to make her better.' As opposed to 'Lord, help her be her best. Help her move forward as a strong partner to her husband.'"

Phrase requests as invitations, not obligations. For example, a mother-in-law may be disappointed when her son's family declines to spend a holiday with her. Rather than pile on the guilt, she said, "You may build a closer family by just letting it go with no strings or grudges. That may set a tone that makes them want to be with you the next time."

Don't force a buddy-buddy relationship too soon. Instead, be willing to invest in the relationship in ways that the other woman would appreciate, and on her terms, not yours.

Relate to her as an equal. Avoid the temptation on either side to adopt a child or parent role.

Avoid setting her up for failure, intentionally or unintentionally. You wish she had a job? Or were home raising the kids? "It isn't like (they're) doing something wrong," Hunter said, "but there is an impression that they're failing" based on the mother-in-law's expectations.

wdonahue@tribune.com

Daughter-in-law offers some advice

Pressed for any momentary lapse of bliss, Elizabeth Hunter, who is married to Joel Hunter Jr., shared an initial struggle she had in relation to her mother-in-law.

"Early in my marriage, I noticed my husband turning to Becky a lot for encouragement. It was hard for me … and I had to take a step back and say, 'It's not her pulling him away from me. It's something I need to do in our marriage.'" So she worked on being more supportive of her husband. "I didn't want to allow any resentment to creep in."

— W.D.

Is Judgment Day Upon Us?

Pastor Hunter talks to Fox 35 (Orlando) about Harold Camping's predictions that the world will end soon.

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Evangelical Summit Held at the White House With President Obama

Dr. Hunter talks about the meeting between President Obama and the National Association of Evangelicals during the first Evangelical Summit, held at the White House on October 12.

Evangelical Leaders Meet President at White House

Christian leaders at the first Evangelical Summit held at the White House Wednesday prayed for President Barack Obama and encouraged him to continue talking about his faith, said Joel C. Hunter, a spiritual adviser to the president.

Obama met with the executive committee of the National Association of Evangelicals, which represents 45,000 churches from 40 denominations across the United States, in the Roosevelt Room.

Religious freedom and the Christian stance on traditional marriage took center stage among the topics discussed, Hunter said. Immigration reform and global poverty were also presented as issues during the 30-minute meeting.

Hunter, who sat next to Obama during the meeting, told The Christian Post that the president also talked about his own faith. Although he did not want to quote the president's conversation on the matter, he said Obama “did bring up his faith and spoke from that perspective.”

At the conclusion of the meeting, Leith Anderson, the president of NAE, asked Obama if he would like the members present to pray for him, Hunter said.

“We prayed for him. Leith commended him on his expression of his faith in the Easter prayer gathering and at other times. We told him that we really do appreciate his being clear about his Christian faith at different events. So we just wanted to encourage him in that,” Hunter said.

Hunter, of Northland, A Church Distributed, near Orlando, Fla., was a member of the White House’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. He told CP that he presently has a pastoral relationship with Obama.

“It was a very constructive meeting. Very honest,” Hunter described. “The president is very good at stuff like that. He wanted to hear our concerns and priorities, and he listened and responded to each one of them.”

The Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference and a member of the contingent, told Charisma News that the meeting was "very much a conversation among friends. We had about 19 evangelical leaders – all an integral part and members of the NAE – and we had a great conversation with the president."

According to Rodriguez, "Although we may disagree with the president on certain issues, we did it with great deference and civility. Not only was the meeting cordial, it sounded like a conversation amongst believers. The meeting was edifying, to say the least."

Hunter said that members of the NAE wanted to make sure Obama was clear on their views on religious freedom and marriage.

“Certainly, the president’s attention was drawn to religious freedom and our strong advocacy for that. There is a bill in the Senate right now to extend the commission on international freedom,” he said. “We wanted to advocate that we continue that commission because it’s so important.”

Although it is not always clear cut, there appears to be a divide between Obama and many evangelicals on the issue of same-sex marriage. NAE leaders articulated a desire for military chaplains to be able to express opposition to homosexuality, coming on the heels of the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

“I think the president was reminded how important the issue of marriage is to us,” Hunter said. “That we don’t ever want to be in a position that we feel like we are having to compromise what we believe because of federal policies.”

Hunter also said the NAE wanted to make sure that there is future cooperation with the White House in regards to immigration laws and that funding for international aid is not cut.

By Alex Murashko Christian Post Reporter

FIND THIS ARTICLE AT: http://www.christianpost.com/news/white-house-summit-christian-leaders-encourage-obama-to-share-faith-58133/

USA TODAY: The Truth About Evangelicals

In 1976, skeptical Jews in the Northeast and on the West Coast had to be convinced by their Southern cousins that Jimmy Carter, a “born-again” Georgia Baptist, was not too strange to support as the Democratic nominee for president. For a time, Jews made their peace with this growing American phenomenon called evangelical Christianity.

A good deal has changed since then, especially after conservative evangelicals amassed unprecedented access and influence under President George W. Bush and a Republican Congress, pushing a political and cultural agenda most Jews found uncomfortable.

As a result, beginning in 2006 and every two years since in the run-up to the presidential and off-year congressional elections, books and articles suddenly appear — often written by Jews — about the menace and weirdness of evangelical Christianity.

Though some of the writers hail from Brooklyn or Washington, D.C., the tone is what I’d call “Upper West Side hysteric,” a reference to the fabled New York City neighborhood. The thrust of the writing is that these exotic wackos — some escaped from a theological and ideological freak show — are coming to take our rights and freedom.

Connecting the dots

Chief among these are books such as Michelle Goldberg’s Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism, Rabbi James Rudin’s The Baptizing of America, and several titles by Sara Diamond.

These days, it’s hard to turn to liberal websites, public radio or MSNBC without encountering some “investigation” or “exposé” of a splinter, marginal figure, such as David Barton or John Haggee, from the evangelical world — followed by some tenuous if not tortured connect-the-dots link to a presidential or congressional candidate. Most recently, Rachel Tabachnick’s Web piece on the New Apostolic Reformation has generated ink and air.

I’m as left wing a Democrat as they come, and I have lived among and reported on evangelicals for nearly 20 years. Let me tell you, this sensational, misleading mishegas has got to stop.

The truth is, the political center of gravity of American evangelicals is in the Sun Belt suburbs, not in rural Iowa, much less Wasilla, Alaska. Think Central Florida’s vaunted ‘I-4 Corridor,’ critical to carrying this swing state, where the last GOP presidential debate was held in Tampa and the next one will take place this week here in Orlando. These evangelicals are, by and large, middle-class, college-educated and corporate or entrepreneurial.

Yes, they tend to vote Republican and oppose gay marriage — although there is a growing generation gap on these issues among younger evangelicals, according to recent Pew Center studies.

“We evangelicals cringe like everyone else at the prominence given to marginal groups labeled with our name,” says the Rev. Joel Hunter, an influential megachurch pastor in Orlando and an ideological centrist. “We know their numbers are small and their influence is grossly exaggerated, but we are not surprised that the majority of common-sense believers are not given equal attention in a society fascinated by extremes.”

Most evangelicals accept some form of evolution and do not subscribe to arcane doctrines, such as “Christian Reconstructionism” and “Dominionism,” that Christians need to rule the world in order to bring about the Second Coming of Jesus. And, contrary to recent writing by some progressive Jews, most evangelicals are comfortable with the notion of theological tolerance and religious pluralism. “The media have been too eager to feature a simpleton image of evangelicals,” says Hunter. “Our part of the faith community is, on the whole, intelligent, accepting of diversity, and wanting the best practical solutions for the common good.

“When a majority of evangelicals hear about some of these theological oddities, it’s like our crazy Uncle Harry got out of the home and ran into city hall wearing a shirt with the family name,” the pastor. “We love him, but he misrepresents us.”

Not so sure Hunter is right? In 2008, analysis suggests enough evangelicals voted for Obama — or stayed home — for the Democrats to carry key swing states such as Florida, North Carolina and Virginia. They are as likely to vote for Republican women as liberals will vote for Democratic women. Evangelicals may be more likely to accept women in the pulpit of large congregations than those in mainline denominations.

Turning the tables

Ironically, the Jewish left is not alone in its self-serving myopia when it comes to evangelicals. Politically conservative, single-issue Jews embrace unquestioning evangelical support for Israel, brushing aside differences over reproductive and gay rights, stem cell research, and especially the separation of church and state. On the incendiary issue of evangelical support of Messianic Jews whose goal is converting the rest of us, including those in Israel, right-wing Jews put their fingers in their ears and shout, “LA-LA-LA!”

If, as Jews, we replace the old caricature of hayseed fundamentalist mobs carrying torches and pitchforks with one of dark conspirators trying to worm their way back into political power at the highest levels, we run the risk of accusing them of doing to others what we are doing to them: demonizing. We didn’t like it when people said we had horns and tails, ate the blood of Christian children and poisoned the wells of Europe with plague, much less conspired to rule the world through our Protocols.

“Evangelicals in the main want the same kind of common-sense solutions and moral integrity as other Americans,” Hunter says. “We do not want to use political means for our faith’s advancement; we just want to vote our values and leave it at that.”

Mark I. Pinsky, former religion writer for the Orlando Sentinel and Los Angeles Times, is author of A Jew Among the Evangelicals: A Guide for the Perplexed.

READ THIS ARTICLE HERE: http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/story/2011-09-18/evangelical-christians-republicans/50457192/1

FAITH IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE: INTERFAITH COOPERATION

Part 8 in a series of teachings from Dr. Joel C. Hunter about how to approach today’s issues biblically, respectfully and effectively.

50 Most Powerful People in Orlando

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Florida Pastor Joel C. Hunter of Northland Church was named one of the “50 Most Powerful People in Orlando” on Orlando Magazine’s eighth annual list, released in the July issue.

Hunter, who has made the list two other times, is 43rd on the list of Orlando residents, who are selected for their success in the areas of politics, philanthropy, business, and community involvement, said the magazine’s Editor In Chief Mike Boslet.

Serving as one of President Barack Obama’s spiritual advisers certainly helped Hunter, 63, solidify his place on the list, Boslet told The Christian Post.

“[Hunter] has a lot of influence on his church, which is the one of the largest in the area, and the church reaches in influence beyond the confines of the church property,” Boslet said. “Of course, there’s the White House connection he has, too.”

Orlando Magazine's editor also said the church, which has three locations in Central Florida and 15,000 members, is noted for helping in times of disaster outside the community. Northland (also called Northland, a Church Distributed) recently sent a disaster relief team to Pleasant Grove, Ala., to help those ravaged by a tornado.

Hunter told The Christian Post that being selected for the list was a reflection of his church and not an accolade that should be considered as giving him sole credit.

“Anytime that a religious leader can be among those that have an impact on a community it basically says that the pastor’s church is playing a role that is being evaluated by all of society as being valuable,” Hunter commented. “It gives some value to the church that’s beyond just the church’s religiosity.”

Hunter and his church have been involved in the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida, providing food, clothing, and shelter. The pastor’s service on the board and the community action taken in Seminole County by church members to fight homelessness were other reasons for the magazine’s selection.

“The county commissioners and the head of the school system came to us and said that we each of have a role, and the faith community has a significant role to play here,” he said. Hunter is asking for the participation of up to 200 churches of all faiths to combat the problem of school children who are homeless, an issue recently highlighted on CBS’ “60 Minutes.”

Also, impressing the magazine’s selection committee was the church’s use of the Internet and social media. The church has more than 7,200 fans on Facebook and more than 3,100 followers on Twitter. Church services are broadcast live on Facebook.

A link to the magazine’s “50 Most Powerful” list on the church’s Facebook page had several church members giving the pastor kudos.

"And as if we Northlanders didn't already know this – all joking aside, congratulations and God bless," commented Rick Davis, 61.

When asked about his impressions of the pastor beyond his recent notariety, Davis said he is one of “the most sincere, down-to-earth ministers I've ever had the pleasure to listen to. He certainly is a believer in the word, preaches the word, but is not one to condemn or speak out harshly about a person and/or group of people.”

Alex Murashko Christian Post Reporter

FIND THIS ARTICLE AT: http://www.christianpost.com/news/pastor-joel-hunter-named-one-of-50-most-powerful-people-in-orlando-52154/