Guess Who's Not in Church Today?

Barack Obama has "resigned" from Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Illinois.

How exactly does one "resign" from a church?

"Strike me from your rolls!"

"Drop my name off your mailing list!"

"And when the saints go marching in, I DON'T want to be in that number!"

That raises a question by the way:  Why isn't Obama transferring his membership to a new church, instead of resigning?

I am jumping the gun here, because Obama could well turn up at a new church today.  In that case, more power to him and God bless him.  [Update: Obama says that he will be looking for a new church, but also argues that one can worship outside of church.  True, but it isn't the same experience at all as being part of a faith community.]

I've been wondering all along whether Obama's roots in the Christian church are deep and sincere, or whether it's all been a matter of political expediency.

John Hinderaker at Powerline adds:

Apparently Rev. Pfleger was the last straw. Obama's explanation was characteristically self-pitying and evasive:

It's clear that now that I am a candidate for president, every time something is said in the church by anyone associated with Trinity, including guest pastors, the remarks will be imputed to me, even if they totally conflict with my long-held views, statements and principles.

Maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't choose to attend a church where sermons are constantly preached that not only "totally conflict with my long-held views," but rightly offend many millions of people. The question that is still left hanging, of course, is why they didn't offend Obama until they appeared on YouTube.

I don't know the answer to that question, but it will be interesting to see whether Obama finds a new religious home.  Even he attends a new church only out of political expediency, perhaps there will be some small positive influence on his life.  That can happen if he finds a church that actually preaches love for one's neighbor rather than damnation for one's nation.

Some people will yawn and say they don't care what faith Obama professes, if any.

That's their privilege, but I do care.  A man's religious beliefs, if they are any good, inform and shape his actions and decisions every day, and for the better.  The major tenets of Christianity are to love God and to love one's neighbor as oneself.  A man whose faith is informed by these commandments can be a conduit for much good in the world. 

I care whether Obama stays connected to the church. If Obama becomes America's next president, I'd like him to have some source of spiritual sustenance other than his own reflection in the mirror.

Comments

[benning]

Having read some of Obama's comments in which he tried to add a few Scriptures, I can only doubt that his church attendance was for anything other than appearance's sake. He not only misquoted Scripture, but completely missed the point of the quoted Scripture so as to use it for a political point.

If he's a true Christian, then I'm the King of Florida.

He's a Leftist political animal with no true connection to his professed Faith nor to the American people. And his wife's reported use of the word, 'Whitey' simply adds to my distaste for the Obamas. They are faux-Christians, faux-Americans, faux-democrats. They are fauxs!