Why is Obama getting a pass on religion influenced leadership?

ElJuski · Feb 5, 2012

SpecialKO · Feb 5, 2012

ElJuski · Feb 5, 2012

but no, the comparison between Bush and Obama is absolutely ridiculous and such an easy way to turn the argument away from the more important issues at hand. And I can't wait until Monday to get the new party line memo for the week.

EDIT: Oh shit an extra k

Tress · Feb 5, 2012

I seem to remember all the rabid Obama haters squealing recently about how people talk about Bush too much, and how they need to stop bring up Bush to score political points.

You can't have it both ways.

Terrik · Feb 6, 2012

Why not? Everyone does.

Krisken · Feb 6, 2012

Apparently not.

Necronic · Feb 8, 2012

I actually DO think Obama has gotten a bit of a pass on the religion issue. There are certain issues that are pretty important to the left that he refuses to touch based on his religious beliefs, like gay marriage. On the other hand he had a hand in the repeal of DADT.

And with regards to that article, compare it to this:

When the Alabama Republican Whip Gerald Dial was asked if Jesus would support his immigration bill he paused and then said "Probably not."

I'm not sure of the significance, the article just made me think about it. Even republicans think that Jesus would have been a democrat. Or a commie.

Krisken · Feb 8, 2012

I don't see him getting a pass on gay marriage.

AshburnerX · Feb 8, 2012

Honestly, I think we give him a pass when he says stuff about his religion because, as a lefty, we don't believe he's being sincere at all. I know that I always thought it was just pointless pandering to silence the social conservatives in any case. Besides, his recent move to try and force religion-based health initiatives to dispense abortions and birth control really shows us where his priorities lie.

I'm pretty sure the sincerely religious Lefty archetype died with Kennedy and even he wasn't that devote.

Necronic · Feb 8, 2012

AshburnerX said:
I'm pretty sure the sincerely religious Lefty archetype died with Kennedy and even he wasn't that devote.

You mean he was a catholic.

AshburnerX · Feb 8, 2012

Necronic said:
You mean he was a catholic.

Basically. I've never meet someone who grew up Catholic that remained seriously devote into adulthood (that was born after 1950). Seriously... the easiest way to turn a Catholic into an agnostic/atheist is to make them go to Catholic school.

ElJuski · Feb 8, 2012

I always saw it going one of two opposite ways--running to, or running from, the church. I ended up doing the latter, but I have tons of friends that went the former.

Frank · Feb 8, 2012

AshburnerX said:
Basically. I've never meet someone who grew up Catholic that remained seriously devote into adulthood (that was born after 1950). Seriously... the easiest way to turn a Catholic into an agnostic/atheist is to make them go to Catholic school.

As a man who grew up in a Catholic city who's entire public school system was Catholic, this. A hundred times this.

strawman · Feb 8, 2012

There's a big difference between subscribing to a religion's culture, and actually living the religion. In areas of high density of one particular faith, many people are culturally religious, but not faithful to the teachings of the religion.

ElJuski · Feb 8, 2012

stienman said:
There's a big difference between subscribing to a religion's culture, and actually living the religion. In areas of high density of one particular faith, many people are culturally religious, but not faithful to the teachings of the religion.

tell me more...

Bowielee · Feb 8, 2012

Quick nitpick, it's either devout or devoted.

Devote is a verb, the other two are adjectives.

Dei · Feb 8, 2012

Frankie Williamson said:
As a man who grew up in a Catholic city who's entire public school system was Catholic, this. A hundred times this.

I grew up in a 90% Catholic area, and Catholic school honestly didn't mean shit all for me, it basically meant we went to Church during school hours so I could get out of going on Sunday.

What turned me off of Catholicism was realizing that the whole doctrine outside of vanilla christian is a sexist, biased PoS. =/ Thankfully we don't live near my family, so no one outside of my mom and dad know that my kids aren't baptized/aren't being raised Catholic.

jwhouk · Feb 8, 2012

Most of my family on my dad's side are Catholic. Oldest aunt very devout, to the point where one of my cousins in her family is a priest. Dad is a layworker at his local church. My mom grew up Catholic, graduated from the local Catholic HS, but wasn't very devout after I was born.

Meanwhile, I'm a "born-again" Christian in the non-denominational category. Go figure.

GasBandit · Feb 9, 2012

My folks basically weren't that picky about churches. We were a military family, and just seemed to pick a church (they had some criteria I had no idea about) at each posting. So we went to a presbyterian church in one city, a lutheran the next, and a baptist in another, and by the time I was in high school we stopped going altogether. If you were to ask me, I'd be hard pressed to tell the differences between them, other than some said "forgive us our trespasses" and others said "forgive us our debts."