WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama's two years in the White House have deepened his Christian faith, he said Thursday as he brushed aside lingering doubts by some Americans who still believe he is Muslim.
"The presidency has a funny way of making a person feel the need to pray," he said to warm laughter at the National Prayer Breakfast, an annual gathering that brings together thousands of religious and community leaders, lawmakers, Washington bureaucrats and international dignitaries.
"Like all of us, my faith journey has had its twists and turns. It hasn't always been a straight line. I have thanked God for the joys of parenthood and Michelle's willingness to put up with me," he said, speaking about his wife.
Obama's speech was personal in nature, as he spoke of how he "came to know Jesus Christ for myself and embrace him as my lord and savior" more than 20 years ago working as a community organiser in Chicago.
"In the wake of failures and disappointments, I've questioned what God had in store for me and been reminded that God's plans for us may not always match our own short-sided desires. And let me tell you, these past two years, they have deepened my faith," he said.
During his 2008 presidential campaign, Obama was put in the extraordinary position of having to reassure American voters that he is a Christian.
But because his Kenyan father was born a Muslim, his middle name is Hussein, and he spent years in Muslim-majority Indonesia as a child, millions of Americans -- particularly Republicans fueled by conservative bloggers and talk radio hosts -- suspect he is secretly Muslim, according to several polls.
Obama told the prayer breakfast -- which by tradition the US president addresses every year -- that a young minister recites meditations from scripture each morning, and that when faced with the enormity of his office's challenges it is his faith "that keeps me going and that keeps me from being overwhelmed."
"My Christian faith then has been a sustaining force for me over these last few years, all the more so 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."
He also stressed that in today's "bitterly polarized" politics, "it's useful to go back to scripture to remind ourselves that none of us has all the answers."
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.