A New Role for Religion in Obama's White House

As it works to bring religious leaders and concerns into the policymaking process, the administration has probably paid even closer attention to faith-based symbolism and messaging. Gay rights groups and liberals pressured Obama to rescind his inaugural invitation to Warren because of the pastor's support for a gay marriage ban in California. Obama's refusal sent a clear message to evangelicals and other cultural conservatives that he respected their values. And in announcing he would lift federal limits on embryonic stem cell research by executive order, a move that riled religious conservatives, Obama laid out a faith-based rationale. "As a person of faith, I believe we are called to care for each other and work to ease human suffering," he said, citing the research's potential to yield cures for debilitating diseases. Like Bush, Obama included religious leaders at his signing ceremony on embryonic stem cell research.

Such overtures are unlikely to gain the support of most white evangelicals, 73 percent of whom backed John McCain last November. But they may win some over and will very likely appeal to political moderates from other faith traditions, especially Roman Catholics, whom Obama won last year. That kind of stagecraft can also help prevent the evangelical animus that plagued Bill Clinton in the second half of his administration and John Kerry in the 2004 election. "This administration understands that they can't actively antagonize religious groups or be seen as insensitive to religious concerns," says Southern Baptist Convention public policy chief Richard Land, who has worked with presidents going back to Ronald Reagan. "They get that in a way that the John Kerry and Howard Dean wing of the party don't." This helps explain why Land, a religious conservative who was close to the Bush White House, gets regular phone calls from DuBois, Obama's faith-based office director.

The administration's sensitivity on faith is also evident in the types of messages it avoids. When he reversed the Mexico City policy, a ban on federal funds for family planning providers abroad who offer or support abortion, Obama did so quietly, on a Friday evening. When Clinton lifted the same ban shortly after his 1992 election, he scheduled it on the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, inflaming anti-abortion groups (George W. Bush reinstated it). "Obama's something of a puzzle to evangelicals who don't like some things he's done on abortion but can't bring themselves to hate him," says William Martin, author of With God on Our Side: The Rise of the Religious Right in America.

But whether Obama can bring together a diverse coalition of ordinary Americans to get past the culture wars is the question. So-called values issues are among the deepest dividing lines in the electorate. Many antiabortion groups have already attacked Obama's abortion-reduction plan as all talk. Liberal groups, meanwhile, recently blasted the administration for inviting former Indianapolis Colts Coach Tony Dungy, who endorsed a gay marriage ban in Indiana, to join the faith advisory council. Dungy, an evangelical, declined the offer, citing scheduling conflicts with council meetings. For now, such setbacks are unlikely to deter Obama. As someone who said last year that he prays "to be an instrument of God's will," the president appears to be operating as a true believer.

• See Obama's Most Important Faith Moments.
• See photos of Obama behind the scenes.