At U.N., Obama Brings God Into Mideast Peace Process

By Dan Gilgoff, God & Country

Remember when President Obama finally heeded the call of progressive religious activists in his recent address to Congress, framing healthcare as a moral cause?

Well, he did something similar in his United Nations speech today. At the end of a longish, applause-fetching passage on the need to restart Israeli/Palestinian peace talks, he called the effort a religious one involving "God's children" and the three world religions that call Israel the Holy Land:

We must remember that the greatest price of this conflict is not paid by us. It is paid by the Israeli girl in Sderot who closes her eyes in fear that a rocket will take her life in the night. It is paid by the Palestinian boy in Gaza who has no clean water and no country to call his own. These are God's children. And after all of the politics and all of the posturing, this is about the right of every human being to live with dignity and security. That is a lesson embedded in the three great faiths that call one small slice of Earth the Holy Land. And that is why—even though there will be setbacks, and false starts, and tough days—I will not waiver in my pursuit of peace.

• See President Obama's top faith leaders.
• See pictures from the weekend's Values Voter Summit.