Robert Schlesinger

Barack Obama's Church of Choice

November 26, 2008 RSS Feed Print

By Robert Schlesinger, Thomas Jefferson Street blog.

MSNBC is doing a segment right now about where the Obamas should worship, and are reporting that churches around town are angling to host the (sigh) first worshippers. Seriously? "What church?" is like "what school?"—barring a really crazy Obama decision (sending the kids to a Pakistani madrassa in the one case or bringing Jeremiah Wright to town for special Oval Office sermons in the other) people should lay off and let them make what are ultimately personal decisions without the benefit of excessive public scrutiny. As Sam said the other day: Butt out.

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Tags:
NBC,
religion,
Barack Obama,
Washington, DC

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My Indian friends tell me that "madrassa" simply means school in Urdu and Arabic. To suggest that a Pakistani Madrassa is a place to avoid sending children to is like saying we should not send our children to school! Pakistani Madraasas teach reading, writing, arithmetic, physics, biology, history, geography, English, etc.

Learn the meaning of words before you use them. Radical extremist schools should be called just that. Calling them madrassas is an offense to all regular schools, teachers and pupils.

Bruce of CO 1:47PM December 01, 2008

"It is important to understand that God is Absolute and Eternal Truth, Morality and Justice. He is not 'progressive'... His will is not subjective or relative. He is the bedrock of this created dimension of time, space and matter ."

And he DOESN'T WANT YOU TO MASTURBATE!

jeebus of MO 3:05AM November 29, 2008

Don't you hate getting interrupted when you're on a roll? Let's pick it up...

So, if you’re not a closed minded Dawkins/Hitchens, atheist type, here are a couple of steps you should take - I’m not gonna do the heavy lifting for you - Just nailin’ up a few signposts;

1. God is real and not subject to your personal ideas or perceptions. His reality exists apart from your perception of it.

2. God wants you to know Him.

3. God needs an interface system with humanity.

4. Needed to send someone who understands us and what it means to be human (pain, love, anger, loss - all that), but also needs to be aware and in sync with Him.

5. He has to let us know what He expects of us, yet still allow us our free will.

6. This messenger would need to establish a Church - Not write a book - and give unto it the Keys to the Kingdom.

7. The members of the Church willingly and peacefully died horrible deaths in order to plant the seeds of His Truth which eventually toppled the greatest power on earth. Not through the martyrdom of killing others, but through the martyrdom of dying a holy and purposeful death. And, all this before the bible existed.

8. Find the religion/theology founded by the only being who ever claimed to be the Son of God. Stay with the roots and traditions of the Church he founded.

9. Accept that the Church is made of men and so is not perfect in some matters that do not pertain to the words and truth of God.

10. Do not accept the proposition that we can not know the mind or will of God or that all theology , all religions are equal - Therefore relative, subjective, and so, ultimately meaningless. Impenetrable skepticism is your enemy - Accept the existence of Absolute Truth and that it is knowable... Then discipline your mind to begin the real work of conforming your will to His.

One final thought - It’s not about having faith who your father is - It’s about knowing who your Father is...

R.L. Schaefer of CA 4:16PM November 27, 2008

Robert Schlesinger

Robert Schlesinger

Robert Schlesinger is managing editor for opinion at U.S. News and World Report, overseeing all opinion editorial content. He is the author of White House Ghosts: Presidents and Their Speechwriters. E-mail him at rschlesinger@usnews.com. Follow him on Twitter: @rschles.

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