The New Republic' s John Judis is ticked off about Politico's reporting on Obama's absence from church:
This is the kind of reporting one would expect from the Christian Broadcast Network, whose editors and reporters presumably view less than weekly religious observance as an offense against God, and as a sign of moral depravity in a public official, but why is this presumably secular publication making such a big deal about it? I regard as an invasion of Obama's privacy.
My hunch here is that mainstream news organizations are reporting on this not to hint at "moral depravity" but rather to raise the issue of hypocrisy, or dishonesty. If Obama had only talked about his faith when he appeared on CBN, or visited churches in Iowa, that would be one thing. But it was an issue he chose to highlight. I'm just wondering: Would Judis be outraged if Politico had reported that President Bush didn't attend church? Perhaps he would, or perhaps he would say that that's a TEXT So that, one of the churches I met, or one of the churches that I became involved in was Trinity United Church of Christ. And the pastor there, Jeremiah Wright, became a good friend. So I joined that church and committed myself to Christ in that church. ... FALSANI Do you still attend Trinity? OBAMA: Yep. Every week. 11 oclock service. Ever been there? Good service. I actually wrote a book called Dreams from My Father, it's kind of a meditation on race. There's a whole chapter on the church in that, and my first visits to Trinity. ... told a congregation in South Carolina: "We're going to keep on praising together. I am confident that we can create a Kingdom right here on Earth." OBAMA: Uh, yeah, I guess I do. Its' not formal, me getting on my knees. I think I have an ongoing conversation with God. I think throughout the day, I'm constantly asking myself questions about what I'm doing, why am I doing it. said at a campaign event in Ohio a few days before that state's Democratic primary, "I pray to Jesus every night and try to go to church as much as I can."