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WaPo contributor questions Obama’s “loyalties”; suggests he isn’t Christian

September 02, 2010 1:42 pm ET by Jamison Foser

Continuing its practice of hosting some of the ugliest rhetoric around, the Washington Post’s On Faith microsite currently features an angry rant in which Danielle Bean suggests Barack Obama isn’t really a Christian and questions his “loyalties”:

I am not uneasy about President Obama's religion because I suspect he is a practicing Muslim. I am uneasy about his religion because I see a disconnect between the Christian faith he professes and his own words and actions.

There is nothing remotely Christian about supporting the legalized slaughter of unborn human beings for all nine months of pregnancy and even opposing legislation that would require basic medical care be given to those helpless infants accidentally "born alive" after botched abortions.

When a man who claims to be Christian mocks those who "cling to their guns and religion," his words give me pause. When a man who claims to be Christian embraces such messianic titles as "the One" and has the audacity to claim that "we are the ones we've been waiting for," I don't hear a Christian speaking. I hear a proponent of the "Religion of Me."

To me, the president's faith matters most when I begin to suspect he's putting it on for show. When a man's own words and actions fail to match up with his professed beliefs, I think every American citizen can and should ask the legitimate question:

President Obama, where do your loyalties lie? [Emphasis added]

That professed concern about “a disconnect between the Christian faith he professes and his own words and actions” could, of course, be applied to every Christian politician -- those who favor the death penalty, or unjust wars, or policies that benefit it the wealthy at the expense of the poor come to mind -- but Bean applies it only to President Obama. That, coupled with Bean’s disingenuous claim that Obama has “embrace[d] such messianic titles as ‘the One’” -- that’s a term of derision political conservatives use for Obama, not a title he claims for himself -- call her sincerity into question.

But that probably shouldn’t be surprising given Bean’s track record. In a previous On Faith entry denouncing Jennifer Aniston, Bean wrote: “Who needs a dad? Every child does. Even unbiased studies and statistics say so.” That link for “unbiased studies” takes you to a column by Heritage Foundation fellow Rebecca Hagelin, which cites another Heritage Foundation “expert,” and which includes a note indicating that the column “First appeared on WorldNetDaily.”

Yep, nothing says “unbiased” like a column by a Heritage Foundation fellow which relies on the work of the Heritage Foundation and which was first published by the looney Birthers at WorldNetDaily!

And that’s what passes for a “distinguished” panelist at the Washington Post’s site dedicated to “intelligent, informed, eclectic, respectful conversation”: Someone who questions the President’s religion and “loyalties” and who considers WorldNetDaily and the Heritage Foundation “unbiased.” No wonder On Faith treats Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck as the nation’s leading religious thinkers.

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    • Author by bintx (September 02, 2010 1:46 pm ET)
      4  
      On what basis does this idiot "suspect" he is a practicing Muslim?

      What a load of BS.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by nerzog (September 02, 2010 1:47 pm ET)
      3  
      This isn't Woodward and Bernstein's Washington Post anymore.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by rusty hinges (September 02, 2010 1:49 pm ET)
      3  
      And this from a "librul lamestream" newspaper!
      Report Abuse
    • Author by kfraz43 (September 02, 2010 1:52 pm ET)
      9  
      For crying out loud, enough with the religion thing already. The United States is not a theocracy, and there is no religious test to qualify for the presidency. This is yet another instance of an irrelevant issue being given false importance to increase the fear factor. Anybody who buys this crap ought to look at the last "Christian" president we had and think about how that worked out for us.

      Report Abuse
      • Author by nerzog (September 02, 2010 1:55 pm ET)
        4  
        The Troglodytes must be hedging their bets, just in case the economy shows improvement between now and November. If that happens, they can still herd their zombies to the polls using the good old Culture War crap.
        Report Abuse
    • Author by MidnightWriter (September 02, 2010 1:54 pm ET)
      3  
      On Bean's website she identifies herself as a "Catholic Mother and Author."

      For a long list of reasons I left the Catholic Church years ago, but while I was still active I would often encounter a few voices who all too eagerly and enthusiastically tell me that Catholicism was not Christianity and a long list of "proof" would be offered to support their claim.

      I would imagine Bean has encountered her share of similar voices during her life--which makes her weak little piece seem all the more ridiculous.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by dmhack (September 02, 2010 1:56 pm ET)
      5  
      And he claims Obama has embraced the title of The One.
      Please.

      I'm old enough to remember when WaPo was a respectable paper. Guess those days are long past.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by Andy Kreiss (September 02, 2010 3:50 pm ET)
        1 1
        Have you ever heard Obama refer to himself as "The One" ? Is this another one of these strawmen, like "The Messiah", that the right makes up and then gives a good beating to?
        Report Abuse
    • Author by mk3872 (September 02, 2010 2:20 pm ET)
      3  
      She even took the opportunity to throw in the old debunked nugget of Obama favoring killing aborted babies still alive outside the womb. It's hard to tell with these nutjobs if this kind of lying is ignorance, blind partisanship or planned.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by kfraz43 (September 02, 2010 3:06 pm ET)
        1  
        I think it depends on which level you're talking about. From media sources like this dimwit, the Manatee, Jesus Beck, Limbaugh, and Man Coulter, it's completely planned. They even recycle the same catch phrases. Talking points do exist.

        The level below that, the "base", is blindly partisan. They eat this crap up and never even question it. Then there are those casual observers, the "independents" as well as the generally disgruntled, who are ignorant. It's the Golden Trifecta of Propaganda.

        Report Abuse
    • Author by nerzog (September 02, 2010 2:20 pm ET)
      3  
      President Obama, where do your loyalties lie?


      With the Constitution, I hope. You know...The Constitution... which does not mention Jesus, or God, or Muhammed...which forbids any religious test for office.

      The President swears to uphold the Constitution, not The Bible.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by Andy Kreiss (September 02, 2010 3:53 pm ET)
      3  
      There is nothing remotely Christian about... opposing legislation that would require basic medical care be given...


      Ohhhh, hello, Comrade !
      Report Abuse

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