was HBO\u2019s Bill Maher<\/a> \u2014 sermonizing against religion has become his life\u2019s work \u2014 who claimed that Obama is hiding a deep, dark secret. During the Feb. 11 episode of his \u201cReal Time\u201d talk show, Maher said he knows an unbeliever when he sees one and that Obama is probably an agnostic.<\/p>\nThis came a week after the president made another attempt, as church people say, to give \u201chis testimony.\u201d Yes, his mother was a skeptic, Obama said, during the National Prayer Breakfast, but she was also \u201cone of the most spiritual people that I ever knew.\u201d Her values led him to the Civil Rights Movement and to the Baptist, Catholic and Jewish clergy who led it.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir call to fix what was broken in our world, a call rooted in faith, is what led me \u2026 to sign up as a community organizer for a group of churches on the Southside of Chicago,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd it was through that experience working with pastors and laypeople trying to heal the wounds of hurting neighborhoods that I came to know Jesus Christ for myself and embrace Him as my lord and savior.\u201d<\/p>\n
The presidency has, on occasion, driven him to his knees, he said. But faith has strengthened his family, especially \u201cwhen Michelle and I hear our faith questioned from time to time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those old questions remain a concern months after a Pew Research Center poll found that 18 percent of Americans think Obama is a Muslim. At that time, only 34 percent of those polled said the president is a Christian and 43 percent said they didn\u2019t know his current religion. Among strong supporters, 43 percent of blacks and 46 percent of Democrats agreed that he is a Christian.<\/p>\n
The bottom line: Millions of voters remain unsure whether Obama is their kind of believer.<\/p>\n
Maher\u2019s attack was unique, since it came from an outspoken liberal, the acidic wit behind the movie \u201cReligulous,\u201d an fierce secularist who is so turned off by faith that he calls himself an \u201capatheist\u201d instead of an atheist. If Maher has a sanctuary, it\u2019s the Playboy mansion.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith friends like Mr. Maher, Mr. Obama doesn\u2019t need enemies,\u201d noted Brent Decker, who leads The Washington Times editorial page.<\/p>\n
Maher stated his doubts during a roundtable about whether the president is sincere in his attempts to march under a \u201ccentrist\u201d banner. The iconoclastic comedian agreed with many religious conservatives on one crucial fact \u2014 that Obama often appears to hide his true beliefs.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you woke him up in the middle of the night, or if you gave him sodium pentothal, I think he\u2019s a centrist the way he is a Christian \u2014 not really,\u201d said Maher. In other words, Obama is pretending to be a centrist and a Christian.<\/p>\n
The African-American philosopher and critic Cornel West disagreed: \u201cHe is a Christian, he\u2019s just a centrist Christian. He\u2019s not a prophetic Christian.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maher stood firm: \u201cHis mother was a secular humanist and I think he is too.\u201d<\/p>\n
This unleashed a lightning-fast series of exchanges, with guests discussing the fact that Obama entered the black church before he entered national politics. As an adult, he had already begun a spiritual journey that took him away from his mother\u2019s blend of skepticism and spirituality.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe changed his mind on the God question, brother Bill,\u201d West reminded the host. \u201cHe changed his mind on the God question.\u201d<\/p>\n
Again, Maher insisted that Obama is hiding his true beliefs in the same way that he keeps insisting that he continues to \u201cstruggle with gay marriage.\u201d It\u2019s smart politics for Obama to say one thing while believing the other, said Maher.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, insisted West, \u201cBeing a Christian is not a political orientation for the president. He is a Christian.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI just don\u2019t believe him,\u201d Maher said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBill, what do you think he is?\u201d, asked West. \u201cYou think he\u2019s agnostic, actually?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, kind of,\u201d said Maher.<\/p>\n
West grew even more animated, asking, \u201cOn what grounds do you say that? \u2026 What kind of evidence you got?\u201d<\/p>\n
Maher declined to answer and steered the discussion into safer territory.<\/p>\n
Getting in the last word, West noted: \u201cBut somebody is wrong about this thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The last thing the White House needed was another TV preacher questioning the sincerity of President Barack Obama\u2019s Christian faith. But there was a twist. This time it was HBO\u2019s Bill Maher \u2014 sermonizing against religion has become his life\u2019s work \u2014 who claimed that Obama is hiding a deep, dark secret. During the Feb. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[268,444,527,615,770,844],"class_list":["post-2188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-godbeat","tag-cornel-west","tag-humor","tag-mainline-protestants","tag-obama","tag-satire","tag-television"],"yoast_head":"\n
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