Obama's play for the faithful middle class

June 30, 8:10 PMManchester Faith & Culture ExaminerDyan Puma

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From left: Dennis Brack / epa / Corbis; Brooks Kraft / Corbis for TIME

Amy Sullivan yesterday wrote a TIME article confirming that after spending five months of visiting churches and vetting sermons, Obama had chosen a church: “in an unexpected move, Obama has told White House aides that instead of joining a congregation in Washington, D.C., he will follow in George W. Bush's footsteps and make his primary place of worship Evergreen Chapel, the nondenominational church at Camp David.”

But by 4:00pm the same day, Sullivan updated her story, stating that “given the intense lobbying by virtually every Washington church to score the Obamas as new members, this wasn't something the White House was looking to publicize.

“In response, the White House has released a statement: "The President and First Family continue to look for a church home. They have enjoyed worshipping at Camp David and several other congregations over the months, and will choose a church at the time that is best for their family." Though nothing in the statement contradicts my reporting, David Brody over at the Christian Broadcasting Network reads it as saying that my article "IS NOT ACCURATE." [hyperbolic all-caps his]”

Brody’s article ends: “It is interesting that the President has attended Evergreen Chapel but the search for a DC Church home continues.”

Why is “it” interesting?

Clearly this president continues to amaze and confound with each strategic step he takes, but one possible answer to Brody’s remark is that Obama can appear to be your typical Christian church-going president, while pandering to other protestant denominations.

Taking it one step further, if the White House aides aren’t lying and instead leaked the information, Obama might also be attempting to close the religious gap between himself and George W. Bush. By making a play for the faithful in the middle class, he could gain support for healthcare reform. Just a thought.

For those in the know, Obama’s Christian faith is a calculated and contrived front for the deeply devout Muslim man, who before last summer’s controversy surrounding his former and the now retired pastor Jeremiah Wright, attended Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. (Trinity has its roots in the Nation of Islam.) Although Obama is no longer hiding his Muslim roots, having exposed them shortly before his Cairo trip to gain favor in the Middle East, he is still hiding his true “radical” colors by appealing to Americans, again and again, as a moderate, and practitioner of “good” religion and “good” policy.

Since taking office however, Obama has failed at both. In fact he has worked hard to reverse all of Bush’s policies that promote Christian-based ideals and philosophy, part of our country’s founding.

In January, just one day after the 36th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion in all 50 states, Obama lifted a ban on federal funding for international groups that promote or perform abortions. (FOXNEWS.com)

This week Obama sacked the bioethics advisory board, whose members were picked by Bush. The president will appoint new members to turn the ethical “discourse from the question of 'should' to the question of 'how,” says E. Christian Brugger of the Culture of Life Foundation.

And now, of course, the president is pushing universal healthcare on the country that will further deepen our overall debt, while only providing coverage for a third of America’s families.

So, in settling or suggesting to settle on Bush’s church home, is Obama hoping to bolster a similar spiritual image to gain favor with middle class Americans, to take their minds off the skyrocketing trillion dollar price tag that will befall them – the demographic that chose religion over economics in the Bush vs. Kerry presidential race.

Because, as Dick Morris accurately points out, this healthcare plan will cause Obama to break his campaign pledge not to tax the middle class, or directly reverse his pledge and tax healthcare benefits.

In light of this latest, costly socialist policy that can only guarantee financial and emotional harm to millions of honest, hard-working families across the country, it seems inconsequential that Obama has chosen a church. Or not chosen one, or if aides leaked a news story on purpose or by mistake.

However, the political savvy of this president should be scrutinized and never underestimated. Obama’s far left policies, which continue to contradict the tenor of his campaign-like speeches, provide all the proof necessary to understand this is a man who will say anything to manipulate the masses. And, as Brody’s statement brings up, even the seemingly smallest contradiction is an interesting detail.