Jack Moline
Director, Public Policy, Rabbinical Assembly

Jack Moline

Jack Moline has been rabbi of Agudas Achim Congregation in Alexandria, Virginia, since 1987. He is past chair of the board of Interfaith Alliance.

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Obama's religious commitment: the Constitution

In the wake of his weekend rally, Glenn Beck kept up the drumbeat of criticism about President Obama's religion, calling it a "perversion" and saying that America "isn't recognizing his version of Christianity," which Beck characterized as "liberation theology."

Despite critique of Obama's Christianity, a recent poll showed that nearly 20% of Americans believe falsely that the president is Muslim.

Why is there so much attention on Obama's religion? Does it matter what religion the president is?

When the Nobel Prize was awarded to President Obama in the earliest days of his presidency, there was general confusion and resistance in the United States. After all, people declared, he hasn't done anything yet! I think it did not dawn on most citizens that the election of a person of color to the highest office in the land was seen by the Prize committee -- outside observers of our culture -- as the prize-worthy accomplishment. Finally, there was evidence that the United States was as good as its values.

Apparently, that election was one step, not the final step, toward genuine equality in the United States. Concerns about the President's faith commitments are prevalent because some people continue to be concerned that individuals who do not fit a particular profile (including a certain kind of Christian) cannot be trusted with the legacy of the USA.

So what if the President holds to some of the values of Islam? So what if he has a family member who is a rabbi? And if we find out he practices meditation, or subscribes to the universalism of Baha'i, what difference does it make?

The president took an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution. That's the only religious commitment our Founding Fathers demanded, and until people learn to trust their wisdom on this matter, it's disingenuous to pretend to represent any of their other values.

By Jack Moline  |  August 30, 2010; 2:10 PM ET Save & Share:  Send E-mail   Facebook   Twitter   Digg   Yahoo Buzz   Del.icio.us   StumbleUpon   Technorati  
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IN REPLY TO (IRT)
THE PRESIDENT'S RELIGION
JACK MOLIN:

“So what if he has a family member who is a rabbi? And if we find out he practices meditation, or subscribes to the universalism of Baha'i, what difference does it make?

ANS:
So what difference does it make if an atheist as Stalin, Mao, or Hitler were President? Is there any difference having a pronounced prevaricator, a self-aggrandizing narcissist and pervert like Clinton, president. He was the chief law enforcer of the land, perjured himself in Federal Court, and lied to the Nation over national television?

Is there no difference between a duplicitous immoral President, or a morally religious president like Washington, or a Lincoln? Would not even the immoral Clinton be a better president than Obama, with the moral standards of a Marxist Socialist?

The Clintons and Obamas aren’t anything close to being Christians. Christians aren’t pro-abortionist; Christians believe that man is endowed with certain inalienable rights. Abortion is the violation of the most fundamental right of humanity, viz. the Right to Life. Obama and Clinton are opposed to the idea of inalienable rights, and subsequently oppose our Judeo-Christian heritage.

What has made America the greatest nation in history is the recognition that man is endowed by God with certain inalienable rights that are beyond the powers of government. These rights are not forfeited by government but only by the individual when he abuses them.

Character and integrity are molded by one’s moral beliefs, therefore religion has a critical impact on how an individual will govern. The Founding Fathers (FF) recognized this and wrote a Constitution that reflected their beliefs. Their beliefs were grounded in our Jewish-Christian heritage. Had they wrote the manifestos of Marx or Mao, or Hitler’s “Mein Kamph,” would it matter?

We have a Marxist Socialist President, who devalues life, and consequently the people whom he governs. For over 20 years he was been indoctrinated by an anti-Christian prelate who has denounced America and what She stands for. Does it make matter?

Inviolable Rights are based on the threshold of Christianity’s traditional morality; they are the basis for all Civil Law. They are not, given by man but by God. The pro-gay and pro-abortionists believes all rights are violable, as do the Clintons and Obamas who has surrounded himself with a consortium anti-Christian Communist Socialists Czars.

Posted by: TTWSYFAMDGGAHJMJ1 | September 3, 2010 9:05 AM
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Well said.

Posted by: EvilOverlord | September 2, 2010 7:32 AM
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IN REPLY TO (IRT)
THE PRESIDENT'S RELIGION
JACK MOLIN:

IRT:
"Concerns about the President's faith commitments are prevalent because some people continue to be concerned that individuals who do not fit a particular profile (including a certain kind of Christian) cannot be trusted with the legacy of the USA."

ANS:
Such fear is justified because Christianity is the basis for the moral exigencies of governing. It is a social necessity that a political leader adhere to the moral principles that all the Founding Fathers (FF) reiterated in the Bill of Rights.

These Rights are the doctrines of the Catholic Church and are in various degrees present in all Christian religions. If a president doesn’t recognize these moral precepts than he is out of context with the principles this nation was founded on.

The Natural Moral Law is implicitly embedded in the Ten Commandments. Namely, the precept that all men are created equal, is strictly a Catholic doctrine as are the sacredness of human life, marriage, and freedom of religion and speech. Most other Christian religions are derivatives of the Catholic faith.

The dignity of marriage and human life are the foundation of all societies. Destroy or cheapen them and other rights are unsustainable. Hence, the legalization of murder by abortion and Gay Marriage destroy the sanctity of the society.

The Obamas support even Partial Birth Abortion (PBA). Obama's wife solicited Congress to reject the ban on PBA. Obama voted three times to allow abortionists who botched their abortions to finish murdering the victim. Further, he supports Embryonic Stem Cell Research, which is the murder of millions of embryos or human beings. He unquestionably stands for the devaluation of human life.

Obama supports Gay Marriage, and gay unions; he supports gays in the military. In addition, Obama supports the radical libertine justices on the Supreme Court and avowed to nominate such anthropocentric radicals like Kennedy, Stevens, Ginsberg, Souter, & Breyer.

These five justices concluded in Lawrence v. Texas that tradition morality served no legitimate purpose to the State, and cannot be a basis for Civil Law when it is the basis for all Civil Law.

When Kagan was asked about the Declaration of Independence and that all men are endowed with inalienable rights, she said she was only concerned with the Constitution. However, the Declaration is the authority for the Constitution.

Posted by: TTWSYFAMDGGAHJMJ1 | September 1, 2010 12:16 PM
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