President Obama's disgraceful speech at the National Prayer Breakfast

Please check out the original "State of the Nation" publication at DeskofBrian.com

http://sites.google.com/site/thedeskofbrian/state-of-the-nation/obamasprayerbreakfastdisgrace

There President astounded with his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast.



"There is, of course, a need for prayer even in times of joy and peace
and prosperity. Perhaps especially in such times prayer is needed -- to
guard against pride and to guard against complacency."





Are you kidding?



This is the President who has stepped foot in a church only three times since taking office(that's ABC's count not mine), didn't exhibit any religious observation for Christmas and practices his faith daily through his Blackberry.



Yes his Blackberry.



ABC quotes the President: "My Faith and Neighborhood Initiatives director, Joshua DuBois, he has
a devotional that he sends to me on my BlackBerry every day. That's how I start my morning. You know, he's got a passage,
Scripture, in some cases quotes from other faiths to reflect on."




President Obama dares lecture us, treating us like American plebes, to be mindful of prayer and warns against pride as he practices his "eReligion" through daily devotions from his "iPastor" - is he kidding?



We get the whole story
(full article here) of his families devout Christian faith yet we are constantly reminded NOT all Americans believe in God, but you'd think he'd focus on those of us that do pray AT THE PRAYER BREAKFAST!!!



While appealing for cooperation he humbly become the subject of a joke before jabbing at birthers and those who question if he's a Muslim.



"Now, I am the first to confess I am not always right. Michelle will
testify to that. But surely you can question my policies without
questioning my faith, or, for that matter, my citizenship."



Mr, President, you "preach" civility, then don't bring this up. Don't ridicule or even acknowledge these distractors, because then you're causing the division.





"Empowered by faith, consistently, prayerfully, we need to find our way
back to civility. That begins with stepping out of our comfort zones in
an effort to bridge divisions."



Our comfort zones? Find our civility?



The President that attacks dissent and marginalizes opposing opinions as obstruction dares to lecture the masses at a Prayer Breakfast.



Meanwhile, across the street from the White House sits St. John's Episcopal, where "every president since James Madison has attended a service at St. Johns, where pew 54 is designated as "The President's Pew."
(ABC reminds us)



The President can practice his faith how he likes. He can always be criticized for lecturing others to be "faithful" and "pray" when he doesn't openly exhibit these practices (allegedly outside of Camp David, also from ABC)



"And I'm profoundly mindful that a loyal opposition, a vigorous back and
forth, a skepticism of power, all of that is what makes our democracy
work."



I can only hope so Mr. President.



"Through faith, but not through faith alone, we can unite people to serve the common good."



Mr. President, I agree "not through faith alone", but through the Lord. Through the Lord that we pray to faithfully, that I hope you are indeed reading about on your Blackberry, through the Lord we can be united.











Prayer Breakfast Speech Transcript here.



http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/02/04/se-cupp-obama-prayer-breakfast-faith-god-jesus/



Pic: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/05/obama-attends-prayer-brea_n_164190.html

Faith Board Member tied to SEIU

When I began to review the list of the Board Members added to the department run by Joshua DuBois, the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, I didn't get very far.

From the article providing a list the first name was Diane Baillargeon, President and CEO of SeedCo (in the center of the picture).

In my first, my very FIRST search, I find a connection between her work at SeedCo and SEIU.

From this article in 2008:

"Seedco’s outstanding reputation makes it an ideal organization to undertake this very worthwhile and important initiative," said Mr. Knuckles. "The Upper Manhattan Health Careers Initiative complements another health care employment and training partnership we announced almost exactly a year ago with the 1199 SEIU Training and Employment Funds to connect 118 Upper Manhattan residents to employment and career advancement opportunities in the health care industry. In both instances, our overall goal is to create opportunities for empowerment zone residents with skills deficits to obtain the highly valued training that is needed to qualify for employment and career advancement opportunities, while simultaneously providing employers with a pool of skilled and qualified labor."¹

SEIU.

Not just any office of SEIU, 1199 where Patrick Gaspard is from. My prior blog is here.

So, even in the Faith-Based & Community Initiative Office we find connections to the same groups... SEIU in this case. (which is connected to ACORN)

I'm not shocked or surprised, just frustrated.


1. http://www.umez.org/?itemCategory=34574&siteid=52&priorId=0

Joshua DuBois: Faith Based a& Community Czar

Back in February President Obama continued, really rebranded, the Office of Faith Based Initiatives which was created under President Bush to "Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives" (Executive Order 13199) Joshua DuBois, a 27-year-old Pentacostal Minister was designated to lead the Office.

I wasn't really aware of the activities of the office other than the Supreme Court decision in 2007. The court vote to protect the Executive Order from separation of church and state lawsuits. Judges John Roberts and Samuel Alito, Bush appointees, sided with the majority in a 5-4 victory, declaring "status of taxpayer" was NOT sufficient to challenge the executive order.

What's interesting is that President Obama added a new component: a 25 member board. Some members include:

–Rabbi David Saperstein, head of the DC Religious Action Center of Reform Judiasm
–Judith Vredenburgh, CEO of Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America
–Bishop Vashti McKenzie, first female Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church
–The Rev. Joel Hunter, the senior pastor of Northland church in Orlando, Florida
–The Rev. Frank Page, the conservative past president of the Southern Baptist Convention


I'm surprised by the LACK of outrage surrounding the appointment of DuBois, who is credited with securing Rick Warren for the President's inauguration, texts the President Bible verses daily and is a Pentacostal minister. This is an entire piece by CBN's David Brody



This piece is over an hour long:

http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2009/obama-dubois/video-dubois.shtml#slideshow


In contrast with the other extremists that have found their way into the Obama administration, Mr. DuBois seems to be a genuine Christian with passions to bring different faiths together. He's been an advocate to reduce abortions and seems to have a healthy grasp on religion in our communities.

"In every church on Sunday in the African-American community we have this moral fervor; we have energy to burn. But as soon as church lets out, the energy dissipates. We must find ways to channel all this energy into community building. The biggest failure of the Civil Rights Movement was in failing to translate this energy, this moral fervor, into creating lasting institutions and organizational structures." -- Barack Obama, Chicago Reader 1995.

DuBois is a strike contrast from Rev. Wright and the anti-Christian comments from Kevin Jennings. Most of the attention around the controversial Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, begun by President George W. Bush and continued by President Obama, has centered on church-state separation issues.

I personally would abolish the department, the czar position, as I don't see this as a role for the Federal government. Unfortunately, it's here and I will strive to understand the board and its members to calculate their role in the Obama agenda.