Obama Urges Dems Not to Disregard Faith
Connecting With Churchgoing Voters Isn't to be Shied Away From, Senator Says at Conference
By David Espo, AP
WASHINGTON - Sen. Barack Obama chastised fellow Democrats on Wednesday for failing to "acknowledge the power of faith in the lives of the American people" and said the party must compete for the support of evangelicals and other churchgoing Americans.
"Not every mention of God in public is a breach to the wall of separation. Context matters," the Illinois Democrat said in remarks to a conference of Call to Renewal, a faith-based movement to overcome poverty.
"It is doubtful that children reciting the Pledge of Allegiance feel oppressed or brainwashed as a consequence of muttering the phrase 'under God,' " he said.
Obama, the only black in the Senate, drew national notice even before arriving in Congress last year and has occasionally used his visibility to scold members of his party.
His speech included unusually personal references to religion, the type of remarks that usually come more readily from Republicans than Democrats.
"Kneeling beneath that cross on the south side of Chicago, I felt I heard God's spirit beckoning me," he said of his walk inside the Trinity United Church of Christ.
"I submitted myself to His will and dedicated myself to discovering His truth."
Obama said millions of Christians, Muslims and Jews have traveled similar religious paths, and that is why "we cannot abandon the field of religious discourse. ... In other words, if we don't reach out to evangelical Christians and other religious Americans and tell them what we stand for, Jerry Falwells and Pat Robertsons will continue to hold sway."
Read the Full Transcript of Sen. Obama's Speech
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