A Barack Obama Easter Tale

President Obama's Easter and Good Friday Proclamations...


Did you get a chance to hear them?  No?  That's because he didn't get around to it.  If you're in need of an Official Proclamation,  you can read Obama's proclamations for: Earth Day, National Park Week,  Education and Sharing Day, U.S.A., The Civil War Sesquicentennial, National Equal Pay Day, National Former POW Recognition Day, Pan American Day, Cesar Chavez Day, Greek Independence Day, 150th Anniversary of the Unification of Italy Week, 50th Anniversary of the Peace Corps, National African American History Month, Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Holiday, Stalking Awareness Month...


We also have this:

Statement by the President on the Occasion of Ramadan | The White House:

"These rituals remind us of the principles that we hold in common, and Islam’s role in advancing justice, progress, tolerance, and the dignity of all human beings.   Ramadan is a celebration of a faith known for great diversity and racial equality.  And here in the United States, Ramadan is a reminder that Islam has always been part of America and that American Muslims have made extraordinary contributions to our country."

Advancing justice, progress, tolerance, and the dignity of all human beings? He ought to have lunch with Rep. Allen West some time.   Lt. Col West could give the President the run-down of Muslim "justice" before they finished their appetizers.  Here's a 60-second summary of the history of the "Religion of Peace"over the last 1300 years,  including clashes with Charles Martel in the Battle of Tours, The Venetian Fleet at Lepanto, and the conquer of Constantinople:

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This was President Obama's message to Jews on the occasion of Passover:

'The story of Passover...instructs each generation to remember its past. This year that ancient instruction is reflected in the daily headlines as we see modern stories of social transformation and liberation unfolding in the Middle East and North Africa."

Because we all know that the story of Passover is reflected in the uprising of  Muslims against their fellow-Muslims in  countries united in their desire to annihilate Israel.   Israel, understandably, is a little nervous about the upheaval and resulting anti-Israeli rhetoric.  A shout-out to these Muslim countries on Passover can't sit very well with them either. 


So, should Christians demand that President Obama issue some banal Christian platitudes to make us all feel better?   Last year in his pre-Easter weekly address, Obama said this about the most important holiday on the Christian calendar:

 "Make no mistake: we live in a dangerous world, and we must be strong and vigilant in the face of these threats. But let us not allow whatever differences we have with other nations to stop us from coming together around those solutions that are essential to our survival and success.

As we celebrate Passover, Easter, and this time of renewal, let’s find strength in our shared resolve and purpose in our common aspirations. And if we can do that, then not only will we fulfill the sacred meaning of these holy days, but we will fulfill the promise of our country as a leader around the world."

No....no, not really.  The "sacred meaning" of Easter has nothing to do with our "shared resolve and purpose in our common aspirations."  It's about the God of the Universe sending his only Son to experience God's wrath for the sins of the whole world so that those who believe in the Son would have their sins forgiven and inherit eternal life:

 "In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.  In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:9-10).

That is the true message of Easter.  


Besides, President Obama's Press Secretary, Jay Carney,  assures us that the Obama family did their duty by making a "high-profile" appearance at church on Easter:

“He personally celebrated Easter with his family and went to church to celebrate that...Come on…the fact is the president took his family to church in a very high-profile way to celebrate Easter. I think it was a highly visible to most Americans.”

Unfortunately, out of all the thousands of churches in the D.C. area, the Obama family managed to stumble into the church of another race baiter:

'[Pastor Smith] talked about how his baby grandson's gurgling is actually 'talking' because he is saying 'I am here ... they tried to write me off as 3/5 a person in the Constitution, but I am here right now ... and is saying I am not going to let anybody from stopping me from being what God wants me to be.''

The link above has more info about Pastor Wallace Smith of Shiloh Baptist church, who equates Fox News and talk radio (and Rush) with the KKK. 

To be fair, the President hosted an Easter Prayer Breakfast on Tuesday and said this, 

"We all live in the hustle and bustle of our work. But then comes Holy Week. The triumph of Palm Sunday. The humility of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. His slow march up that hill, and the pain and the scorn and the shame of the cross. And we’re reminded that in that moment, he took on the sins of the world – past, present and future – and he extended to us that unfathomable gift of grace and salvation through his death and resurrection.”

Very good and properly Christian-y....but at the risk of sounding cynical, all of these Proclamations and religious remarks remind me of an insecure teenager trying to get everyone at school to like him. Instead of being 'himself,' he acts like whichever group he's hanging out with.  Peer pressure causes him to do and say anything to get people to like him.  


For the record, I will NOT be calling the White House to demand that President Obama apologize for neglecting to make an Easter Proclamation.  I'll hold out for the real thing rather than demanding some cheap imitation.