This should not even be a story. "Going to church" doesn't mean you don't practice your spiritual beliefs. Why does Political even bother to mention it since it has nothing to do with being president elect or any other government position. It relates to absolutely nothing so why mention it....gooberism at its finest.

This is exceedingly stupid. He just won a damn election. If he wants some downtime, INCLUDING Sunday mornings, that is his business. Obviously, what church he goes to will be watched, so he may be unwilling to causally visit a congregation.

Steve,

Please stop doing any items regarding Politico. They do not represent beltway conventional wisdom.

Politico is on par with Faux News, and not to be taken seriously or trusted.

And every time you put up a link to them all you are doing is building up traffic on their site which they can turn around and attract ad revenue.

Let's hope that things get so prosperous and peaceful that this becomes a real news story.

Since Obama made quite a bit out of his Christian faith during the campaign, and it is part of the explanation for his crossover appeal, I think this issue is fair game.

However, I do think one continuing, but infrequently discussed, issue for the Obamas is the prevalence of security concerns in their lives. Some of Obama's body language and behavior during his convention acceptance speech and election night victory speech indicate to me that he is quite concerned about his children appearing in stage with him, and next to him in open spaces. The Obamas cannot just pick out a random church out on the road, and head there for a service, without a lot of advance security work, and without subjecting the unsuspecting congregation to a lot of unexpected, time-consuming and possibly unwelcome security checks and precautions.

When he is in Washington, he will be able to select a congregation that expects such precautions, and has experience living with them.

Just as establishment Dems now have to "punch hippies" to prove their moderatehood, President-Elect Democrats have to go to church to prove they're not atheists. IOKIYAR.

What Matthew said. Seriously. Think of Politico as a troll, and do not feed it.

We can probably safely assume that the reporters and editors responsible for this piece have little or no experience of their own with true church membership or regular attendance, so they're just trying to play to a certain audience.

Did they think to check the local mosques on Friday - after all, according to the right he is a Muslim...

They must be talking about regular church attendess like GW and DC. If that what we have to gain by church membership, fine with me if he is an Atheist.

Unfortunately, liberals gave Politico a full acceptance when it was clear the supported Obama over Clinton.

Keeping up with who does and does not attend church is presumptuous.

Let it go.

Matthew 6.6: But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

Seeing as his eternal damnation (or salvation or whatever each of us as individuals believes) isn't my concern, nor was it a concern when I voted for him, I could give two shites less about his churchgoing habits.

In reference to Dan's comment about this being fair game:
The only reasons his Christianity was an issue on the trail is because:
1. Rev Wright's megolamania (past this)
2. Lies about his being a Muslim (apparently the word got out or people didn't care enough)
2a. Relating to #2 - as a majority of Americans vaguely identifies themselves as Christian, he recognized that people like to see common ground/values with their leaders.

Obama didn't make a big deal about his Christianity to promote himself but only to defend the reality of the situation. His faith is, and should be, his business. Otherwise, how does one judge whether a President has been pious enough? Let this crap go.

The last thing we need is magical thinking in our current situation. Not going to church is a big plus in my book.

As others have said, a) the guy is rather busy, and b) I think he gets to skip a few Sundays if he wants a bit more family time out of the public eye. And as Dan just pointed out, security concerns are no minor matter.

For example, on Reagan's (lack of) church attendance, from Kevin Phillips' review of Douglas Brinkley's edited version of Reagan's diaries, at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/17/books/review/Phillips-t.html :

"Reagan’s religion, in turn, comes across as important, but quirky. Entries for early 1981 include references to Armageddon being in the air. Reagan also sets down his strong feelings that the fetus is a living human being and that the Shroud of Turin is authentic. He was obviously bothered by his limited church attendance, especially in the wake of the 1981 assassination attempt, as we can glean from his comments about how “elaborate security measures� made his visits “a hazard to others.� On the quirky side, the 1988 flap over the Reagans’ interest in astrology gave some church groups pause — the Southern Baptist Convention briefly considered withdrawing the speaking invitation it had extended to him — and it must be said that Reagan’s easy dismissal of the astrology question in these diaries is too brief to be convincing."

I think presidential concerns over security (both for their families and for everyone else in their vicinity) must limit options for just dropping in on churches to see if you want to join that congregation.

I want to know when and where Ben Smith attends church, and how much he contributes to the church as well. Without this information (updated every day) he should STFU about anyone else's churchgoing habits.

Ronald Reagan was a notorious non-attender during his time in Washington. Anybody else remember Jesse Jackson mocking him on this point on SNL? Reagan was asked about his non-attendance during a debate w/ Mondale. St Ronnie said that he did not want to be a distraction or a security concern in a group of 100s of people. As Jesse pointed out on SNL, Reagan offered this defense at a debate, while he was in the midst of a group of 100s of people. Carl Rove has also admitted that he is not 'a person of faith.' The leaders of the religious right need to fess up--they've been taken for a ride by hypocritical Republicans on the faith issue for almost 30 years. If Obama were a useful secularist for them--if he hated gays and abortion, they would not care whether he went to church or not.

This is pretty much water under the bridge at this point, but Obama's lack of punctiliousness with respect to church attendance only bolsters the plausibility of his claims that he hadn't heard any of Reverend Wright's more hate-filled, controversial sermons.

The last time I looked, church attendance (as well as religious belief itself) was not a requirement for the presidency.

Frankly, I'd be happy enough if the Obamas NEVER went to church while they were in Washington, D.C., over the next eight years. I think we need to stop caring about whether politicians attend religious services, and instead be more concerned with whether they do right by all Americans. How many times do we need to see supposedly God-fearing right-wingers spreading hate around and acting out of selfishness and political expediency, before we accept that going to church and acting in the best interests of people don't necessarily go together?

If the Obamas do choose a church to attend in D.C., that's fine. But by all means, give them the time to find one that really speaks to them in some way. Good grief! The 44th president will have a hell of a lot more important things on his plate over the next year than deciding where the pray.

This is fundagelical troll-feeding on Politico's part. I reviewed an article in which the author said that Bush was too nice to be President, evidenced by his "dramatic" conversion to Christianity.

What you do doesn't matter to these people, only what church you belong to and how loudly you trumpet your faith. Obama could be the best leader in the history of time, and it wouldn't matter if he didn't go to the "right" church. Yeesh.

yeah Ben Smith is a joke.

Why waste the electrons?

Politico -- politics for stupid people.

And where was John McCain attending while on the campaign trail? Nowhere that I saw...

Mike,

I think you are wrong. Obama presented his faith, his conversion, the way his faith informed his political outlook and his ability to speak the language of religion with believing Americans as major selling points during his campaign. He eagerly embraced and promoted this aspect of his political identity, and did this well before the Wright flap and the Muslim claims were raised. Some of his better speeches during the campaign were actually sermons. Now this may make a lot of secular Democrats very uncomfortable, but it is an extremely important component of his national reputation and is something he should work to maintain. It is going to help him get a better hearing for his views and expand his circle of trust beyond the limits that Democrats have experienced in the past.

Why does he have to go to church at all? Maybe he doesn't like that sort of thing.

My mother is a Methodist like Dub nominally is, so I know of one reason he might not go to church much: The Methodist Church has condemned much of what he did, like the War, violation of rights and environment, neglect of the poor etc. (They are at top one of those much-neglected "main stream" liberalish churches, although members out in the sticks can be more conservative.)

I also didn't go to church yesterday

This is what happens when we're all in limbo, awaiting the transition to actually happen.

Junk journalism...

And yeah, I agree, who the fu** cares what church or any church he attends? It is invasive beyond belief.

Politico, I'd rather know how many military funerals, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and Rice attended, both collectivley and their individual tallys.

I am a regular attendee of Sunday Services in my spiritual center and am also a paid employee of that center. Participation in this community brings me joy and fulfillment, and we have a lot of fun! I have deeply held spiritual convictions and encourage others to find their spiritual center. I do not "push" others to join my congregation, though I feel that what we practice is beneficial to many, regardless of their religion of origin. We call ourselves trans-denominational and include anyone who chooses to come, whether once or on a continuing basis. I say all this to give context to what follows.

Barack Obama and his family are entitled to choose any spiritual practice to follow, or not. What is much more important to me, and "should" be to others, is how he lives his life and demonstrates his principles. It seems hypocritical to me that so much is made of what one does on a Sunday, yet the major political news shows are conducted on Sunday Mornings, along with NFL football. (Oh, and I believe Joe Lieberman does not work on Friday night in recognition of his Jewish Sabbath, so he is free to do whatever he wants on Sunday.) So, if I watch Meet The Press or one of the other Network interview shows instead of going to church, what does that make me? Or, of more importance, if I am an invited guest of one of these shows, but decline in favor of attending church, what is the judgment?

In spite of what many think, this country was not founded by Christians and is not even a Judeo-Christian nation. One of the great attractors to this country is the perception that we are a nation that recognizes and honors diversity. Obama is a great example of the embodiment of that diversity: a man of mixed-race, married to a woman of African-American roots, descended from slaves. The more we can embrace diversity as an asset, the more we can move this nation forward as a leader in the global community. E Pluribus Unum, out of many one, is the founding principle. Not, In God We Trust. There are as many definitions of God as there are people, and almost as many names for God. So, let Obama attend church, or not attend church, for his own reasons. Use the energy of criticism to examine your own spiritual or secular beliefs and see how you are contributing to building a peaceful and prosperous community.

I am committed to Oneness through Justice and Transformation
peace,
st john

Let's let God weigh in on this.

God, do you care if Barack didn't go to church? (I'll leave three blank lines for you to fill in you answer.)

Hmm. Nothing. I'll take that as a 'no.'

Might I say - it's none of your f---ing business whether Obama attends church or not, nor is it mine.

"I also didn't go to church yesterday."

Well, except for a few funerals I haven't set foot in a church since I was 17. Tomorrow I will be 63.

lo

I would like to someday have a president who has a regular meditation practice, who practices mindful breathing meditation every day, and who is willing to use the "bully pulpit" to talk about the benefits of meditation and to encourage others to practice it.

By the way, it seems to me that the phrase "bully pulpit" is sometimes used without a proper understanding of its meaning. In the phrase originated by Theodore Roosevelt, the word "bully" does not have its common modern meaning of "to intimidate". Roosevelt was not saying that the presidency gave him the power to push people around.

Roosevelt was using "bully" as an adjective meaning "excellent" or "superb" (in today's slang, "awesome"). As Wikipedia puts it, Roosevelt was saying that the presidency was "a terrific platform from which to advocate an agenda."

And, and, and HE'S NOT WEARING A FLAG PEN!!! God Help Us All!!!

Being a Christian and being a church-going Christian are two different things. Obama may have talked a lot about the former and the values of generosity and such but how much has he talked about the latter?

Good for him -- he has more important things to do.

SecularAnamist: That would be wonderful if he were to advocate meditation and mindful breathing. I just finished reading The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living by H.H Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler MD, in which the Dalai Lama advocates these practices and at the same time encourages people to find their own practices that promote happiness and compassion and kindness and joy. Whether you are a Theist, an Atheist or decline to state, I highly recommend this book for its advocacy of openness and inclusivity of all pathways to a fulfilling and happy life.

I practice my own version of spirituality and welcome the opportunity to share what I have learned. That being said, to each his/her own as long as it promotes the highest good of all.

peace,
st john

Ben Smith, Jonathan Martin and Carol Lee may be polishing up their resumes to work for James Dobson. While they're at it, they can tell us about their own church membership and more important, the percentage of their tithe.

(cue Scott Glenn in "The Right Stuff": "Oh, I attend church--regularly.")

This is one of my favorite sayings. "Spending time in church doesn't make you a Christian any more than spending time in a garage will make you a car"!!! Some of the most christian people I know are not church goers.

Uhh, when the depth of Obama'as belief was first questioned, he said he was praising Jesus at Trinity UCC every Sunday. That's a direct quote.

So, it's a bi gotcha'by the Politico -- it's still "gotcha" that B.O. brought on himself.

I hope he attends many of the places of worship in D.C. including mosques, synagogues, AND temples of all persuasions. Where is it written you have to be a member? And where does it say he must be Christian? I must've missed the memo.

After the right-wing and the media's relentless BS attack on Obama based on his association with a loudmouthed pastor, Obama has probably decided he will no longer give them such an easy target.

This is why we need a complete separation of church and state.

Who's to say one religion is better than the other.

In this country, there's catholics, mormons, judaism, buhhism, muslims....

If this keeps up, the U.S. will start having its own religious wars like the middle east.

Meaning, some of the muslims want Sharia law incorporated here in their lives. So, why isn't this acceptable?

Some of the people from the Caribbean have some type of rituals, like human skulls, that we consider inappropriate.

No, I am not atheist, I am agnostic, thanks to the GOP rightwing nuts.

I don't see this as a non-issue - I see this as an important issue - that going to church and believing in a god should not be prerequisites for being a good leader.

and how frequently did St. Ronald go to church?

And helping at a food bank at Saint Columbanus Church on Thanksgiving doesn't count as CHURCH. So don't even.

Personally, it'd be fine with me if he and his family never attended church again. I'm frankly tired of the notion that one must be a church-going Christian in order to hold high political office in this country. Those of us who don't attend church don't have three heads and are perfectly capable of being effective leaders nonetheless. It has long bothered me that this even has to be said.

The President-elect does good works and professes his faith openly. He also has to be the leader of every American, not just Protestants.
The whole story insults me. Some of the best Christians I have met were atheists. Think about it--deeds not words. . .

Saint Ronnie Reagan hardly ever went to church.

as a UCC member myself, the church is extremely liberal, forgiving and accepting. I don't think that his lack of attendance is going to make a huge difference.

Maybe he'll attend our church....

Some of the people from the Caribbean have some type of rituals, like human skulls, that we consider inappropriate.

As do the Methodists.

We had a pious, church-going, straightlaced president in Jimmy Carter. What the hell good did that do us?