Anti-Obama mail piece: ‘We are no longer a Christian nation’
Des Moines, Iowa (CNN) – The political arm of Focus on the Family, the Colorado-based social conservative organization founded by evangelical author and radio host James Dobson, is targeting Iowa voters with a mailing that quotes President Barack Obama as saying “we are no longer a Christian nation.”
The fold-out brochure, which landed in Iowa mailboxes last week and was provided to CNN by a Des Moines-area voter, draws a series of contrasts between Obama and Mitt Romney on the issues of abortion, same-sex marriage and insurance coverage for contraception.
- Follow the Ticker on Twitter: @PoliticalTicker
- Check out the CNN Electoral Map and Calculator and game out your own strategy for November.
The mailer - paid for by CitizenLink, a political affiliate of Focus on the Family - also includes a striking admission from the president.
“Whatever we once were, we are no longer a Christian nation,” Obama is quoted as saying.
The mailer does not explicitly endorse Romney, but the quote is clearly aimed at arousing the suspicions of Iowa’s vibrant Christian conservative community, a key voting bloc in the state and one that the Republican nominee will need behind him next Tuesday.
The quote, though, is cherry-picked from a speech Obama delivered in 2006, more than two years before he became president, at the Call to Renewal conference in Washington.
In 2008, during Obama’s first national campaign, the same out-of-context remark was circulated online as sinister evidence that the Democrat intended to curtail religious freedom in America. At the time, the spurious Internet chatter was debunked by FactCheck.org.
Here’s the full quote:
“Whatever we once were, we are no longer a Christian nation - at least not just,” Obama said. “We are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation and a Buddhist nation and a Hindu nation and a nation of non-believers.”
In the same speech, Obama said, “Americans are a religious people,” noting that “90 percent of us believe in God” and cited a statistic that said 38% of Americans call themselves “committed Christians.”
“I think we make a mistake when we fail to acknowledge the role of faith in people’s lives, in the lives of the American people,” Obama said. “I think it’s time we joined a debate about how to reconcile faith with our modern pluralistic society.”
UPDATE: A previous version of this story inaccurately quoted Obama as saying a large majority of Americans describe themselves as "committed Christians." The correct figure has been added.
From CNN Politics
- Tom Barrack and the influence he had in Trump's world July 25, 2021 12:05 pm
- 'Sore loser' Trump reaps fruits of election lies in Arizona July 25, 2021 10:21 am
- Boosters, masks and mandates: Biden's team sorts through options for containing Covid surge among unvaccinated Americans July 25, 2021 01:35 am
- What the For the People Act would mean for veterans with disabilities July 24, 2021 10:17 pm
- NSA review finds no evidence supporting Tucker Carlson's claims NSA was spying on him, sources say July 24, 2021 09:12 pm
- Bumble match turns in January 6 suspect who allegedly whipped police July 24, 2021 06:58 pm
Wow the Repukes arent holding noting back. I guess desperate times call for desperate measures.
Why do fundamentalist nutters hate the constîtution?
You mention the quote as being "cherry picked". Are you suggesting that the libs don't "cherry pick" little sound bites from Romney and twist them to their benefit? Get real.
In the end, this election is a choice between a candidate of change (from above 10% unemployment to below 8% unemployment) and a candidate of BIG Change Positions who will say anything to win an election; Between an incumbent President who’s been there, done that and a Chameleon making campaign promises he knows he will not keep; Between a President who supported the bailout of the Auto industry and a Politician who supported bailing out Wall Street; Between a community servant and a greedy vulture capitalist who got rich from ravaging companies and firing workers; Between a warrior of the middle-class and a warrior for the super-rich; Between a sincere down-to-earth President and a highly secretive multi-millionaire politician who has unprecedentedly refused to let voters see what he’s hiding in his tax records.
And even if you disagree with me, ask yourself these questions: (1) Why is Romney losing his own State of Massachusetts where he was Governor? Where people know the real Mitt Romney? (2) Considering the man is a certified Chameleon, when you cast a vote for him, how do you TRUST you’re not voting against your own interests?
The President, you know (like him or hate him); Mitt Romney, you DO NOT KNOW!
Think about these before you make a mistake you’ll regret for the rest of your life!
and what did our founding fathers think.
“Religious controversies are always productive of more acrimony and irreconcilable hatreds than those which spring from any other cause. I had hoped that liberal and enlightened thought would have reconciled the Christians so that their religious fights would not endanger the peace of Society.” George Washington Letter to Sir Edward Newenham, June 22, 1792
“The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.” John Adams, Treaty of Tripoly, article 11
“Millions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burned, tortured, fined, and imprisoned, yet we have not advanced one inch toward uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half of the world fools and the other half hypocrites.” Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia
Obama will make sure we are no longer a Christian nation........by bringing in all manner of dangerous religions to our country.
Wow, how shameful! Recognizing that there are other religions in the country. It's like Obama thinks there is freedom of religion in this country and people may practice whatever faith they so choose..
The U.S. was founded as a Christian nation. It will always be a Christian nation that tolerates other relegious practices. Obama is dead wrong. This from an athiest.
We're a Mormon country. Mitt Romney is a Racist who Lies Lies Lies just to get elected. GM and JEEP sue Romney for LIEING
Obama said. “I think it’s time we joined a debate about how to reconcile faith with our modern pluralistic society.”
In other words, "become a Muslim like me"
Nothing new as a tactic for for the anti-Obama crowd. This is not the first time attempts have been made to take a quote out of context as a means to rile people up to support Romney and likely will not be the last. Fortunately, most people that are not brain dead have enough sense to check out these absurd accusations.
We are not and have never been a "christian nation" we are a free one
Well at least he is brave enough to acknowledge the reality of a changing world, where others not only want to see only a christian America, but believe their under attack from other religions. It becomes inevitable when people from all walks of life join America's melting pot, that people of other faith will join in the mix, does this mean that they should be attacked for their believes, I think that's how America got started with people looking to a free land where they wouldn't be prosecuted for their believes, ironic today how that seems to have changed. All men are equal under the constitution, or should that to be changed, we know when it was written it only meant, white men who were property owners, the realization of it took over 200 years. Don't start going backwards now.
God Bless America
Long life and prosperity to those who come to its shores.
Lucid One
This is just sad...I mean, it's already been done and misproven, so why would it be any different this time? Are people really that desperate – read racist,bigoted – to get Obama out?