Look who’s talking.
(The Hill) — President Obama this week warned against “using religion as a bludgeon in politics,” pushing back against critics who have accused him of waging a “war on religion” through recent policy decisions.
Obama said it’s a problem when religion is used “to divide, instead of bring the country together” in an interview that aired Monday on Iowa TV.
“When we start using religion as a bludgeon in politics, we start questioning other people’s faith, we start using religion to divide, instead of bring the country together, then I think we’ve got a problem,” Obama told Des Moines’ local NBC affiliate, Who TV.
Obama was responding to recent accusations that he is engaged in a “war on religion” through recent actions such as the contraception mandate. Faith communities protested the White House’s decision to require employers to provide contraception as part of their health insurance coverage, and the GOP presidential candidates decried the president as hostile to religious freedom. The White House changed the rule to accommodate the concerns. […]
But Obama may have answered his question when discussing the so-called “war on religion” with Iowa TV.
“I find this very puzzling because my first job, my first real job out of college, was working with churches in lower income communities, trying to make sure that the social gospel was made real, that people were getting help,” Obama said, referring to his work as a community organizer in Chicago’s south side.