It’s been more than two years since President Barack Obama took office and yet there are widespread misconceptions about him. Chief among these: Despite his clear identification as a Christian (as evidenced by his membership to Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago and his tumultuous relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright), many believe that our president is a Muslim.

Many of those who doubt Obama’s faith (a number of whom are still salty he won the election) make this accusation as if being a Muslim is some type of crime, but we’ll save that discussion for another day. Any other president or candidate who has claimed any religion has been accepted at face value to be what he or she claims to be except for President Obama. Again, I digress.

Today, during the National Prayer Breakfast, the president opened up on his views on faith and the role it plays in his daily life and presidency. He was expected to have a few hard-hitting words for those who doubt him and for those who have run a smear campaign accusing him of secretly being a Muslim, a campaign which seems to have a great deal of traction as 1 in 5 Americans believe he is of the Islamic faith (according to the most recent polls). Even less than 50% 0f Democrats and African-Americans correctly identified the man as a Christian.

However, as is his custom, President Obama took the high road. In a surprisingly vulnerable and noticeably subdued manner, he talked about his faith, his prayers, and our country—a country which, as our president noted, so often gets caught up in wealth, fame, and power. He also noted that it often takes brutal tragedies to shake us to the core and refocus our hearts and minds on what is important. Sounding like a man of the cloth, he quoted Scriptures as he spoke about the importance of faith, the work which must follow and hope.

Hopefully, the nation is listening.

Source: CNN

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