Conservative Author David Barton Says Obama Is Most Biblically Hostile US President
David Barton, an influential conservative activist promoting America's Judeo-Christian heritage, has joined a long list of critics of President Obama's contraceptive mandate and its impact on religious liberties. But Barton has taken his criticism one step further in a recent blog post by claiming that the Obama administration is the most Biblically hostile in U.S. history.
The Texas-based evangelical author and self-taught historian wrote in his latest WallBuilders post:
"So perhaps the most accurate description of his (President Obama) antipathy toward Catholics, Protestants, religious Jews, and the Jewish nation would be to characterize him as anti-Biblical. And then when his hostility toward Biblical people of faith is contrasted with his preferential treatment of Muslims and Muslim nations, it further strengthens the accuracy of the anti-Biblical descriptor."
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The Christian Post contacted White House officials on Friday asking for a response to Barton's post but did not receive a statement by press time.
Barton cites numerous examples of the president's comments and actions that he says support his accusation. The list includes the White House's insistence that religious symbols at the site of Obama's speaking engagements be covered up when he speaks, Obama's nomination of three pro-abortion individuals as ambassadors to the Vatican (all of whom were rejected by the Vatican), and his recent contraceptive mandate that would require all insurance companies, including religious organizations that may be self-insured, to provide free birth control to all women.
Barton's latest criticism of the president has raised the ire of some in the Obama administration and leading Christian Democrats.
David Kennedy, a Colorado attorney and author of, You Voted for Who? And You Call Yourself a Christian?, defended President Obama and called into question the motives of some of the nation's leading evangelical leaders.
"Whether it be the likes of Franklin Graham or David Barton, there are many poli-religious leaders in our faith who need to be exposed for their ulterior political motives when they level these types of Pharisaical insults at President Obama or any Christian politician," said Kennedy in an email to The Christian Post.
"Thus far, I have seen President Obama's faith – that of a Christian – to be evident daily in his actions and decisions, and I applaud his ability to show his faith while defending the rights of all faiths and interests."
Barton, 56, began his career by first serving as a young minister and high school teacher before founding Specialty Research Associates in 1987, which later became WallBuilders. In addition, he is the former co-chair of the Republican Party of Texas.
In April of 2009, Barton penned an article titled, Is President Obama Correct: Is America No Longer a Christian Nation? in which he cited remarks President Obama made in Turkey – his first overseas trip that occurred only months after he took office – about America not strictly being a Christian nation.
"As I've said before, one of the great strengths of the United States is … and as I've mentioned … we have a very large Christian population, we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values," Obama had said. "I think Turkey – modern Turkey was founded with a similar set of principles."
Barton and others have questioned why Obama's explanation of the nation's Christian heritage differed from those of previous presidents who have publicly declared America is indeed a Christian nation.
Democrat President Harry Truman, for instance, in a letter to Pope Pius XII in August of 1947 wrote, "this is a Christian Nation," and "As a Christian Nation our earnest desire is to work with men of good will everywhere to banish war and the causes of war from the world whose Creator desired that men of every race and in every clime should live together in peace, good will and mutual trust."
Barton concluded his latest post by claiming Obama's "acts of hostility toward people of Biblical faith" are "literally unprecedented."
