Franklin Graham, Rick Santorum 'Deceived' on Obama's Faith?
Questions have long been stirring about President Barack Obama's faith, notably from some prominent conservative leaders and politicians, with the Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, Founder and President of BOND Action and the South Central L.A. Tea Party (SCLA TP), going as far as to suggest that the president is not a Christian at all.
Peterson, who is also a member of the advisory board of Project 21, an African-American conservative organization, and former board member of the California Christian Coalition, has also criticized GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum and the Rev. Franklin Graham, president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and president and CEO of Samaritan Purse, for believing the president's confession to be a Christian.
Santorum recently claimed Obama was following a "phony theology" not based on the Bible in his policies, but later clarified that he was not questioning the president's religion.
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"In the Christian church, there are a lot of different stripes of Christianity. If the president says he's a Christian, he's a Christian," Santorum said.
Similarly, the Rev. Graham, who has criticized Obama on what he sees as his defense of abortion, said that while he cannot be sure if the president is a Christian or not, has to take him at his word.
"You have to ask him. I cannot answer that question for anybody. All I know is I'm a sinner, and God has forgiven me of my sins… You have to ask every person. He has said he's a Christian, so I just have to assume that he is," Graham said about Obama's Christian faith.
The president has often spoken about his Christianity – during the prayer breakfast in the White House in Washington on Feb. 2, Obama called himself "a Christian fighting for social justice."
However, the Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson has launched a rebuke against such statements, and released a commentary showcasing what he claims is evidence proving that President Obama is not a follower of Christ.
"I am certain without a doubt that Barack Hussein Obama is NOT a Christian. It's unfortunate that Rev. Graham and Rick Santorum won't be completely honest about Barack Obama even though his deeds are contrary to Christian values," Peterson writes.
"Both these men oppose Obama's recent contraceptive mandate and assault on the Christian conscience. They know that for 20 years Obama worshipped in Rev. Jeremiah Wright's racist Black Liberation Theology-based church. They fully grasp the spiritual connection America has with Israel and see that Obama is no friend of the Jewish State. Rev. Graham has said that Obama is more concerned with the plight of Muslims than the Christians that are being murdered in the Muslim countries. Still these Christian leaders cannot tell the truth about Obama. Why?" Peterson continued.
The minister also explained that he agrees with Santorum's views that the U.S. is in a spiritual war with Satan, but insisted that Obama is part of that agenda. Most recently, Christian Broadcast Network's Pat Robertson also came out in support of Santorum over these comments, and suggested that the U.S. was heading toward an "atheistic dictatorship."
"I'm convinced that the weak-kneed timidity that's preventing many white conservative Christians from pointing out Obama's wickedness is a result of their fear of being labeled 'racist.' Evil understands that most white Christians have been intimidated and are too afraid to stand up to it. Especially when it is operating in the form of an American hating Socialist black president who appears to be more in harmony with Muhammad than he is with Christ," Peterson concluded.
