{"id":650,"date":"2009-02-05T15:25:34","date_gmt":"2009-02-05T19:25:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/?p=650"},"modified":"2025-11-17T03:08:55","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T11:08:55","slug":"obama-makes-promises-and-changes-at-national-prayer-breakfast-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/obama-makes-promises-and-changes-at-national-prayer-breakfast-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Obama Makes Promises and Changes at National Prayer Breakfast Today"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Obama to create faith-based office&#8221;<\/strong><br \/>\nBy PHILIP ELLIOTT<br \/>\n<em>Associated Press<\/em><\/p>\n<p>WASHINGTON (AP) &#8211; President Barack Obama said Thursday he will establish a White House office of faith-based initiatives that will show no favoritism to any religious group and adhere to the strict separation of church and state.<\/p>\n<p>Addressing the National Prayer Breakfast, Obama spoke of how faith has often been a divisive tool, responsible for war and prejudice. But, he said, &#8220;there is no religion whose central tenet is hate. There is no God who condones taking the life of an innocent human being,&#8221; and all religions teach people to love and care for one another. That is the common ground underlying his faith-based office, he said.<\/p>\n<p>In personal terms, he talked about the role of faith in his life, from his Muslim-born father and a mother skeptical of organized religion to his own embrace of Christianity as a young man.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In a world that grows smaller by the day, perhaps we can begin to crowd out the destructive forces of zealotry and make room for the healing power of understanding,&#8221; Obama told the gathering of lawmakers, dignitaries and world leaders. &#8220;This is my hope. This is my prayer.&#8221; &#8230;<\/p>\n<p>Obama planned to sign an executive order later in the day creating the White House Office on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. It would expand and refocus the faith-based office founded by former President George W. Bush.<\/p>\n<p>Obama said the organization will not favor any one religious group over another, will work with communities and will act &#8220;without blurring the line that our founders wisely drew between church and state.&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nwtntoday.com\/2009\/02\/05\/obama-to-create-faith-based-office\/\">Click here to read more.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Other Coverage of National Prayer Breakfast<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>USA Today<\/em> Blog<br \/>\n<strong>&#8220;At Prayer Breakfast, Obama prays for &#8216;God&#8217;s grace&#8217; to fill the &#8216;space between us'&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The annual National Prayer Breakfast was held this morning in Washington. As we&#8217;ve said, President Obama attended &#8212; and he&#8217;s using this day to make some faith-related announcements.<\/p>\n<p>He&#8217;s creating an Advisory Council on Faith, and he&#8217;s naming Joshua DuBois (who ran candidate Obama&#8217;s faith-based outreach efforts) to head a renamed White House Office for Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. The Associated Press adds that the president will also today &#8220;ask for a legal review of the White House faith-based office before deciding whether to allow federally funded religious groups to hire only their own.&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20090206030212\/http:\/\/content.usatoday.com\/communities\/theoval\/post\/2009\/02\/62414025\/1\">Click here to read more.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Also:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20160405094255\/http:\/\/www.sltrib.com\/news\/ci_11628940\">LDS Church unlikely to participate in Obama&#8217;s faith-based initiatives<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>CNN: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20170916140634\/http:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2009\/POLITICS\/02\/05\/obama.faith.based\/\">Controversy surrounds Obama&#8217;s faith office<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Obama to create faith-based office&#8221;&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","wpcat-46-id"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.4 (Yoast SEO v28.4) - 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