# Obama "finally" chose a church, thank god **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 29, 2009, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-finally-chose-a-church-thank-god/501383 "2009-06-29T19:32:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cumberdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Cumberdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumberdale)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-finally-chose-a-church-thank-god/501383/1 "2009-06-29T19:32:03Z")
[Happy happy, joy joy](http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090629/us_time/08599190761000;_ylt=AuRTiOLBYf9gdMQuloZ.J8GCfNdF) Is this _really_ fucking news? I know I was really worried that he’d never pick one. Now all the drooling, brain dead morons to whom this is an important issue can go back to convincing everyone else that he is the antichrist who wants to bring socialism to the US and wants to know “where tha’ white women at?” Fuck the fact that a secular leader has to bow down to primitive stone age bullshit. I’d rather he be up on a Sunday trying to figure out what to do with the economic mess, Iraq, Afghanistan and all the important issues a president has to deal with rather than wasting time on a superstition that should have been tossed into the trash heap ages ago. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-finally-chose-a-church-thank-god/501383/2 "2009-06-29T20:37:19Z")
Actually, the White House denies this. They HAVE used the Camp David chapel, but it’s not what they consider “their” church. There was just a huge kerfluffle over at Daily Kos about this…someone from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation posted a diary about the current chaplain of the Camp David chapel (who is one of the chaplains who champions an evangelical takeover of the military) and it just became a huge pile of chaos. ---
**Author:** ![TheMadHun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@TheMadHun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMadHun)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-finally-chose-a-church-thank-god/501383/3 "2009-06-30T03:55:30Z")
Beat discussing his dog. Or how he swatted a fly. Or how PETA got mad over both. Slow news days are hell. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-finally-chose-a-church-thank-god/501383/4 "2009-06-30T03:58:41Z")
Don’t you mean a mosque? (Just kidding!) ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-finally-chose-a-church-thank-god/501383/5 "2009-06-30T19:33:29Z")
It wasn’t the Masonic Illuminati Church of Satan? No? Well where’s the fun in that? ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-finally-chose-a-church-thank-god/501383/6 "2009-06-30T19:38:01Z")
Of course it’s news, this was a big campaign issue, rightly or wrongly. The news media are simply following that story by reporting (it seems incorrectly, but that’s beside the point) where the President finally settled, religiously speaking. Lame pitting. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-finally-chose-a-church-thank-god/501383/7 "2009-06-30T23:06:35Z")
It’s good pitting. Pitting the whole damn country for expecting him to attend religious services, and for caring if he did, and for Obama for not telling everyone to go to hell, etc. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-finally-chose-a-church-thank-god/501383/8 "2009-06-30T23:13:05Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > It’s good pitting. Pitting the whole damn country for expecting him to attend religious services, and for caring if he did, and for **Obama for not telling everyone to go to hell** , etc. Wouldn’t that make him a hypocrite? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cumberdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Cumberdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumberdale)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-finally-chose-a-church-thank-god/501383/9 "2009-07-01T04:13:49Z")
It is definitely not news and the fact that so many people think it is, is fucking pathetic. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-finally-chose-a-church-thank-god/501383/10 "2009-07-01T04:26:24Z")
Just so long as it’s the [One True Church,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subgenius) it’s all good-and-evil-at-the-same-time. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-finally-chose-a-church-thank-god/501383/11 "2009-07-01T07:48:31Z")
Why is it not news? I’m an atheist, but I’m interested in if and where the Obamas choose to worship. For one thing, it says something about what they value and how they want to be seen. I would certainly applaud and cheer if they made a public announcement that they have renounced religion and decided not to worship anywhere. If that would be news, then I fail to see why making a public choice of where they _will_ worship isn’t also news. Foundry is a very nice liberal congregation and I think it said a lot about the Clintons that they not only attended but were active participants. I don’t know that I could see Obama going there. Dumbarton UMC is an amazing church, even by my lights, but it is rather white, as I recall. (I went a couple of times when I was in the process of becoming an atheist. They _almost_ kept me going there. They are extremely liberal but without any of the wishy-washy-ness or subtle hypocrisy that often goes along with religious liberalism. They are very clear about what they believe and they are only slightly - but essentially - wrong.) I’m trying but failing to remember which church I attended one time that had excellent preaching and a very engaged, friendly, racially diverse congregation. I thought it was a UCC church, but now I think it might have been National City Christian (Disciples of Christ). Whatever it was, Obama would fit perfectly, I think. ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-finally-chose-a-church-thank-god/501383/12 "2009-07-01T08:17:26Z")
> [@Cumberdale](#): > > Fuck the fact that a secular leader has to bow down to primitive stone age bullshit. Knowing that Obama’s father was an atheist, I have often wondered about Obama’s true beliefs. At first I was disappointed that he might be feigning faith, but then I realized that if we were to have a truly secular president, Obama would be the perfect one. He does not egregiously incorporate religious values into his presidency. He seems just religious enough to get the religious vote. And I think that’s important. Without it, you couldn’t become president (they outnumber us), and with it, he is much more powerful than he would be otherwise. I would also, however, like to fuck the fact. I mean, seriously, when are all you religious nutjobs going to wake up and realize that you’d better enjoy the life you’ve got because it’s all your getting? ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-finally-chose-a-church-thank-god/501383/13 "2009-07-01T08:46:13Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > It’s good pitting. Pitting the whole damn country for expecting him to attend religious services, and for caring if he did, and for Obama for not telling everyone to go to hell, etc. Out of curiousity, what would happen if Obama just said “I’m not a churchgoer. There will be no further comment” to the media? I mean, I don’t think anyone _really_ cares if Kevin Rudd or Gordon Brown or Nicolas Sarkozy go to church, and if so, where they choose to do so… ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-finally-chose-a-church-thank-god/501383/14 "2009-07-01T09:07:20Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Out of curiousity, what would happen if Obama just said “I’m not a churchgoer. There will be no further comment” to the media? In the U.S.? Large portions of the population would get upset, some _very_ upset; overall, this country is only comfortable with a President who is unambiguously religious, preferably Christian. Given the rumors which already exist about Obama, it would be a political disaster. That may sound very **Der Trihs** y of me, but it’s also the truth. ---
**Author:** ![Gleena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-finally-chose-a-church-thank-god/501383/15 "2009-07-02T09:07:30Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Out of curiousity, what would happen if Obama just said “I’m not a churchgoer. There will be no further comment” to the media? > > I mean, I don’t think anyone _really_ cares if Kevin Rudd or Gordon Brown or Nicolas Sarkozy go to church, and if so, where they choose to do so… Kev gets lots of milage out of his Catholicness, so I dunno about that. I do know that I would stand up and fucking cheer my head off if Obama could say just that, or even that when, if and where he choses to go to church is his own business and everybody else should fuck right off about it, but politically in the US, that can’t happen. Which, incidentally, is one of the reasons I’m glad to not live there any more. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-finally-chose-a-church-thank-god/501383/16 "2009-07-02T15:28:20Z")
> [@Cumberdale](#): > > It is definitely not news and the fact that so many people think it is, is fucking pathetic. Ditto. Who cares about it? Certainly not me. This is a complete non-issue. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-finally-chose-a-church-thank-god/501383/17 "2009-07-02T16:14:50Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#): > > In the U.S.? Large portions of the population would get upset, some _very_ upset; overall, this country is only comfortable with a President who is unambiguously religious, preferably Christian. Given the rumors which already exist about Obama, it would be a political disaster. _Preferably_ Christian? We’ve had a black President now, but we still haven’t had an non-Christian one- and we hadn’t even had a non-Protestant one until nearly 200 years in. We have had a couple who might have been closet deists, of course. I think we _might_ get a Jewish one before 2050. As you point out, though, it would be political suicide for any candidate for national office to even announce that he’s “just not that into God.” ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-finally-chose-a-church-thank-god/501383/18 "2009-07-02T16:36:14Z")
> [@alterego](#): > > Knowing that Obama’s father was an atheist, I have often wondered about Obama’s true beliefs. > > At first I was disappointed that he might be feigning faith, but then I realized that if we were to have a truly secular president, Obama would be the perfect one. He does not egregiously incorporate religious values into his presidency. He seems just religious enough to get the religious vote. And I think that’s important. Without it, you couldn’t become president (they outnumber us), and with it, he is much more powerful than he would be otherwise. > > I would also, however, like to fuck the fact. I mean, seriously, when are all you religious nutjobs going to wake up and realize that you’d better enjoy the life you’ve got because it’s all your getting? 1. Religious =/= fundamentalist 2. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-finally-chose-a-church-thank-god/501383/19 "2009-07-02T19:21:39Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > _Preferably_ Christian? We’ve had a black President now, but we still haven’t had an non-Christian one- and we hadn’t even had a non-Protestant one until nearly 200 years in. Yes, it is a strong preference. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-finally-chose-a-church-thank-god/501383/20 "2009-07-02T19:38:24Z")
> [@Cumberdale](#): > > It is definitely not news and the fact that so many people think it is, is fucking pathetic. Why is what church he chose any less news than what kind of dog he chose? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-finally-chose-a-church-thank-god/501383.md?page=2)