not so surprised....

I was very excited yesterday, as we all were, it seems, when President Obama mentioned “non-believers” when he listed different types of belief systems that Americans hold. I say excited, but not surprised. I have held a close ear to Obama’s speeches, as he has been campaigning for almost 2 years for the presidency. I have been very aware of the lack of religiosity in his speeches. Yeah, he quotes the odd bible verse every so often, but it’s always relevant to a common moral lesson he is making a point of, and never just to vomit Christianity all over the place. And he also rattles off the expected “God bless you and the United States of America” part at the end, I feel mostly because it’s (unfortunately) traditional. BUT he never injects religion in his speeches or talks about God or Jesus and assumes that we all believe in such things (like born-again Bush did). What I have detected in his speeches, and, by what he excludes from his speeches, is that he is very aware and inclusive of the non-believer.

I’d also like to point your attention to my favorite quote from Barack Obama in his speech from March 18 2008, as he was addressing his feelings on the statements made by Rev. Jeremiah Wright. At one point he says:

“…the most segregated hour in American life occurs on Sunday morning.”

I am very relieved by our “new and improved” president. It’s nice to know this country will be run by someone who believes in evolution.