Conservatives have long asserted that secular American society is waging an ongoing war on the Christian faith, and in particular, its twomost recognized holidays: Christmas and Easter. The claims are predictable and staleand, more often than not, pass without much notice. But over the past two days,conservative outlets have trumpeted the idea that President Obama has a vendetta against Easter, a claim so outrageous that White House Press Secretary Jay Carney laughed when he was asked about it Monday.
Despite the fact that Obama hosted an Easter prayer breakfast last week, attended aChristian church service on Sunday morning, and hosted the annual White HouseEaster Egg Roll yesterday, conservatives are complaining that Obama chooses to recognize Islamic holidays while ignoring Christianity. Fox & Friends host Steve Doocy was on the case, welcoming inflammatory pastor Richard Jeffress on the show to make the veiled suggestion that Obama is a closeted Muslim who poses a very real threat to American Christians:
Despite the fact that Obama hosted an Easter prayer breakfast last week, attended aChristian church service on Sunday morning, and hosted the annual White HouseEaster Egg Roll yesterday, conservatives are complaining that Obama chooses to recognize Islamic holidays while ignoring Christianity. Fox & Friends host Steve Doocy was on the case, welcoming inflammatory pastor Richard Jeffress on the show to make the veiled suggestion that Obama is a closeted Muslim who poses a very real threat to American Christians:
DOOCY: What do you think about the fact that this White House has never issued an official proclamation regarding Easter, which is one of Christianity’s most sacred holidays?
JEFFRESS: Steve, let’s look at what’s really going on here. On the one hand, we have a president who never met a Muslim holiday he didn’t like, or at least wasn’t willing to issue a proclamation for, and on the other hand, here he is refusing to acknowledge publicly the most important event in Christian faith, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and yet the White House is wondering why do 20 percent of Americans believe the president is a Muslim? Well as my kids would say, ‘Duh.’ I mean, it’s actions like these that really make people wonder what it is the president really believes.
Watch it:
Contrary to the claims of Jeffress and Doocy, official presidential proclamations regarding Easter aren’t very common. Former President George W. Bush often released statements regarding Easter but, according to a database search, never issued an official proclamation on the holiday. Neither did George H.W. Bush. Nor Ronald Reagan.
As for Muslim holidays, Obama has indeed offered statements marking the beginning of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month. But he hasn’t issued official proclamations regarding the holiday. And while Obama has hosted dinners celebrating Ramadan, they are a continuation of the tradition started by George W. Bush, who hosted eight Ramadan dinners during his presidency.
Jeffress blamed the president for giving Americans reason to believe he is actually a Muslim. Perhaps it has more to do with Jeffress and Fox’s willingness to blatantly and repeatedly ignore facts.
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