The first couple was joined by Vice President Joe Biden for the annual affair, with USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah slated as the guest speaker.
By Leslie Larson / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Thursday, February 6, 2014, 8:30 AM
Updated: Thursday, February 6, 2014, 10:41 AM
washingtonpost.com
The President and First Lady attend the National Prayer Breakfast at the Washington Hilton on Thursday.
President Obama and the First Lady joined thousands from the Washington elite early Thursday for the National Prayer Breakfast, an event that hit a decidedly more spiritual tone in 2014 than the highly politicized spirit at the 2013 occasion.
The first couple was joined by Vice President Joe Biden for the annual affair, with USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah slated as the keynote speaker.
During Obama's message, the President highlighted the peril of those enduring religious persecution worldwide and praised America's commitment to freedom of worship, saying "religion strengthens America."
Obama’s focus on free exercise comes as his administration has been criticized for trumping the right of conscience for religious organizations who object to providing contraception, as mandated by the Affordable Care Act.
Calling the promotion of religious freedom a "key objective" in American foreign policy, he specifically mentioned the lack of freedom for Christians and Tibetan Buddhists in China, and other global spots known to suppress religious practices of the minorities. He also urged North Korea to release Christian missionary Kenneth Bae and for Iran to release pastor Saeed Abedini. Abedini’s wife has expressed her frustration at the State Department’s perceived hesitancy in addressing her husband’s imprisonment.
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In discussing the State Department's commitment to work on behalf of universal human rights, he offered praise for Secretary of State John Kerry and his work on a Middle East peace deal, saying that the Obama administration will "stand against the ugly tide of anti-Semitism."
Kerry has faced criticism in recent days for alluding to those boycotting Israel in comments at a conference in Germany, earning scorn from Israeli leaders for seemingly legitimizing those in opposition to Israel's policies.
Obama’s speech was preceded by Shah’s message, in which he called on leaders to commit “to end extreme poverty in our lifetime.”
AFP PHOTO/Jewel Samad
In his speech, President Obama stressed the importance of religious freedom worldwide.
Referencing the parable of the Good Samaritan, he said the Biblical story was an example to all “to practice our faith the hard way by serving the least fortunate" and to "prioritize the poor."
The message of religious freedom and protecting the poor marked a vast difference from conservative pundit Dr. Ben Carson’s keynote address at the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast. He was criticized by some for using his speech to slam the President's healthcare reform instead of delivering a spiritual message.
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Gospel singer Yolanda Adams and Christian contemporary artist Steve Green were on hand to serenade the crowd gathered at the Washington Hilton.
“Soul Surfer” author Bethany Hamilton was also among the guests at the head table.
Hamilton read two passages from the New Testament and then shared her story of recovery after she lost her arm in a shark attack as a teenager.
Haitian President Michel Martelly and Albania's President Bujar Nishani attended the event with other world leaders, members of Congress and some of Washington's most celebrated names.
The sitting President has always attended the event since it began 1953.
The event is sponsored by the Fellowship, an elusive Christian group also referred to as the Family. This year's gathering was hosted by Reps. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) and Janice Hahn (D-Calif.)
llarson@nydailynews.com
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What You Missed at the National Prayer Breakfast
Scripture, foreign dignitaries, and rare bipartisan unity in Washington
President Barack Obama closes his eyes as a prayer is offered at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, Feb. 6, 2014.
Prayers Prayed. Lots. It is a prayer breakfast after all.
Unity Displayed. Rep. Janice Hahn (D-Calif.) and Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) co-chaired this year’s breakfast. It’s about the only thing they agree on, and as Gohmert pointed out, it was probably the only time you will ever see Hahn to his right on anything—because that’s where she was seated.
Foreign Dignitaries Present. President of Albania Bujar Nishani and President of Haiti Michel Martelly. Martelly has a bilateral meeting with Obama in the Oval Office on Thursday afternoon.
Scripture Read. Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) read the famous “for everything there is a season, a time to be born and a time to die, a time to weep and a time to laugh…a time to love, a time to hate” passage from the Hebrew text of Ecclesiastes. Bethany Hamilton, an evangelical surfer who lost her left arm to a shark, read the Good Samaritan passage from the gospel of Luke and Paul’s letter to the Ephesians about how wide and long and deep and high the love of Christ is.
Best lines: Ray LaHood, Obama’s former Secretary of Transportation, got the first giant smile from the president with his crack, “Louie Gohmert has been transformed…let’s hope this miracle continues beyond the 9:30 hour.” Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), noted how it is much easier to overcome partisan fights in Congress when you are holding hands praying and singing. Keynote speaker Rajiv Shah, the USAID Administrator, told of how his car got stuck in the mud when he was visiting Ethiopia with Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.). The senator, Shah said, suggested that “everyone under 70 should get out and push,” leaving Shah “covered in mud again because of Congress.”
Most Poignant Moment. Shah sobered up the house with a story of his trip to a Somali refugee camp with Jill Biden two years ago. They met a mother who, desperate to escape the famine, alternated carrying each of her two children until they all became so weak and she knew she could only carry one. “She looked down at her two children and she said a prayer—then she made the excruciating decision to leave one of them behind so she could save the other,” he recalled. “Were they somehow lesser than our sons and daughters? Did their fathers love them less? Did their mothers? Did God?” Let that one sink in.
Noticeably Absent. Talk of immigration reform. Health care. Little Sisters of the Poor. Immigration reform. Health care. Hobby Lobby.
Name Dropped. By the president: Kenneth Bae, American missionary held captive in North Korea since October, and US pastor Saeed Abedini, Idaho pastor imprissoned in Iran for 18 months. By Shah: Pope Francis, for shining a “bright light” on poverty.
Mystery Policy. Obama’s “men of color” mentorship initiative line from the State of the Union popped up again.
Noted. Obama wanted to clarify that his surfing is not very good. Body surfing, he explained, was more his specialty.
Over and out until next year.
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The president reflected briefly about his religious journey at the breakfast - highlighting his Christianity - and emphasized its role in his life as a community organizer in Chicago and his later career in public service.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/06/us-usa-obama-religion-idUSBREA151J520140206
COMMUNITY ORGANIZER while being groomed by Greg Galluzo S.J. in the Gamaliel foundation, I suppose.