Barack Obama Opts for Workout Instead of Going to Church

The media is having a field day with Barack Obama's absence from church since his historic win in the presidential election. He has opted instead to hit the gym. This is a stark departure from his two immediate predecessors, President George W. Bush and President Bill Clinton. Asked about the president-elect's decision to not attend church, a transition aide noted that the Obamas valued their faith experience in Chicago but were concerned about the impact their large retinue may have on other parishioners.

"Because they have a great deal of respect for places of worship, they do not want to draw unwelcome or inappropriate attention to a church not used to the attention their attendance would draw," said the aide.

I guess that is in implicit that the president must attend church, even if he's cheating on his wife, like President Bill Clinton. Barack Obama reached out to Christians and professed his faith. I guess the least he could do is find a church in Chicago to attend.

In November of 1992, Clinton went to services in Little Rock, Ark., on the three weekends following his election, taking pre-church jogs on the first two and attending on the third weekend a Catholic Mass with the Rev. Jesse Jackson, with whom he was trying to smooth over lingering campaign tensions.

In the weeks after the contested 2000 election, Bush regularly attended services at Tarrytown United Methodist Church in Austin, Texas, and Al Gore was frequently photographed arriving at and leaving church in Virginia.

Obama was an infrequent churchgoer on the campaign trail, though he did make a series of appearances in the pews and pulpits of South Carolina churches ahead of that heavily religious state's primary. Considering the massive fallout from his association with Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Trinity United Church of Christ, one could understand his position. For about two decades, Obama and his family attended the church. Obama and his wife, Michelle, in June resigned their membership in the large South Side congregation.

During the campaign, Obama returned to Chicago to attend the South Side's Apostolic Church of God on Father's Day Sunday to give a speech aimed at the black community on the importance of fatherhood and family. It would have been nice to see the Obama's attending church once more. Barack Obama is an extremely intelligent man and he should have realized that his absence from church, especially in the aftermath of such a historic win, would ruffle many feathers and raise some questions. He professed his faith in Christ, then I would have expected to see him in church, even one Sunday with his family. He'd better get used to traveling with a huge security detail and retinue. That's just a part of the game and not an excuse not to attend church. Just my thoughts, you be the judge......