DECKER: Obama's fake Christianity?

Liberals argue whether the president is an atheist

Brett M. Decker-The Washington Times8:34 p.m., Saturday, February 12, 2011

* FILE ** President Barack Obama pauses as he speaks at Northern Michigan University, Thursday, Feb. 10, 2011, in Marquette, Mich. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

President Obama's coddling of Islam has many Americans questioning his national-security judgment, if not his intentions. In his administrations muddled response to the crisis in Egypt, one clear message came from all the president's men: A new government in Cairo has to include a whole host of important nonsecular actors, as stated by White House spokesman Robert L. Gibbs. The hitch is that in the Middle East, nonsecular means radical Islamist, like the Muslim Brotherhood. Now, in the middle of this global clash of civilizations, Mr. Obama's own religious disposition is being questioned  and not from the right, but the left.

On his HBO show Real Time on Friday, host Bill Maher said of Mr. Obama, I think he's a centrist the way hes a Christian  not really.   His mother was a secular humanist and I think he is. When Princeton University professor Cornel West challenged Mr. Maher's point about Mr. Obama's religion, saying, He changed his mind on the God question, brother Bill, the comic retorted, It's like when he says I struggle with gay marriage  you don't struggle with gay marriage, you're fine with gay marriage. Another guest  who insisted Mr. Obama has always been pretty centrist  helpfully reminded that Mr. Obama did go to church before he was a candidate for the presidency. That church, of course, was presided over by the racist, anti-American, hate-spewing Rev. Jeremiah Wright. 

Bill Maher can be a funny guy. His website flashes the crack, It doesn't make me un-American to say I'd rather live in Paris than in places where cheese only comes in individually wrapped slices. Aside from the fact that bashing France is a national pasttime and a pretty reliable measure of patriotism, a man who prefers unpasteurized fromage cant be all bad. That said, his humor has a very tangible dark side, especially when it comes to faith. In the past, Mr. Maher has called Christianity the ultimate hustle and ridiculed the fight of good versus evil as a shakedown: If God gets rid of the devil  and he could, hes all powerful  well, then there's no fear. There's no reason to come to church. There's no reason to pass the plate. 

Liberals hate it when anybody throws their own gaffes back in their faces. Media Matters can chuck bricks at us all they want for taking purported cheap shots at the president. This debate over Mr. Obamas religion is happening among his most ardent supporters, just like the birther flames being fanned by MSNBC's Chris Matthews and Hawaii's Democratic Gov. Neil Abercrombie. Mr. Obama's critics just sit back and laugh while Democrats do their dirty work for them. With friends like Mr. Maher, Mr. Obama doesn't need enemies.