President Obama spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast, and based on some of the headlines, one might get the impression that he sought a divine endorsement of the White House’s policy agenda. That would be a mistaken impression of the remarks — the point of his speech was to describe the ways in which his faith influences his priorities.
To that end, the president described the ways in which his religion and belief in the Golden Rule influences his approach to limiting the excesses of financial institutions, unscrupulous lenders, and insurance companies, stopping them from “taking advantage of the most vulnerable among us.”
“[W]hen I talk about shared responsibility, it’s because I genuinely believe that in a time when many folks are struggling, at a time when we have enormous deficits, it’s hard for me to ask seniors on a fixed income, or young people with student loans, or middle-class families who can barely pay the bills to shoulder the burden alone. And I think to myself, if I’m willing to give something up as somebody who’s been extraordinarily blessed, and give up some of the tax breaks that I enjoy, I actually think that’s going to make economic sense.
“But for me as a Christian, it also coincides with Jesus’s teaching that ‘for unto whom much is given, much shall be required.’ It mirrors the Islamic belief that those who’ve been blessed have an obligation to use those blessings to help others, or the Jewish doctrine of moderation and consideration for others.
“When I talk about giving every American a fair shot at opportunity, it’s because I believe that when a young person can afford a college education, or someone who’s been unemployed suddenly has a chance to retrain for a job and regain that sense of dignity and pride, and contributing to the community as well as supporting their families — that helps us all prosper.









