President Barack Obama has to work double time to show Americans that he’s a Christian.

It’s not just because he is not a regular Sunday churchgoer, Politics Daily said. Ronald Reagan was not a religious man, and only went to church occasionally, according to Politico.

George W. Bush, like Obama, never joined any church. And like Obama, Bush only went to church at Camp David when he was there, or met with small groups for bible study and prayer, Politics Daily said.

And yet, both presidents were supported strongly by religious conservatives, the same group that didn’t support Bill Clinton, who regularly went to church while he was in office, Politico said.

Obama has to work double time nonetheless, first, because of his religious background. He was raised by an agnostic mother, and both his father and stepfather were born Muslim, according to Politico.

Second, Republicans and political conservatives are quick to cast doubts on his faith to imply a wavering commitment to American values. Politico compares this to a previous campaign issue about whether or not he was born in the U.S.

Efforts to change public view

Obama has, of late, intensified efforts to show Americans that he’s Christian. Politics Daily noted that for the first time since his presidency, he went to church two Sundays in a row during Christmas and the New Year.

Last Dec. 9, when the National Christmas Tree was being lit, Obama often reiterated that the Nativity is “dear to Michelle and me as Christians,” and a few days later, Politics Daily said, at a benefit concert, Obama mentioned how “a child born in a stable brought our world a redeeming gift of peace and salvation,” adding that it was “a message that guides my Christian faith.”

Since September, Obama used the phrase “our brother’s keeper” in perhaps two dozen speeches. Before then, he only said it four times, Politico said. He also referred to his Christian faith in secular settings since September. Before then, he only did so before religious audiences.

Why September

Last September, the midterm campaign was heating up, along with controversy over the Islamic Center near Ground Zero. An August Pew survey showed that one in five Americans mistakenly believe Obama is Muslim, Politics Daily said.

Obama is anxious to continue to reassure the general public that he’s Christian in light of the midterm election outcome, and to ensure that the issue of faith will not again blur the 2012 elections (just as it had been used in 2008), Politico said.

In early December, the Congressional Prayer Caucus in a letter decried the fact that in his address while he was in Indonesia, Obama said the national motto was “E pluribus unum” meaning “many for one,” Politics Daily reported.

Politics Daily noted that in 1956, Congress declared that the national motto is “In God We Trust.” Before then, E pluribus unum was an unofficial national motto. The same letter also noted that three times, Obama quoted the Declaration of Independence, “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights,” but skipped “Creator.”

Effective rhetoric

Timothy Longman, a professor at Boston University specializing in politics and religion told Politico, “[He] could be trying to appeal more to the general public because I think there’s a lot of people in the middle who have had doubts about Obama because the right has been so much more effective in their rhetoric.”

For 20 years, Obama belonged to a Chicago church under Rev. Jeremiah Wright, but he had to cut ties during his election campaign when Wright made certain controversial remarks, according to Politico.

Stephen Mansfield, who wrote the book The Faith of Barack Obama, said “I think [Obama’s] just bringing more of himself to the game, so to speak. It’s not as though he’s changed religions or something. He’s just being open about [his Christianity],” Politics Daily reported.

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Baby boomers–the generation of Woodstock, sex, drugs and divorce–is the generation that most highly applauds Christians for the morals and values that they stand for, a recent survey says.

This is one of the findings revealed by a nationwide survey from The Barna Group. The survey was open-ended, meaning there were no multiple choices involved, and respondents answered the questions spontaneously.

The two questions asked were: What were the recent positive contributions of Christianity, and what were the recent negative contributions of Christianity. The survey was conducted through telephone interviews (including 125 cell phones) of a random sample of 1,000 adults across the U.S., age 18 and above, from August 16-22. It has a 3.2 percent margin of error.

Positive contributions

Most respondents (25 percent) couldn’t mention any recent positive contribution made by Christians. Of the total, skeptics ranked highest (34%), followed by the unchurched (33%) and Independent voters (29%).

The most frequently-mentioned positive contribution of Christians was helping the poor and underprivileged, cited by one out of every five adults (19 percent). Of the total, 34 percent were age 25 and under. This was followed by socio-political liberals (29 percent), blacks (28 percent), evangelicals (11 percent) and socio-political conservatives (11 percent) the website said.

The second highest contribution mentioned was sharing Jesus Christ. Overall, this was cited by one of six adults (16 percent). Of the total, it was mostly mentioned by Protestant adults (26 percent), followed by evangelicals (25 percent), non-evangelical born again Christians (23 percent), and Catholics (11 percent).

One out of every ten adults (11%) said Christianity made no positive contributions. This was mostly mentioned by skeptics (27 percent) followed by those of other faiths (23%), the survey showed.

Negative contributions

One out of five Americans said the most negative contribution of Christians to the U.S. was violence or hatred in the name of Jesus Christ. This was mostly mentioned by non-Christian faiths (35%) and by evangelicals (31%).

The second most negative contribution mentioned was opposition of Christians to gay marriage. Adults aged 25 or younger were twice as likely as other Americans to mention this. The third most negative contribution mentioned was over-involvement by Christian churches in politics, according to the Barna website.

Surprisingly, the most critical subgroups were liberals (seven percent) and evangelical Christians (6 percent). Evangelicals were especially judicious. While 25% of respondents cited hatred, violence, intolerance, bigotry and lack of love for others, almost twice as many evangelicals (48%) mentioned these items.

Other findings

• Less than 1% of the population complained about aggressive evangelization by Christians.
• The largest segment of Christians–non-evangelical born again Christians–were least aware of either positive or negative contributions of Christians.
• Most of the non-Christian respondents mentioned helping the poor and underprivileged as the best contribution of Christians.

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Political conservative pundit S.E. Cupp’s newest book, “Losing Our Religion:  The Liberal Media’s Attack on Christianity” has further polarized conservative and liberal media, even as its title and subject matter drew claims of irony.

Cupp’s book polarizes conservatives, liberals, raises claims of irony

Newsweek, which reviewed Cupp’s book, extensively quoted her and indicated page numbers; said it was melodramatic, patronizing to her readers, and inspired fear mongering.

Newsweek also denied that they are a mainstream publication, and said they are not attacking Christians or even religious freedom.

Media Matters for America focused on what Cupp wrote about evolution, and said that she does violence to the science of evolution and to the public’s expectations of science journalists and science teachers.

Cupp’s book has also raised a sense of irony that an atheist should write a book that strongly defends Christianity.  Cupp however says that political conservatives like herself would benefit if Christians worked harder to protect their turf, as mainstream liberal media shoots two birds with one stone when they attack Christianity.

Cupp said Christianity is a target so that mainstream media can also attack conservatism.  “If they can effectively paint Christians as dangerous fanatics, it’s just a skip away from painting conservatives as dangerous fanatics,” she said in an interview with Mediaite.

In that same report she said that her being an atheist gave her the needed objectivity to write the book.  “I would hope it gives a little more credibility to the project than having some fundamentalist Christian write about attacks on Christianity,” she said.

Christian Today noted that other studies have also documented Cupp’s viewpoints, including The Media Elite by Lichter, Rothman and Lichter (1986), and Bias by Bernard Goldberg (2001).

Bill Muehlenberg, who authored the Christian Today review wrote, “Western Christians are sleeping through their own execution.They seem oblivious [that] the surrounding culture has declared war on the Christian faith.”

In her book Cupp wrote, according to Newsweek, that:

1. Secular media has turned religious worship into a “subculture” and reacted to presidential candidate Mike Huckabee’s 2007 Christmas commercial by focusing on a “strategically placed” cross in the background.  (She cites The Washington Post and CNN).
2. Major media did not cover Obama’s snub of the National Day of Prayer.
3. Newsweek’s review of the Christian bestseller “Left Behind” said, “Sociologists tell us that the United States is experiencing a religious revival, but if the bestseller lists are any guide, the revival looks more like a collective leaving of the senses.”
4. Reviews of the Christian story “Narnia” were lukewarm despite its being a box office hit.  Reviews for The Golden Compass, which attacks Christianity, were positive although the movie did not do well at the tills.

Cupp also noted that the liberal press downplays Obama’s discomfort with religious America and barely wrote about his covering up of religious imagery in the backdrop when he gave a speech at Georgetown University.

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