Can you imagine Gingrich, Romney, Paul or Santorum suggesting that non-believers are good people?

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/national-prayer-breakfast-president-obamas-speech-transcript/2012/02/02/gIQAx7jWkQ_story_2.html

National Prayer Breakfast: President Obama’s speech transcript

<snip>Treating others as you want to be treated. Requiring much from those who have been given so much. Living by the principle that we are our brother's keeper. Caring for the poor and those in need. These values are old. They can be found in many denominations and many faiths, among many believers and among many non-believers. And they are values that have always made this country great -- when we live up to them; when we don't just give lip service to them; when we don't just talk about them one day a year. And they're the ones that have defined my own faith journey.

[JNelson6563]

1. Thank you for posting this.

I always smile when he works in heathens like me. Even in a speech at the prayer breakfast! Gotta love that!



Julie

Edited to add: Oh and no! I cannot imagine any from this current GOP crop even acknowledging the existence of "un-believers", much less to say anything positive!

[OKNancy]

2. I listened live and when I heard that I thought....

"that's nice that he said that". I thought for sure he would get some praise for it at the time.
I didn't see any here. Now, I'm not on 24/7 so maybe someone else mentioned it.

To answer the question: of course not.

[JNelson6563]

3. This is the first I've seen of it.

Like you I may have missed previous mention. I'm glad Don posted this because I didn't hear speech and, as you say, "that's nice that he said that".



Julie

[msongs]

4. LDS are the chosen people. no, the Israelites are...oh wait, no, it's the baptists..no wait...nt

[wandy]

12. Darn it. You forgot Catholics! Saint Santorum will not be happy. nt

[judy]

5. Thank you NNN for pointing this out...

I think Obama made the best of this horrible prayer breakfast...
I am mad at him for many reasons (involving drones, and the extremely misguided thought that there are military solutions to our current problems).
However, he stands a mile high over the arthropods and arachnids that are Newt, Mitt, Ron and Rick...our Gargoyles in chief!

[MineralMan]

6. Yes, President Obama schooled them at that prayer breakfast.

It was an excellent speech. Poorly-received by many, I'm sure.

[PearliePoo2]

7. I am definitely a non-believer.......

and I try to be a nice person.
Thank you President Obama for recognizing there are millions of us in that category.

[RZM]

8. Yes I can. Bush did it at least twice

In a 2004 press conference after the election:

'I will be your President regardless of your faith, and I don't expect you to agree with me necessarily on religion. As a matter of fact, no President should ever try to impose religion on our society. A great -- the great tradition of America is one where people can worship the way they want to worship. And if they choose not to worship, they're just as patriotic as your neighbor ...'

At the 2006 National Prayer Breakfast:

'In our country, we recognize our fellow citizens are free to profess any faith they choose, or no faith at all. You're equally American if you're a Jew, or a Christian, or a Muslim. You're equally American if you choose not to have faith.'

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/religion/post/2009/01/61772330/1

Like it or not, those were his words. Whether he meant them or not, I don't know. But he did say them. I'll bet they'd all be at least willing to pay lip service to nonbelievers, if anything because it's not a winner politically to appear too intolerant on religion. The benefits you would get with your base would be far outweighed by the disapproval of everybody else.

Of everybody in the field, Paul is the only one who's even a protestant. The Mittster would be especially reluctant to appear too intolerant on religion, since he doesn't want any focus at all on his own religious beliefs for obvious reasons.

[customerserviceguy]

9. Thanks for publishing the link

I heard Andrea Mitchell today on Tweety's show, she pointed out that the President used the occasion of the breakfast to slam his political enemies, I sure didn't see anything like that in all four pages of the transcript.

[emulatorloo]

10. Thanks for posting this.

[Bluenorthwest]

11. GW said the same sort of thing. And of course, he and this President along with all

the men you name freely suggest that gay people are not as good as they are, and all say it is their religion that instills that prejudice deeply in their hearts.

[surrealAmerican]

14. Not exactly...

... He said that his values were informed by his "faith". Obama is saying almost the opposite here:

And they're the ones that have defined my own faith journey

[surrealAmerican]

13. Faith based on values: instead of values based on faith.

It's refreshing to hear that from a "believer".