Reply #119: Obama makes it clear that he separates his faith

[ripple]

from his policy decisions- in fact, he has said that faith, by definition, is fictional and should not be construed as fact when it comes to decision-making that impacts others. He's also making the point that like it or not, faith is an integral part many people's lives and it shapes many of the decisions people make. To completely ignore that is to basically throw a hell of a lot of votes away.

Many of the same decisions that are made on the basis of morality, could also be justified by believers as having a religious basis. Some of these would be opposition murder, greed, and, violence. Similarly, for both moral and faith-based reasons, many people embrace the ideas of protecting the environment, providing free or affordable health care to those who need it, and alleviating poverty and hunger.

We need to stop talking beyond each other and realize that both religious and secular people share many of the same goals, even if the paths to reaching those goals have been starkly different.

Personally, I'm agnostic and a secularist, but I appreciate Obama's point, as it boils down to tolerance and common ground more than anything else.