President Obama recently used a passage from the bible to explain his reasoning for saying that the rich should pay more taxes. He refered to Luke 12:48 saying, “for unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.”
Sen. Orrin Hatch responded saying:
Mr. President, our nation faces grave challenges. We are looking at our fourth straight trillion dollar deficit. Our credit rating has been downgraded. Public spending is out of control. The nation demands leadership.
At some moments in our nation’s history, at moments of crisis, leaders have emerged, put partisanship aside, and worked to solve our greatest challenges. Though our current President has compared himself to both Franklin Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, his leadership is falling well short of their examples. Instead of taking the reins and making tough choices, when presented with our current fiscal crisis, he has decided to put politics first. He always puts politics first.
Just this morning at the National Prayer Breakfast the President took what has always been a non-partisan opportunity for national unity and used it to promote his political agenda. He suggested to the attendees that Jesus would have supported his latest tax-the-rich schemes. With due respect to the President, he should stick to public policy. I think most Americans would agree that the Gospels are concerned with weightier matters than effective tax rates.
As long as the President has decided to assume the role of theologian-in-chief, he would do well to put tax policy aside and consider the impact of one of his latest Obamacare mandates. Secretary Sebelius’ decision to force religious institutions — over the strong objections of churches and universities representing millions and millions of Americans — to provide insurance coverage for abortifacient drugs and contraceptives to their employees will require these groups to violate their deepest held religious beliefs.
The President’s comments this morning share more with political strategy than they do the religious beliefs of most Americans. In 2008, the President declared that his nomination was the world historical moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal. Someone needs to remind the President that there was only one person who walked on water. And he did not occupy the Oval Office.
