Source: Chicago Tribune
HARTFORD, Conn. -- They came to hear a prophet. Some believe they did. Others heard just another politician.
More than 10,000 members of the United Church of Christ rose to their feet at their convention in a hockey arena here on Saturday to applaud one of their own who happens to be a Democratic presidential candidate -- Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).
Weaving biblical imagery with political promises, Obama, a member of Trinity United Church of Christ on Chicago's South Side, encouraged those in the audience to follow their consciences and fight for a better America.
"Doing the Lord's work is a thread that's run through our politics since the very beginning," Obama told church members. "And it puts the lie to the notion that the separation of church and state in America -- a principle we all must uphold and that I have embraced as a constitutional lawyer and most importantly as a Christian -- means faith should have no role in public life."
He also accused the Christian right of "hijacking" Jesus to polarize the public.
"Somehow, somewhere along the way, faith stopped being used to bring us together. Faith started being used to drive us apart," he said. "Faith got hijacked partly because of the so-called leaders of the Christian right, who've been all too eager to exploit what divides us.