Obama drew fire for not appearing at an anti-terrorism unity march in Gay Paree after the attack on satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo
...
A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe.... White House press secretary Josh Earnest said that it was not accurate to call the Hebdo attack an act of radical Islam.
A pre-presidential speech by Obama can offer some insight into the presidents view on Islam. In 2006, Obama acknowledged for the first time that his father was born a Moslem in a speech at the Building A Covenant For A New America conference in Washington, D.C. on June 26, 2006. The organization Sojourners, an evangelical Christian group based in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of D.C., co-sponsored the Call To Renewal event.
| In his speech, in which he criticized white Christian leaders and discussed his own skepticism of faith, Obama explained the appeal of organized religion. |
They want a sense of purpose, a narrative arc to their lives. They're looking to relieve a chronic loneliness, a feeling supported by a recent study that shows Americans have fewer close friends and confidants than ever before. And so they need an assurance that somebody out there cares about them, is listening to them that they are not just destined to travel down that long highway towards nothingness.
"And I speak with some experience on this matter. I was not raised in a particularly religious household, as undoubtedly many in the audience were. My father, who returned to Kenya when I was just two, was born a Moslem but as an adult became an atheist. My mother, whose parents were non-practicing Baptists and Methodists, was probably one of the most spiritual and kindest people I've ever known, but grew up with a healthy skepticism of organized religion herself. As a consequence, so did I.