At National Prayer Breakfast, Obama calls for a ‘spirit of civility’
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
President Obama, making a pointed appeal for “a spirit of civility’ at the annual National Prayer Breakfast, called on Americans Thursday to debate the most important issues without demonizing opponents.
Civility, the president suggested, is not a sign of weakness.
“Surely you can question my policies without questioning my faith – or, for that matter, my citizenship,’’ he said to laughter for his allusion to the persisting claims of some critics that the Hawaiian-born president is not a natural-born American, as the Constitution requires.
The president said “God’s grace” is expressed through the efforts of American military relief efforts in Haiti, through the military at large and through the actions of the government.
That grace is carried out “by Americans of every faith, and no faith, uniting around a common purpose – a higher purpose,” Obama said. “It’s inspiring. This is what we do as Americans in times of trouble. We unite, recognizing that such crises call on all of us to act, recognizing that there but for the grace of God go I.”
Yet in everyday life, the president said, people become “numbed” by the slow pace of daily crises such as poverty.
“Too often that spirit is missing without the spectacular catastrophe that can shake us out of complacency,’’ he said in his appearance at the Washington Hilton. “And in this Tower of Babel, we lose the sound of God’s voice.”
The president’s call for a return to civility, underscored with repeated emphasis on the importance of prayer, was applauded at a breakfast that was also attended by Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and former University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow – an annual event that has been held since 1953. It is organized by The Fellowship Foundation.
The past shouldn’t be “over-romanticized,” the president told his audience, “but there is a sense that something is different now, something is broken – that those of us in Washington are not serving the people as well as we should.”
The “erosion of civility in the public square ... poisons the well of public opinion,” he said. “It makes politics an all-or-nothing sport.”
“Then we lose sight of the children without food and the men without shelter and the families without healthcare,” the president said. “Empowered by faith, consistently ... we need to find our way back to civility. That begins with stepping out of our comfort zones in an effort to bridge divisions …
“While prayer can buck us up while we’re down, keep us calm in a storm – and I assure you, I’m praying a lot these days – prayer can also do something else,”’ he said. “It can touch our hearts with humility. ... It can remind us that each of us are children of an awesome and loving God.”
-- Mark Silva