{"id":337,"date":"2011-01-13T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-01-13T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/beliefbeat\/2011\/01\/obama-in-eulogizing-tucson-victims-becomes-pastor-in-chief.html"},"modified":"2011-01-13T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-01-13T11:00:00","slug":"obama-in-eulogizing-tucson-victims-becomes-pastor-in-chief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beliefbeat\/2011\/01\/obama-in-eulogizing-tucson-victims-becomes-pastor-in-chief.html","title":{"rendered":"Obama: In Eulogizing Tucson Victims, Becomes Pastor-in-Chief?"},"content":{"rendered":"

President Obama delivered a moving eulogy last night <\/a>for the victims, families and survivors of the Tucson assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.).<\/p>\n

Somewhat surprisingly, given presidential precedent and Obama’s own efforts lately to reassert his Christian bona fides<\/a>, the 33-minute address was light on scriptural references<\/a>, focusing more on memorializing the dead, comforting the living, praising the heroes and expressing his hope for a better future, with America living up to the kind of democracy that little Christina Taylor Green, the youngest victim, had imagined.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, National Catholic Register and other religious outlets have praised the eulogy<\/a>, calling Obama “as much priest as president in what was essentially a spiritual reflection on how people should conduct their lives and care for each other.”<\/p>\n

Here’s the Psalm the president did end up quoting:<\/p>\n

\n

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And in his closing:<\/p>\n

\n

May God bless and keep those we’ve lost in restful and eternal peace. May He love and watch over the survivors. And may He bless the United States of America. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Edited to add: On a related note, check out this letter to Congress<\/a> from a range of faith leaders, calling for ” soul searching and national public dialogue about violent and vitriolic political rhetoric. “<\/p>\n

What do you think? Share your thoughts in the Comments section below.<\/p>\n

*Click here to <\/span>subscribe to Belief Beat <\/span><\/strong><\/a>and <\/span>click here to <\/span>follow Belief Beat on Twitter<\/strong><\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Obama delivered a moving eulogy last night for the victims, families and survivors of the Tucson assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.). Somewhat surprisingly, given presidential precedent and Obama’s own efforts lately to reassert his Christian bona fides, the 33-minute address was light on scriptural references, focusing more on memorializing the dead, comforting the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nObama: In Eulogizing Tucson Victims, Becomes Pastor-in-Chief? - Belief Beat<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beliefbeat\/2011\/01\/obama-in-eulogizing-tucson-victims-becomes-pastor-in-chief.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Obama: In Eulogizing Tucson Victims, Becomes Pastor-in-Chief? - Belief Beat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"President Obama delivered a moving eulogy last night for the victims, families and survivors of the Tucson assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.). 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