Obama's Not-So-Secret Faith

It should be clearer to those who have questioned Barack Obama's devotion to the Judeo-Christian faith, that he is not reticent about petitioning God.

That the Israeli newspaper Maariv published his "Note to God", procured through the blasphemous act of thievery by a seminary student, nonetheless portends to aggravate the wedge between Obama's opponents and proponents about his faith.

But first, a little history about the Wall.

According to Mosaic,

"The First Temple of Jerusalem was conceived by King David and constructed by King Solomon around 950 BCE as a center of a Jewish religious life on a national scale, replacing local cult centers. Solomon hoped that the Temple would unite the people of Israel conducted by the priestly professionals. The Temple of Solomon was destroyed by Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar around 587/6 BCE.

The Second Temple was the Temple rebuilt by Jews returning from the Babylon Exile in 517 BCE. It was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. The site of the ancient Jewish Temple is now occupied, in part, by the golden-domed 'Dome of the Rock' Mosque."

After the Roman destruction, what remained was a remnant of the outer wall, the Western (Wailing) Wall --- Judaism's holiest site. There is a long-standing tradition of visitors to this site leaving prayer messages in its cracks.

I agree with Shmuel Rabinovitz, the rabbi in charge of the wall, that Obama had a right, like millions of others, to rely on the assumption that his note is a private communication between him and God. It was indeed an act of blasphemy to lift his note. Maariv's decision to publish the note completed the sacrilege of violating Obama's sacred privacy.

Now that Obama's five-fold prayer is in public view, it should confirm that there is no difference between his private relationship with God and his public demonstration of faith.

Given that he portends to be America's first African-American president-in-waiting, Obama's note was not only a prayer to God, but seems also to be an appeal to those worldly powers to protect him and his family. It's a good thing he's covering all of his bases --- just in case.

I wonder what John McCain prays about.