Obama's Christian Pandering

President Obama has never been known for his religiosity. But recently he turned into an effusive Christian, quoting the Bible, and speaking the sort of religious language that was familiar to me growing up in a conservative Christian household.

Using the kind of personal religious language that he had once shied away from in public, Obama spoke of "the pain and the scorn and the shame of the cross" in an Easter prayer breakfast for about 150 guests and staff.

"And we're reminded that in that moment, (Jesus) took on the sins of the world -- past, present and future -- and he extended to us that unfathomable gift of grace and salvation through his death and resurrection,"... Obama quoted from the Book of Isaiah -- "he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities," ... "This magnificent grace, this expansive grace, this `Amazing Grace' calls me to reflect," Obama said. "And it calls me to pray. It calls me to ask God for forgiveness for the times that I've not shown grace to others, those times that I've fallen short."

Am I being unfair to Obama when I call this pandering? I don't think so. People don't suddenly start talking this way unless they undergo some sort of conversion. The president was meeting with various Christian leaders for Easter, and in my opinion went way overboard in trying to sound as Christian as possible. As the article indicates, he's trying still to convince those who don't believe he's a Christian. It's too bad he has to try, but in my opinion he's trying way too hard.