I'll trust that it was well intended, but President Obama's letter to his followers this Thanksgiving completely omits any mention of the one thing that still holds our country together: God.
Obama's message:
"Tomorrow, Thanksgiving Day, Americans across the country will sit down
together, count our blessings, and give thanks for our families and our loved
ones.
American families reflect the diversity of this great nation. No two are
exactly alike, but there is a common thread they each share.
Our families are bound together through times of joy and times of grief. They
shape us, support us, instill the values that guide us as individuals, and
make possible all that we achieve.
So tomorrow, I'll be giving thanks for my family -- for all the wisdom,
support, and love they have brought into my life.
But tomorrow is also a day to remember those who cannot sit down to break
bread with those they love.
The soldier overseas holding down a lonely post and missing his kids. The
sailor who left her home to serve a higher calling. The folks who must spend
tomorrow apart from their families to work a second job, so they can keep
food on the table or send a child to school.
We are grateful beyond words for the service and hard work of so many
Americans who make our country great through their sacrifice. And this year,
we know that far too many face a daily struggle that puts the comfort and
security we all deserve painfully out of reach.
So when we gather tomorrow, let us also use the occasion to renew our
commitment to building a more peaceful and prosperous future that every
American family can enjoy.
It seems like a lifetime ago that a crowd met on a frigid February morning in
Springfield, Illinois to set out on an improbable
course to change our nation.
In the years since, Michelle and I have been blessed with the support and
friendship of the millions of Americans who have come together to form this
ongoing movement for change.
You have been there through victories and setbacks. You have given of
yourselves beyond measure. You have enabled all that we have accomplished --
and you have had the courage to dream yet bigger dreams for what we can still
achieve.
So in this season of thanks giving, I want to take a moment to express my
gratitude to you, and my anticipation of the brighter future we are creating
together.
With warmest wishes for a happy holiday season from my family to yours,
President Barack Obama"
Perhaps he's not the first president to do omit God in a letter of Thanksgiving to the nation. While I applaud his expressed appreciation for his family and plausible motivation of good will, omitting even one mention of The Creator is an important mistake by him, both personally and
politically, in my opinion.
Obama professes himself to be a Christian. With an opportunity like this, you'd
think he'd at least mention God for reasons of obvious
personal conviction. As a politician, you'd think he'd be sensitive to the 70% or so of Americans who, at a minimum, believe God exists.