Family Research Council president Tony Perkins said yesterday that Christians who supported President Obama in the last election cycle must begin “repenting” and vote for his opponent in 2012. Perkins’ remarks came after his appearance on James Dobson’s My Family Talk where he said, as first reported by Right Wing Watch, that Obama “has a disdain for Christianity” and is creating “an atmosphere that is hostile toward Christianity.”
In an interview with the Christian Post, Perkins accused Obama of trying to curtail freedom of religion and railed against the administration’s decision to rescind Bush-era rules allowing health workers to refuse medical care that they claim would violate their religious beliefs, such as providing birth control. Perkins used this an example of the administration’s purported “extensive record of hostility toward Christianity,” claiming that the Obama administration “has been the most hostile toward religious freedom” in US history:
Perkins told The Christian Post that the administration has coined a new term called “freedom of worship” which is distinctly different from the “freedom of religion” that the constitution guarantees.
“There is a huge distinction between the two. Freedom of religion is the ability to live your life based upon your religious teachings. Freedom of worship is what constitutes 9 to 11 am in most Churches on Sunday morning.”
Perkins went on to explain that the Obama administration is taking away a citizen’s right to live based on religious teachings and that it is evident in recent court cases as well as the military. For example, the health care overhaul mandates Catholic institutions provide health insurance to cover contraceptives.
“That’s strictly against their doctrine,” Perkins said.
“Any Christian that voted for Obama in 2008 should be repenting [and voting differently] in the next election. This administration has been the most hostile toward religious freedom.”
Perkins urges the public not to be fooled by Obama’s campaign rhetoric which will probably ramp up its pro-Christian language just in time for the election.
“Whether you vote Democrat or Republican, disregard the (candidate’s) rhetoric and look at the record. This administration has an extensive record of hostility toward Christianity.”
