EVEN FOR FOX, A CHEAP ATTACK…. I should probably let this go, but given that Fox News is pushing it and far-right blogs are picking up on it, let’s take a moment to explain just how cheap the attack really is.
President Obama failed to release a statement or a proclamation recognizing the national observance of Easter Sunday, Christianity’s most sacred holiday.
By comparison, the White House has released statements recognizing the observance of major Muslim holidays and released statements in 2010 on Ramadan, Eid-ul-Fitr, Hajj, and Eid-ul-Adha.
The White House also failed to release a statement marking Good Friday. However, they did release an eight-paragraph statement heralding Earth Day. Likewise, the president’s weekend address mentioned neither Good Friday or Easter.
I guess the implication is supposed to be that Obama honored Islamic holidays but not Christian ones, and cares more about environmentalism than Christianity.
Let’s note a couple of truths that provide some context to this.
The first is that the Obama White House didn’t exactly ignore Easter. The First Family, for example, attended services yesterday. There’s not only a big Easter Egg Roll for families at the White House today, but President Obama also hosted an Easter prayer breakfast last week, during which he told attendees the following:
“I wanted to host this breakfast for a simple reason — because as busy as we are, as many tasks as pile up, during this season, we are reminded that there’s something about the resurrection — something about the resurrection of our savior, Jesus Christ, that puts everything else in perspective.
“We all live in the hustle and bustle of our work… But then comes Holy Week. The triumph of Palm Sunday. The humility of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. His slow march up that hill, and the pain and the scorn and the shame of the cross. And we’re reminded that in that moment, he 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.
“In the words of the book Isaiah: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
“This magnificent grace, this expansive grace, this ‘Amazing Grace’ calls me to reflect. 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. It calls me to praise God for the gift of our son — his Son and our Savior.”
Put it this way: Ramadan, Eid-ul-Fitr, Hajj, and Eid-ul-Adha didn’t get this kind of treatment.
The other point to keep in mind is that George W. Bush was in office for eight years. How many Easter proclamations did he issue? Zero.
Something to keep in mind when your crazy uncle emails you, outraged about that rascally Obama ignoring Easter.
Update: Reagan and H.W. Bush didn’t issue official Easter proclamations, either. I’ll look forward to Fox’s report on why they all hate Christianity.
