Obama: Churches Should Focus More on the Poor, Less on Abortion, Birth Control

Helping poor ‘is often times viewed as a “nice to have” relative to an issue like abortion’

"And so maybe it appears advantageous for me to want to focus on these issues of poverty, and not as much on these other issues. But I want to insist, first of all, I will not be part of the election next year, so this is more just a broader reflection of somebody who has worked with churches and worked in communities. There is great caring and great concern, but when it comes to what are you really going to the mat for, what’s the defining issue, when you're talking in your congregations, what’s the thing that is really going to capture the essence of who we are as Christians, or as Catholics, or what have you, that this is oftentimes viewed as a ‘nice to have’ relative to an issue like abortion. That's not across the board, but there sometimes has been that view, and certainly that's how it’s perceived in our political circles. And I think that there’s more power to be had there, a more transformative voice that's available around these issues that can move and touch people. Because the one thing I know is that -- here’s an area where, again, Arthur and I agree -- I think fundamentally people want to do the right thing. I think people don't set out wanting to be selfish. I think people would like to see a society in which everybody has opportunity. I think that's true up and down the line and across the board. But they feel as if it’s not possible. And there’s noise out there, and there’s arguments, and there’s contention. And so people withdraw and they restrict themselves to, what can I do in my church, or what can I do in my community? And that's important. But our faith-based groups I think have the capacity to frame this -- and nobody has shown that better than Pope Francis, who I think has been transformative just through the sincerity and insistence that he’s had that this is vital to who we are. This is vital to following what Jesus Christ, our Savior, talked about. And that emphasis I think is why he’s had such incredible appeal, including to young people, all around the world. And I hope that that is a message that everybody receives when he comes to visit here. I can't wait to host him because I think it will help to spark an even broader conversation of the sort that we're having today."

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