I think this whole thing was just a useful means of making sure everybody knows Barrack Hussein Obama believes in Jesus.

Though his pastor seems to be fond of Muhammad and his whip, Louis Farrakhan.

I'm not so sure I know that Obama "believes in Jesus." He's been a Christian since about age 26. I read in the NYT online yesterday (here: <link> ) that even as a teenager, Obama was so ambitious that his mother teased him that he was going to be the first black president. ("'There was always a joke between my mom and Barack that he would be the first black president,' his [half-]sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, said in an interview over tea.")

Am I the only one in the world who thinks Obama joined a Christian church because he felt it was necessary if he was ever going to succeed as a American politician?

I should note that, as an atheist, I think it's infuriating that any candidate would feel they have to pretend to be religious, and preferably mainstream Christian, to get elected in this day and age. And that I also think Clinton has been underscoring her Methodism for political reasons. (In her case, I think it's an attempt to stop the Republican and conservative monopoly on religion and "family values," rather than an attempt to become more electable, but that doesn't really matter.)

But I still think it's important to consider that Obama's membership in this church may have been politically motivated all along. I think it's one of many examples of how he isn't the "above politics" idealist he pretends to be -- that he's no Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

My understanding is that atheists reject the notion of God because there is no tangible proof of his/hers/its existence. In that I respect atheists because they seem to appreciate a logical argument.

This is why I don't understand your comments about Obama. You have no proof that his Christianity is just a political calculation, just a feeling (insipid IMO). How is this different from religion?